CANZ. 14. S e debile il filo, &c.
Pleasing:
BALL. 1. La.s.sare il velo, &c.
CANZ. 1. Nel dolce tempo, &c.
This poem was imitated by our old Herbert; [2] it is ridiculous in the thoughts, but simple and sweet in diction.
Dignified:
CANZ. 2. O aspettata in ciel, &c.
9. Gentil mia Donna, &c.
The first half of this ninth canzone is exquisite; and in Canzone 8, the nine lines beginning: O poggi, o valli, &c.
to "cura", are expressed with vigour and chast.i.ty.
CANZ. 9.
Daquel d innanzi a me medesmo piacqui, Empiendo d"un pensier" alto, e soave Quel core, "ond" hanno i begli occhi la chiave."
Note. O that the Pope would take these eternal keys, which so for ever turn the bolts on the finest pa.s.sages of true pa.s.sion!
VOL. II.
CANZ. 1. Che debb" io far? &c.
Very good; but not equal, I think, to Canzone 2,
Amor, se vuoi ch" i" torni, &c.
though less faulty. With the omission of half-a-dozen conceits and Petrarchisms of "hooks, baits, flames," and "torches", this second canzone is a bold and impa.s.sioned lyric, and leaves no doubt in my mind of Petrarch"s having possessed a true poetic genius.
"Utinam deleri possint sequentia":--
L. 17-19.
--e la soave fiamma Ch" ancor, la.s.so! m" infiamma Essendo spenta, or che fea dunque ardendo?
L. 54-56.
--ov" erano a tutt" ore Disposti gli ami ov" io fui preso, e l"esca Ch" i" bramo sempre.
L. 76-79.
--onde l" accese Saette uscivan d" invisibil foco, E ragion temean poco; Che contra "l ciel non val difesa umana.
And the lines 86, 87.
Poser" in dubbio, a cui Devesse il pregio di piu laude darsi --are rather flatly worded.
[Footnote 1: These notes, by Mr. C., are written in a Petrarch in my possession, and are of some date before 1812. It is hoped that they will not seem ill placed here. Ed.]
[Footnote 2: If George Herbert is meant, I can find nothing like an imitation of this canzone in his poems. Ed.]
LUIGI PULCI.
Born at Florence, 1431.--Died about 1487.
Pulci was of one of the n.o.blest families in Florence, reported to be one of the Frankish stocks which remained in that city after the departure of Charlemagne:--
Pulcia Gallorum soboles descendit in urbem, Clara quidem bello, sacris nec inhospita Musis.
Verino "De ill.u.s.trat. Cort. Flor." III. v. 118.
Members of this family were five times elected to the Priorate, one of the highest honours of the republic. Pulci had two brothers, and one of their wives, Antonia, who were all poets:--
Carminibus patriis notissima Pulcia proles; Quis non hanc urbem Musarum dicat arnicam, Si tres producat fratres domus una poetas?
"Ib." II. v. 241.
Luigi married Lucrezia di Uberto, of the Albizzi family, and was intimate with the great men of his time, but more especially with Angelo Politian, and Lorenzo the Magnificent. His Morgante has been attributed, in part at least,[1] to the a.s.sistance of Marsilius Ficinus, and by others the whole has been attributed to Politian. The first conjecture is utterly improbable; the last is possible, indeed, on account of the licentiousness of the poem; but there are no direct grounds for believing it. The "Morgante Maggiore" [2] is the first proper romance; although, perhaps, Pulci had the "Teseide" before him. The story is taken from the fabulous history of Turpin; and if the author had any distinct object, it seems to have been that of making himself merry with the absurdities of the old romancers. The "Morgante" sometimes makes you think of Rabelais. It contains the most remarkable guess or allusion upon the subject of America that can be found in any book published before the discovery. [3] The well known pa.s.sage in the tragic Seneca is not to be compared with it. The "copia verborum" of the mother Florentine tongue, and the easiness of his style, afterwards brought to perfection by Berni, are the chief merits of Pulci; his chief demerit is his heartless spirit of jest and buffoonery, by which sovereigns and their courtiers were flattered by the degradation of nature, and the "impossibilification" of a pretended virtue.
[Footnote: 1 Meaning the 25th canto. Ed.]
[Footnote 2: The "Morgante" was printed in 1488. Ed.]
[Footnote 3: The reference is, of course, to the following stanzas:--
Disse Astarotte: un error lungo e fioco Per molti secol non ben conosciuto, Fa che si dice d" Ercol le colonne, E che piu la molti periti sonne.
Sappi che questa opinione e vana; Perche piu oltre navicar si puote, Per che l" acqua in ogni parte e piana, Benche la terra abbi forma di ruote: Era piu grossa allor la gente humana; Falche potrebbe arrosirne le gote Ercule ancor d" aver posti que" segni, Perche piu oltre pa.s.seranno i legni.
E puossi andar giu ne l" altro emisperio, Per che al centro ogni cosa reprime; S che la terra per divin misterio Sospesa sta fra le stelle sublime, E la giu son citta, castella, e imperio; Ma nol cogn.o.bbon quelle genti prime: Vedi che il sol di camminar s" affretta, Dove io ti dico che la giu s" aspetta.
E come un segno surge in Oriente, Un altro cade con mirabil arte, Come si vede qua ne l" Occidente, Per che il ciel giustamente comparte; Antipodi appellata e quella gente; Adora il sole e Jupiterre e Marte, E piante e animal come voi hanno, E spesso insieme gran battaglie fanno.
C. XXV. st. 228, &c.]
CHAUCER.
Born in London, 1328.--Died 1400. [1]
Chaucer must be read with an eye to the Norman-French Trouveres, of whom he is the best representative in English. He had great powers of invention. As in Shakspeare, his characters represent cla.s.ses, but in a different manner; Shakspeare"s characters are the representatives of the interior nature of humanity, in which some element has become so predominant as to destroy the health of the mind; whereas Chaucer"s are rather representatives of cla.s.ses of manners. He is therefore more led to individualize in a mere personal sense. Observe Chaucer"s love of nature; and how happily the subject of his main work is chosen. When you reflect that the company in the Decameron have retired to a place of safety from the raging of a pestilence, their mirth provokes a sense of their unfeelingness; whereas in Chaucer nothing of this sort occurs, and the scheme of a party on a pilgrimage, with different ends and occupations, aptly allows of the greatest variety of expression in the tales.