Chapter 36

[310]See the Latin hendecasyllables quoted by me in theRevival of Learning, p. 415, and the Defense of Italian in the treatise "Della volgare Lingua" (Bembo,Opere, Milan,Class. It.x. 28). Carducci in his essayDelle Poesie Latine di Ludovico Ariosto, pp. 179-181, gives some interesting notices of Ercole Strozzi's conversion to the vulgar tongue.

[311]SeeRevival of Learning, pp. 410-415, 481-485.

[312]Opere del Cardinale Bembo(Class. It.Milano, 1808, vol. x.).

[313]See his Latin treatiseDe Imitatione. It is in the form of an epistle.

[314]See Panizzi,Bioardo ed Ariosto, vi. lxxxi.

[315]Sonnet xxxvi. of his collected poems.

[316]My edition is in four volumes, Gualtero Scotto, Vinegia, MDLII. They are collected with copious additions in theClassici Italiani.

[317]It will be impossible to do more than make general reference to the vast masses of Italian letters printed in the sixteenth century. I must, therefore, content myself here with mentioning the collections of La Casa, Caro, Bernardo, and Torquato Tasso, Aretino, Guidiccioni, together with the miscellanies published under the titles ofLettre Scritte al Signor Pietro Aretino, theLettere Diversein three books (Aldus, 1567), and theLettere di Tredici Uomini Illustri(Venetia, 1554).

[318]Lettere, ed. cit. vol. iv. pp. 1-31.

[319]Another letter, dated Venice, August 1, 1504, is fuller in particulars about this dearly-loved brother.

[320]Il Cortegiano(ed. Lemonnier, Firenze, 1854), pp. 296-303. I have already spoken at some length about this essay in theAge of the Despots, pp. 183-190, and have narrated the principal events of Castiglione's life in theRevival of Learning, pp. 418-422. For his Latin poems seeib.pp. 490-497.

[321]Ed. cit. pp. 39-53.

[322]Ariosto's style was formed on precisely these principles.

[323]The preface to theCortegianomay be compared with this passage. When it appeared, the critics complained that Castiglione had not imitated Boccaccio. His answer is marked by good sense and manly logic: see pp. 3, 4. With Castiglione, Aretino joined hands, the ruffian with the gentleman, in this matter of revolt against the purists. See the chapter in this volume upon Aretino.

[324]Varchi'sErcolanoorDialogo delle Lingue; Sperone's dialogueDelle Lingue; Claudio Tolommei'sCesano; Girolamo Muzio'sBattaglie.

[325]Varchi called itFiorentina, Tolommei and SalviatiToscana, BargagliSenese, Trissino and MuzioItaliana. Castiglione and Bembo agreed in aiming at Italian rather than pure Tuscan, but differed in their proposed method of cultivating style. Bembo preferred to call the languageVolgare, as it was the common property of theVolgo. Castiglione suggested the titleCortigiana, as it was refined and settled by the usage of Courts. Yet Castiglione was more liberal than Bembo in acknowledging the claims of local dialects.

[326]For a list of commentators upon Petrarch at this period, see Tiraboschi, lib. iii. cap. iii., section 1. Common sense found at last sarcastic utterance in Tassoni.

[327]SeeRevival of Learning, pp. 365-368.

[328]Quirino is mentioned as "legitimatum, seu forsitan legitimandum," in La Casa's will (Opp.Venezia, Pasinelli, 1752, vol. i. p. lxxvii.). From his name and his age at La Casa's death we ought perhaps to refer this fruit of his amours to the Venetian period of his life and his intimacy with the Quirino family. His biographer, Casotti, says that he discovered nothing about the mother's name (loc. cit.p. lxxiii.).

[329]La Casa received a special commission at Venice in 1546, to prosecute Pier Paolo Vergerio for heresy. When Vergerio went into exile, he did his best to blacken La Casa's character, and used his writings to point the picture he drew in Protestant circles of ecclesiastical profligacy. The whole subject of La Casa's exclusion from the College is treated by his editor, Casotti (Opp.vol. 1. pp. xlv.-xlviii.). That the Bishop of Benevento was stung to the quick by Vergerio's invectives may be seen in his savage answer "Adversus Paulum Vergerium" (Opp.iii. 103), and in the hendecasyllables "Ad Germanos" (Opp.i. 295), both of which discuss theFornoand attempt to apologize for it.

[330]Opp.vol. i. pp. 237-306. Galateo is said to have been a certain Galeazzo Florimonte of Sessa.

