III. QUAL in colle aspro, al imbrunir di sera Va bagnando l'herbetta strana e bella Cosi Amor meco insù la lingua snella Desta il fior novo di strania favella, Mentre io di te, vezzosamente altera, Canto, dal mio buon popol not inteso, E'l bel Tamigi cangio col bel Arno. Deh! foss' il mio cuor lento e'l duro seno CANZONE*. RIDONSI donne e giovani amorosi M' accostandosi attorno, e perche scrivi, 1. Qual in colle aspro, al imbrunir di sera] To express the approach of evening, the Italians say, fu l'imbrunir. And thus Petrarch, "Imbrunir veggio la "sera." Canz. xxxvii. See note on the word imbrown, in Par. Lost, b. iv. 246. T. Warton. 3. Va bagnando l'herbetta &c.] See Petrarch's Canzone, xxxvii. Da bagnar l'herbe, &c. Of Milton's Sonnets, only this, the fourth, fifth, and sixteenth, 5 10 are closed with rhyming couplets" T. Warton. It is from Petrarch, that Milton mixes the Canzone with the Sonetto Dante regarded the Canzone as the most perfect species of lyric composition. Della Volg. Eloqu. c. iv. But for the Canzone he allows more laxity than for the Sonnet. He says, when the Song is written on a grave or tragic subject, it is denominated Canzone, and when on a comic, cantilena, as diminutive. T. Warton. Dinne, se la tua speme sia mai vana, Spuntati ad hor, ad hor a la tua chioma Dice mia Donna, e'l suo dir, é il mio cuore IV. DIODATI, e te'l dirò con maraviglia, Quel ritroso io ch'amor spreggiar soléa Gia caddi, ov'huom dabben talhor s'impiglia. Ne treccie d'oro, ne guancia vermiglia 5 10 15 5 Portamenti alti honesti, e nelle ciglia Quel sereno fulgor d' amabil néro, Parole adorne di lingua piu d' una, E degli occhi suoi auventa si gran fuoco V. PER certo i bei vostr' occhi, Donna mia Esser non puo che non sian lo mio sole Si mi percuoton forte, come ei suole 8. Portamenti alti honesti,] So before, Sonn. iii. 8. "Vezzosa"mente altera." Portamento expresses the lofty dignified deportment, by which the Italian poets constantly describe female beauty; and which is strikingly characteristic of the composed majestic carriage of the Italian ladies, either as contrasted with the liveliness of the French, or the timid delicacy of the English. Compare Petrarch's first Sonnet on the Death of Laura. Sonn. ccxxix. Ohime, il bel viso! Ohime, il soave sgardo! Ohime, il portamento leggiadro altiero! Our author appears to have applied this Italian idea of a graceful solemnity in his description of Eve. 10 cie d'oro, nor the bloom so conspicuous in fair-haired complexions, guancia vermiglia; but with the nelle ciglia Quel sereno fulgor d'amabil nero, the degli occhi si gran fuoco. I would add the E'l cantar, unless that was a particular compliment to his Leonora. The dark hair and eye of Italy are now become his new favourites. When a youth of nineteen, in his general description of the English Fair, he celebrates Cupid's golden nets of hair, l. i. el. i. 60. And in Comus, beauty is characterized by vermeil-tinctured cheeks, and tresses like the morn. T. Warton. Per l'arene di Libia chi s' invia, Scoffo mi il petto, e poi n'uscendo poco VI. * GIOVANE piano, e semplicetto amante De pensieri leggiadro, accorto, e buono ; Tanto del forse, e d' invidia sicuro, Di timori, e speranze al popol use E di cetta sonora, e delle muse: *The forced thoughts at the close of this Sonnet are intolerable. But he was now in the land of conceit, and was infected by writing in its language. He had changed his native Thames for Arno, Sonn. iii. 9. 5 10 5 10 Canto, dal mio buon popol non inteso, + Milton had a natural severity of mind. For love-verses, his Italian Sonnets have a re VII. On his being arrived to the age of 23.* How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stol'n on his wing my three and twentieth year! markable air of gravity and dignity. They are free from the metaphysics of Petrarch, and are more in the manner of Dante. Yet he calls his seventh Sonnet, in a Letter printed from the Cambridge manuscript by Birch, a composition in the Petrarchian stanza. In 1762, the late Mr. Thomas. Hollis examined the Laurentian library at Florence, for six Italian Sonnets of Milton, addressed to his friend Chimentelli; and, for other Italian and Latin compositions and various original letters, said to be remaining in manuscript at Florence. He searched also for an original bust in marble of Milton, supposed to be somewhere in that city. But he was unsuccessful in his curious enquiries. T. Warton. |
