Ni jamais non l'avero, Belha, doussa 14, dama chera 15, 18 10 bien. 12 l'ai. 11 ai. 13 jamais. 14 Belle, 17 mauvaise guerrière, méchante 16 vous. 20 vous,-throughout this 9 celui. douce. ennemie. stanza the v is changed into b. 23 Toujours vous êtes. 24 brave. 25 Pourvu que vous ne me fussiez si fiers. 26 moult vous avez vraies façons. 21 vous m'etes. 27 Avec couleur fraiche et nouvelle ; ** vraie. The German emperors of the house of Swabia not only admired and patronized every where the popular French poetry, but stimulated their subjects to emulation in their native tongues. In this they were as much actuated by sound policy as by a liberal taste; for it is impossible for any one acquainted with the history of the age, not to have observed how powerfully its rising literature was directed to weaken the in fluence of the Church, both indirectly by stimulating the intellect of mankind, and directly by the daring manner in which its professors openly combined to expose the papal corruption, and to rouse that resistance which the prevailing superstition rendered it difficult for sovereigns to effect by open force of arms. Dante (de Vulg. Eloq. 1. 12.), as quoted by Mr. Carey, bears express testimony to the salutary influence of the Imperial patronage:-"Those illustrious worthies, Frederic the Emperor and his son Manfredi, manifested their nobility and uprightness of form as long as fortune remained, by following pursuits worthy of men, and disdaining those which are suited only to brutes. Such, therefore, as were of lofty spirit and graced with natural endowments, endeavoured to walk in the track which the majesty of such great princes had marked out for them; so that, whatever was in their time attempted by eminent Italians first made its appearance in the court of crowned sovereigns; and because Sicily was a royal throne, it came to pass that whatever was produced in the vernacular tongue by our predecessors was called Sicilian, which neither we nor our posterity shall be able to change." During the last part of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century, Henry VI. and Frederic II. had added Naples and Sicily to their Italian possessions; and there the first known efforts of the Italian muse appeared. Ciullo d'Alcamo, a Sicilian, at the end of the 12th century, sings in no very despicable strain, as quoted by M. Ginguené from Allacci's Poeti Antichi Rosa fresca aulentissima Per te non aio abento nocte e dia Pensando pur di voi, Madonna mia! But Frederic II. himself was one of the earliest Italian rimers, and thus commences a canzone in a style remarkable neither for its purity nor poetic fire: Poiche ti piace, amore E no mi partiraggio Da voi, donna valente; Ch' eo v' amo dolcemente; E piace a voi ch' eo haggia intendimento; Che lo meo core adesso a voi s' inchina. With him we must place his learned but unfortunate chancellor Petrus de Vineis, who uses a purer idiom; indeed, one that seems as classical as that of Dante Or potess' io venire a voi, amorosa, E v' ameraggio, in fin ch' io vivo, ancora. Guido delle Colonne follows a few years later in the same school, and tells his lady, Ben passa rose e fiori Più rende aulente audore C' ha nome la Pantera.* Jacopo da Lentino, of the same period, furnishes a sonnet that proves the Italians to have very early attached themselves to that form and style of poetry to which they so long adhered with success. mixture of love and religion is in the genuine feeling of the Troubadours. Io mi agio posto in core a Dio servire Ove si mantiene sollazzo, gioco e riso. The * The panther is introduced in several of the early Italian poets as a subject of comparison. How the breath of that beast acquired the repute assigned to it, does not appear. |