[331]Vol. ii. of the Venetian edition, 1752.

[332]Take for instance this outburst from a complimentary sonnet (No. 40, vol. i. p. 70):O tempestosa, o torbida procella,Che 'n mar sì crudo la mia vita giri!Donna amar, ch'Amor odia e i suoi desiri,Che sdegno e feritate onor appella.Or this opening of the sonnet on Court-honors (No. 26):Mentre fra valli paludose ed imeRitengon me larve turbate, e mostri,Che tra le gemme, lasso, e l'auro, e gli ostriCopron venen, che 'l cor mi roda e lima.Or this from aCanzoneon his love (No. 2):Qual chiuso albergo in solitario boscoPien di sospetto suol pregar taloraCorrier di notte traviato e lasso;Tal io per entro il tuo dubbioso, e fosco.E duro calle, Amor, corro e trapasso.

[332]Take for instance this outburst from a complimentary sonnet (No. 40, vol. i. p. 70):

Or this opening of the sonnet on Court-honors (No. 26):

Or this from aCanzoneon his love (No. 2):

[333]Sonnet 58, vol. i. 154.

[334]No. 52,ib.p. 136.

[335]Canzone4,ib.p. 102.

[336]Sonnets 8, 26, 40.ib.pp. 12, 39, 70;Canzone2,ib.p. 79.

[337]They are Nos. 58, 50, 25, 26, 8. The sixth, on Jealousy, may be compared with Sannazzaro's, above,p. 200.

[338]La Casa,Canzone4 (Opp.i. 151).

[339]De Poetis, Dial. ii.

[340]Opere di Messer G. Guidiccioni(Firenze, Barbèra, 1867), vol. i. p. 12.

[341]We might parallel Guidiccioni's lamentations with several passages from the Latin elegies of the period, and with some of the obscurer compositions of Italian poetasters. See, for example, the extracts from Cariteo of Naples, Tibaldeo of Ferrara, and Cammelli of Pistoja on the passage of Charles VIII. quoted by Carducci,Delle Poesie Latine di Ludovico Ariosto, pp. 83-86. But the most touching expression of sympathy with Italy's disaster is the sudden silence of Boiardo in the middle of a canto ofOrlando. See above,part i. p. 463.

[342]See, for example, "Donna, qual mi foss'io," and "In voi mi trasformai," or "Eran l'aer tranquillo e l'onde chiare."

[343]See "Carlo il Quinto fu questi"; "Nell'apparir del giorno"; and "Venite all'ombra de' gran gigli d'oro."

[344]Among the liveliest missiles used in this squabble are Bronzino'sSattarelli, recently reprinted by Romagnoli, Bologna, 1863.

[345]Alberigo Longo was in fact murdered in 1555, and a servant of Castelvetro's was tried for the offense. But he was acquitted. Caro, on his side, gave occasion to the worst reports by writing in May 1560 to Varchi: "E credo che all'ultimo sarò sforzato a finirla, per ogni altra via, e vengane ciò che vuole." See Tiraboschi, Part 3, lib. iii. chap. 3 sec. 13.

[346]The identity of male and female education in Italy is an important feature of this epoch. The history of Vittorino da Feltre's school at Mantua given by his biographer, Rosmini, supplies valuable information upon this point. Students may consult Burckhardt,Cultur der Renaissance, sec. 5, ed. 2, p. 312; Gregorovius,Lucrezia Borgia, book i. sec. 4; Janitschek,Gesellschaft der Renaissance, Lecture 3.

[347]See Vulgate, Gen. ii. 23: "Hæc vocabitur Virago," etc.

[348]In a rare tract calledTariffa delle puttane, etc., Tullia d'Aragona is catalogued among the courtesans of Venice. See Passano,Novellieri in Verso, p. 118.

[349]SeeRevival of Learning, p. 375.

[350]Rinaldo Corso, quoted by Tiraboschi.

[351]SeeRicordi Inediti di Gerolamo Morone, pubblicati dal C. Tullio Dandolo, Milano, 1855.

[352]The most recent investigations tend rather to confirm the tradition of Vittoria's Lutheran leanings. See Giuseppe Campori'sVittoria Colonna(Modena, 1878), and the fine article upon it by Ernesto Masi in theRassegna Settimanale, January 29, 1879. Karl Benrath'sUeber die Quellen der italienischen Reformationsgeschichte(Bonn, 1876) is a valuable contribution to the history of Lutheran opinion in the South.

