Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/482

 464 ITALY (LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE) ri) in literature ; and Volta, Melchiorre Gioja, Romagnosi, Scarpa, Spallarizani, and Oriani in the sciences. The author who doubtless exert- ed the greatest influence on the regeneration of poetry was Vincenzo Monti (1754-1828), who in the contest between the classic and the romantic tendencies favored the former, and in the contest between the Gallicists, or imita- tors of the French literature and idioms, and the purists, who made Petrarch, Dante, and the other old Italian masters their models, sided with the latter. His poems, as Bamilli- ana and Feroniade, his tragedies, as Galeotto Manfredi, his elegy Mascheroniana, the Pro- posta, in which he disputed the restrictions which the Delia Cruscans had fastened upon the language, and his translation of the Iliad, alike display an admirable and nervous style. Two works of Monti deserve special mention, his Bassvilliana and Prometeo. The former, in which the spirit of Basseville, a French revolutionist, is condemned to travel through France under the guidance of an angel, wit- nessing the suffering resulting from the adop- tion of the principles he advocated, is in many respects an imitation of the Divina Commedia. It is filled with remarkable poetical descrip- tions, presented with intense dramatic vividness. The frometeo (1797) is also a close imitation of Dante, and is in effect an apotheosis of Napo- leon as the impersonation of might and virtue. Pindemonte also made a light and graceful ver- sion of the Odyssey, and in his original poems es- pecially lamented the desolation of his country. Ugo Foscolo (1777-1827) belongs to the school of Alfieri. His Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis, a political and passionate romance in imitation of Goethe's Werther, is supposed to describe his own troubled life. He wrote the lyric 1 sepolcri, and other works in prose and verse, remarkable both for power and beauty. Mez- zanotte celebrated in verse the struggle of the modern Greeks for liberty, regarding it not only as a political but as a religious conflict between Christianity and Islamism. The lyrical poems of Leopardi (died in 1837) are highly esteemed. Among the epic and didactic poets were Botta, Ricci, Bagnoli, Arici, Grossi, Sestini, Pananti, and Lorenzi. Antonio Cesari (died in 1828) was the chief of the Trecentists, a school which carried its love of the Italian authors of the 14th century to affectation. Stratico published a dictionary containing only the words used by the Marinist authors. Prati, Aleardi, and the versatile priest, dramatist, and journalist Dall' Ongaro (died in 1873), are among the best Ital- ian lyric poets of our time. The conte Giraud, a Roman by birth but of French parentage, re- vived Italian comedy at the beginning of the cen- tury, and aimed at imitating both Goldoni and Moli^re. He did not try however to reproduce anything like the Tartufe or the Misanthrope, but took as his model the Bourgeois gentil- homme and other low comedies of the French master. To this class belong the numerous dramas of Giraud, chief among which is ISAjo nelV itnbarazzo ; this and H prognosticate fanatico, La eapriciosa eonfusa, and Don De- siderio, are his best comedies ; the others be- long to the low amusing type introduced by Eugene Scribe. Less amusing than Giraud", but superior to him in every other respect, is Alberto Nota, who has equalled Goldoni in dramatic excellence, and surpassed him as a writer. In 1808 his / primi passi al mal eot- tume was played in Turin, and in 1813 he brought out his Filosofo celibe, which greatly heightened his reputation. Both are elegant in their diction and full of wit. In 1826 he produced La fiera, his best work. From 1826 to 1847 Italian comedy had no representatives. At the close of Charles Albert's reign appeared Paolo Ferrari, Gherardi del Testa, and Giaeo- metti. Ferrari obtained a great reputation by three principal comedies, Goldoni e le sue se- deci commedie, La Satira e Parini, and La Prosa. Other productions of Ferrari, such as La bottega del cappellaio and II ballo in pro- vincia, still maintain their place on the comic stage ; but since 1860 his dramatic composi- tions are all inferior to these. Gherardi del Testa before 1859 had written farces like II lieretto bianco and II sogno di un brillante, and graceful comedies like 11 sistema di Giorgio and Un awentura ai bagni, which had shown him the equal of Giraud for invention, and his su- perior for style. Since 1859 he has much in- creased his reputation for excellent light come- dies. Giacometti remains far beneath these two authors. Among his numerous produc- tions three have been favorably mentioned by critics, La donna, La donna in seconde nozie, and II fisionomista, this last being a poor imi- tation of Giraud's Prognosticante fanatico. Other dramatic compositions of the ante-uni- tarian period are Sabbatini's Tassoni, and Teo- baldo Cicconi's Pecorelle smarrite ; Cromwell, La notte di San Bartolommeo, and Luigia della Valliera, by Pietro Corelli ; Cuore ed arte, by Caterino de' Medici Fortis ; and the trage- dies Gaspara Stampa by Casabianca, Piccarda Donati by Marenco, Canima and Tentazione (1856) by Montanelli, the last having great merit not only as a play but as a poem. According to some critics, Giovanni Battista Niccolini is the first tragic writer of Italy in this century ; he is less remarkable for regularity of plot than for simplicity of dramatic action. Filippo Strozzi and Arnaldo da Brescia are his mas- terpieces. Among the writers of historical and national dramas is also to be mentioned Re- vere; and among Italy's eminent actors are Modena, Salvini, Rossi, Marchioneri, and Si- gnora Ristori. Among the historical writers of the earlier part of the present century, two, Vincenzo Coco (died in 1823) and Carlo Botta (died in 1837), deserve a special men- tion. Coco left two works, La rivohizione di Napoli and Platone in Italia, which prove him to be a profound thinker of the school of Vice. His narrative of events in the kingdom of Naples concludes with the wholesale eze-