[353]The whole document may be seen in theArchivio Storico, nuov. ser. tom. v. part 2, p. 139, or in Grimm's Life of Michelangelo.

[354]The first lines of the introductory sonnet are strictly true:Scrivo sol per sfogar l'interna doglia,Di che si pasce il cor, ch'altro non vole,E non per giunger lume al mio bel sole,Che lasciò in terra si onorata spoglia.

[354]The first lines of the introductory sonnet are strictly true:

[355]The last biographer of Vittoria Colonna, G. Campori, has shown that her husband was by no means faithful to his marriage vows.

[356]The close of the twenty-second sonnet is touching by reason of its allusion to the past. Vittoria had no children.Sterili i corpi fur, l'alme feconde,Chè il suo valor lasciò raggio si chiaro,Che sarà lume ancor del nome mio.Se d'altre grazie mi fu il ciel avaro,E se il mio caro ben morte m'asconde,Pur con lui vivo; ed è quanto disio.

[356]The close of the twenty-second sonnet is touching by reason of its allusion to the past. Vittoria had no children.

[357]See, for instance,Rime Varie, Sonetto li. and lxxi. xc.

[358]It is No. 31 of theRime Varie(Florence, Barbèra, 1860).

[359]The introductory Sonnet has, however, these uglyconcetti:I santi chiodi ormai sian le mie penne,E puro inchiostro il prezioso sangue;Purgata carta il sacro corpo esangue,Sì ch'io scriva nel cor quel ch'ei sostenne.

[359]The introductory Sonnet has, however, these uglyconcetti:

[360]Rime Sacre, 119, 120, 86, 87.

[361]Ibid.75, 80, 81.

[362]For a brief account of Michelangelo'sRime, seeFine Arts, Appendix ii.; also the introduction to my translation of the sonnets,The Sonnets of Michael Angelo Buonarroti and Tommaso Campanella, Smith and Elder, 1878.

[363]Varchi's and Guidicci'sLezioniwill be found in Guasti's edition of theRime.

[364]I use the Life prefixed by G. Campori to hisLettere Inedite di Bernardo Tasso(Bologna, Romagnoli, 1869).

[365]TheAmadigiwas printed by Giolito at Venice in 1560 under the author's own supervision. The book is a splendid specimen of florid typography.

[366]Besides theAmadigi, Bernardo Tasso composed a second narrative poem, theFloridante, which his son, Torquato, retouched and published at Mantua in 1587.

[367]Giangiorgio Trissino, by Bernardo Morsolin (Vicenza, 1878), is a copious biography and careful study of this poet's times.

[368]Francesco died in 1514.

[369]See above,pp. 126-128.

[370]See Morsolin,op. cit., p. 360, for Trissino's own emphatic statement that his services had been unpaid.Ibid.p. 344, for a list of the personages he complimented.

[371]Ibid.p. 323.

[372]Ibid.pp. 219-235.

[373]Ibid.p. 301.

[374]Op. cit.p. 366.

[375]Op. cit.p. 385.

[376]Ibid.p. 413.

[377]Ibid.p. 414.

[378]The whole of this extraordinary sequel to Trissino's biography will be read with interest in the last chapter of Signor Morsolin's monograph. It leaves upon my mind the impression that Giulio, though unpardonably ill-tempered, and possibly as ill-conducted in his private life as his foes asserted, was the victim of an almost diabolical persecution.

[379]See Morsolin,op. cit., p. 197. This device was imprinted as early as 1529, upon the books published for Trissino at Verona by Janicolo of Brescia.

[380]ThePoeticawas printed in 1529; but it had been composed some years earlier.

[381]His grammatical and orthographical treatises were published under the titles ofEpistola a Clemente VII.,Grammatichetta,Dialogo Castellano,Dubbi Grammaticali. Firenzuola made Trissino's new letters famous and ridiculous by the burlesque sonnets he wrote upon them.

[382]Vicenza, Tolomeo Janicolo, 1529.

[383]Nine books were first printed at Rome in 1547 by Valerio and Luigi Dorici. The whole, consisting of twenty-seven books, was published at Venice in 1548 by Tolomeo Janicolo of Brescia. This Janicolo was Trissino's favorite publisher.

[384]See the Madrigals inOpere Burlesche, vol. iii. pp. 36-38.

[385]Ibid.p. 290.

[386]InMac.xx. (p. 152 of Mantuan edition, 1771), he darkly alludes to this episode of his early life, where he makes an exposed witch exclaim:Nocentina vocor magicis tam dedita chartis,Decepique mea juvenem cum fraude Folengum.

[386]InMac.xx. (p. 152 of Mantuan edition, 1771), he darkly alludes to this episode of his early life, where he makes an exposed witch exclaim:

[387]I cannot find sufficient authority for the story of Folengo's having had a grammar-master named Cocaius, from whom he borrowed part of his pseudonym. The explanation given by his Mantuan editor, which I have adopted in the text, seems the more probable.Cocájin Mantuan dialect means a cork for a bottle; and the phrasech'al fà di cocájis used to indicate some extravagant absurdity or blunder.

[388]There seems good reason, from many passages in hisMaccaronea, to believe that his repentance was sincere. I may here take occasion to remark that, though his poems are gross in the extreme, their moral tone is not unhealthy. He never makes obscenity or vice attractive.

[389]Part of Folengo's satire is directed against the purists. See Canto i. 7-9. He confesses himself a Lombard, and shrugs his shoulders at their solemn criticisms:Non però, se non nacqui Tosco, i' piango;Chè ancora il ciacco gode nel suo fango.To the reproach of "turnip-eating Lombard" he retorts, "Tuscan chatterbox." Compare vi. 1, 2, on his own style:Oscuri sensi ed affettate rime,Qual'è chi dica mai compor Limerno?

[389]Part of Folengo's satire is directed against the purists. See Canto i. 7-9. He confesses himself a Lombard, and shrugs his shoulders at their solemn criticisms:

To the reproach of "turnip-eating Lombard" he retorts, "Tuscan chatterbox." Compare vi. 1, 2, on his own style:

[390]The first line of the elegy placed upon the edition of 1526 runs thus:Mensibus istud opus tribusindignatio fecit.Folengo claims for himself a satiric purpose. The edition used by me is Molini's, Londra, 1775.

[390]The first line of the elegy placed upon the edition of 1526 runs thus:

Mensibus istud opus tribusindignatio fecit.

Folengo claims for himself a satiric purpose. The edition used by me is Molini's, Londra, 1775.

[391]See abovePart i. p. 455, for the belief that Poliziano was the real author of theMorgante Maggiore.

[392]Canto i. 64, 65; ii. 1-4:Ed io dico ch'Amor è un bardassolaPiù che sua madre non fu mai puttana, etc.Folengo, of course, has a mistress, to whom he turns at the proper moments of his narrative. Thismia diva Caritungais a caricature of the fashionable Laura. See v. 1, 2:O donna mia, ch'hai gli occhi, ch'hai l'orecchie,Quelli di pipistrel, queste di bracco, etc.

[392]Canto i. 64, 65; ii. 1-4:

Folengo, of course, has a mistress, to whom he turns at the proper moments of his narrative. Thismia diva Caritungais a caricature of the fashionable Laura. See v. 1, 2:

[393]Canto ii. 9-42.

[394]Canto vi. 40-46. I have placed a translation of this passage in anAppendixto this chapter.

[395]Canto v. 56-58. The contempt for country folk seems unaffected.

[396]Canto vi. 55-57. This passage is a caricature of Pulci's burlesque description of the Last Day. See abovePart i. p. 449. Folengo's loathing of the strangers who devoured Italy is clear here, as also in i. 43, ii. 4, 59. But there is no force in his invectives or laments.L'Italia non più Italia appello,Ma d'ogni strana gente un bel bordello....Che 'l cancaro mangiasse il Taliano,Il quale, o ricco, o povero che sia,Desidra in nostre stanze il Tramontano....Chè se non fosser le gran parti in quella,Dominerebbe il mondo Italia bella.

[397]For verily on that most dreadful day,When in the Valley of JehosaphatThe trump shall sound, and thrill this globe of clay,And dead folk shuddering leave their tombs thereat,No well, sewer, privy shall be found, I say,Which, while the angels roar their rat-tat-tat,Shall not disgorge its Spaniards, Frenchmen, Swiss,Germans, and rogues of every race that is.Then shall we see a wonderful dispute,As each with each they wrangle, bone for bone;One grasps an arm, one grabs a hand, a foot;Comes one who says, "These are not yours, you loon!""They're mine!" "They're not!" While many a limb of bruteJoined to their human bodies shall be shown,Mule's heads, bull's legs, cruppers and ears of asses,As each man's life on earth his spirit classes.

[397]

[398]Canto vi. 8-11:Quì nacque Orlando, l'inclito Barone;Quì nacque Orlando, Senator Romano, etc.

[398]Canto vi. 8-11:

[399]Canto vii. 61-65.

[400]He has been identified on sufficiently plausible grounds with Ignazio Squarcialupo, the prior of Folengo's convent. In theMaccaroneathis burlesque personage reappears as the keeper of a tavern in hell, who feeds hungry souls on the most hideous messes of carrion and vermin (Book xxiii. p. 217). There is sufficient rancor in Griffarosto's portrait to justify the belief that Folengo meant in it to gratify a private thirst for vengeance.

[401]In the play on the wordlinguethere is a side-thrust at the Purists.

[402]Canto viii. 23-32.

[403]Canto viii. 73-84. This passage I have also translated and placed in anAppendixto this chapter, where the chief Lutheran utterances of the burlesque poets will be found together.

[404]In addition to the eighth Canto, I have drawn on iii. 4, 20; iv. 13; vi. 44, for this list.

[405]Leo X.'s complacent acceptance of theMandragolaproves this.

[406]The curious history of Giulio Trissino, told by Bernardo Morsolin in the last chapters of hisGiangiorgio Trissino(Vicenza, 1878), reveals the manner of men who adopted Lutheranism in Italy in the sixteenth century. See above,p. 304. I shall support the above remarks lower down in this chapter by reference to Berni's Lutheran opinions.

[407]The political and ecclesiastical satires known in England as the work of Walter Mapes, abound in pseudo-Maccaronic passages. Compare Du Méril,Poésies Populaires Latines antérieures au xiime Siècle, p. 142, etc., for further specimens of undeveloped Maccaronic poetry of the middle ages.

[408]Those who are curious to study this subject further, should consult the two exhaustive works of Octave Delepierre,Macaronéana(Paris, 1852), andMacaronéana Andra(Londres, Trübner, 1862). These two publications contain a history of Maccaronic verse, with reprints of the scarcer poems in this style. The second gives the best text of Odassi, Fossa, and theVirgiliana. TheMaccheronee di Cinque Poeti Italiani(Milano, Daelli, 1864), is a useful little book, since it reproduces Delepierre's collections in a cheap and convenient form. In the uncertainty which attends the spelling of this word, I have adopted the formMaccaronic.

[409]Take one example, from the induction to Odassi's poems (Mac. Andr.p. 63):O putanarum putanissima, vacca vaccarum,O potifarum potissima pota potaza ...Tu Phrosina mihi foveas, mea sola voluptas;Nulla mihi poterit melius succurrere Musa,Nullus Apollo magis.

[409]Take one example, from the induction to Odassi's poems (Mac. Andr.p. 63):

[410]The book was first printed at Vicenza. The copy I have studied is the Florentine edition of 1574. Scrofa's verses, detached from the collection, may be found in theParnaso Italiano, vol. xxv.

[411]Op. cit.p. 23.

[412]Bernardino Scardeone in his workDe antiquitate urbis Patavii, etc. (Basileæ, 1560), speaks of Odassi as the inventor of Maccaronic poetry: "adinvenit enim primus ridiculum carminis genus, nunquam prius a quopiam excogitatum, quod Macaronæum nuncupavit, multis farcitum salibus, et satyrica mordacitate respersum." He adds that Odassi desired on his deathbed that the book should be burned. In spite of this wish, it was frequently reprinted during Scardeone's lifetime.

[413]It is with great regret that I omit Bertapalia, the charlatan—a portrait executed with inimitable verve. Students of Italian life in its lowest and liveliest details should seek him out.Mac. Andr.pp. 68-71.

[414]Ibid.p. 71. I have altered spelling and punctuation.

[415]Cognosces in me quantum tua numina possunt,Quæque tua veniunt stilantia carmina pota.

[415]

[416]This anonymous poet has been variously identified with Odassi and with Fossa of Cremona. The frequent occurrence of Paduan idioms seems to point to a Paduan rather than a Cremonese author; and though there is no authoritative reason for referring the poem to Odassi, it resembles his style sufficiently to render the hypothesis of his authorship very plausible. The name of the hero, Vigonça, is probably the ItalianBigoncia, which meant in one sense a pulpit or a reading-desk, in its ordinary sense a tub.

[417]Daelli,Maccheronee di Cinque Poeti Italiani(Milano, 1864), p. 50; cp.Mac. Andr.p. 19.

[418]Daelli,op. cit.pp. 52, 54.

[419]Ibid.p. 112;Mac. Andra, p. 32.

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