Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/38

* ITAI-IAN LITERATURE. 26 ITALIAN LITERATURE. renewed life to the study of the poet; Giuseppe Baretti ( 1711I-8'.)) . the author of Letlcre famili- ari. that are eharining in their descriptive style, and of the satirical I'lusta letleruna, in which he lashed contemporary writers: and (iirolamo Tiraboschi (1731-94), whose Storia dilhi let- teratura italiaiia extends down to the end of the seventeenth century. A man in whom eclectic tendencies were dominant was 'incenzo Monti ( 1754-1828) . wlio. rcjuvenatin<; traditional forms of Italian poetry, could breathe into them the modern spirit of liberty that the French Revolu- tion had lately evoked, and add to them elements borrowed from the best that forci^ni literature <ould olTer. He be<ran with imitations of the Arcadian manner of Fmgoni, but applied himself before long to more serious pur|)oses, and reviv- inK the form of the Dantesque poem in his Bass- rilliaitn. which describes the horrible excesses of revolution, he next constituted himself the spokesman of deuKK'racy in his trafiedy, Caio Gracco. and in a number of other no less impor- tant works. His translation of the Iliad is a performance of some merit. A no less typical personage of the time Ijetween the French Revo- lution and the fall of Xapolcon was Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827). hose cimipositions echo the Italian aversion to the Imperial sway of Xapolcon. An imitator of Alfieri in his tragedy Ticste. Foscolo copied Goethe's Wertlier in his Vltime lettere di Jacopo Ortis. His masterpiece is the poem / Scpolcri, which, recalling the glories of past heroes, stimulated the Italians of his time to action imitative thereof; his tragedy Ajnrc is in a. classic strain, while another tragedy. Ifircinrda, deals with medifeval tradition. In his Poesle campestri, Ippolito Pindemonte (17.53-1828) rests under obligations to English poets as well as to the Greeks and Latins; his Srpolrri is an answer to Foscolo's work. Pindemonte trans- lated the Odi/ssci/ into blank verse. From the prose writers of the Xapolconic period we may single out Carlo Botta (17CG-1837), an advocate of political freedom in his historical works {Storia della ifiurra d'iiidipfiidniza drijU Stali Uniti d'Amrrira and .S/orm d'llnlia dnl ItSO "l ISl',) : Giovanni Giraud (177G-1834), whose comedies follow Fn-nch models ; Luigi Lanzi (1732-1810). who wrote the .S/orio piltorica d'ltalia ; and Ijcopoldo Cicognara (1707-1834). the author of the f!torin delta scoltiira. A purist in speech and an ardent admirer of the older masters of the fourteenth century, of whose works he prepared editions, was Antonio Cesari (I7G0-182S). whose efTorts were paralleled by those of Michele Colombo (1747-18.38). With the end of the X'apolconic regime, the feeling for liiedia'val independence began to grow stronger and stronger, and finally it culminated in the struggle with the Austrians in 1848. The senti- Tjient of the leaders of national thought at this time found expression in many works of value, eategorized. as the ease may be. as belonging to the Classic or the Romantic School. In all alike the idea of political unity ruled supreme. ^^'hiIe the Romantic School was growing tmder the inflti- enee of German and English literature with its centre in Lombardy (for its organ, the Cnncilia- tore. was published at Milan), the Classic School clung to the tradition of Alfieri and Foscolo, giving preference to the forms of an- tiquity as the most perfect expression of the human ideal, and receiving its greatest develop- ment in Romagna. The leader of the former school was ilanzoni, the leader of the latter was Leoi)ardi. Alessandro ^lanzoni (1785-1873), essaying at first the classic manner, entcre<l upon the patri more peculiarly his own with the Inni sacri (1815), and the ode // ciinim- Mai/i/io on Xapo- leon's death (1821). Disregarding the classic unities of time and place, he composed, between 1817 and 1822, two tragedies, // Coiitc di Carmu- riiiola and tile Adrlchi, among the early examples in Italy of the historical drama. He also gave to the century the first Itjilian historical novel in his celebrated I'romessi sposi, a work of the kind that Scott had already cultivated with so much success. It proved to be a masterpiece, and l)e- came popular at home and abroad. Xot the lca»t merit of the author in connection with tliis work is that it briiught literature nearer to the masses. About Manzoni there grouped themselves many romanticists who imitated his religious and pa- triotic hymns, his historical dramas, and his novel. Some of them were Giovanni Berchet (1783-1851). the founder of the I'oncilintorv : Tommaso Grossi (1791-1853); Silvio Pellico ( 17891854) . the author of tragedies and Ij'rics, but better known for his prose work descriptive of his experience in Austrian prisons. Le mio priffioni : Giuseppe Xicolini (1788-1855). who translated Byron ond wrote a biography of Scott; Giuseppe Giusti (1809-50). who produced politi- cal satires and burlesque poems: Massimo d'Aze- glio( 1798-18(i(i). who wrote the historical novels Ettore Fieramosca and icolu de' Lapi. and the autobiography / miei rirordi ; Giuseppe Mazzini ( 1808-72), a patriot and the best critic of the Ro- mantic set; and Francesco Domenico Gucrrazzi (1804-73). who published many historical novels iBattafjIia di' Benevcnto. Beatrice f'c7tci, etc.). As critics and historians. Cesare Balbo (1780- 1853) and Gino Capponi (1792-1870. founder of the Antolofiia and the Arcliitio atorico italiano) deserve especial mention. The classicist Gia- como Leopardi (1798-1837) stood far above the others of his group. A humanist of mar'elou« force, Leopardi strove ever to attain classic ex- cellence of form. His Jdilli. f'an~o»i, and Canti show an entire harmony of form and matter, and through all sounds the note of anguish that emanated from his tortured soul and found further expression in the pessimism of his phi- losophy. His prose works, like the Pensieri, are likewise commendable for their form. The critic and expouniler of the doctrines of classicism was Pietro Giordani (1774-1848): others who put the doctrines into practice were Dionigi Strocchi (1702-1850). Cesare .Montaiti (1770-1840). Fran- cesco Cassi (1778-1840). Carlo Marenco (1800- 46). and Giambattista Niccolini (1782-1861), both of whom produced many tragedies. Of writers of the past half-century, it is hard to speak with any certainty that one is estimating them at their proper value. Yet a prominent place must be assigned to Giovanni Prati (1815- 84), who published many collections of lyrics (Canti liriei. Ballate, Iside. Psiche. etc.) and the versified tale Edmenerjardn. Also of note for their lyric verse are Aleardo Aleardi (1812-78, Letterr a Maria). Giuseppe Regaldi (1809-83), Giuseppe Maceari (1840-G7). Francesco dall' Ongaro. fHontelti poUtici (1808-73). Luigi Mer- cant^ni (1821-72). Domenico Carbone (1823-83), Lorenzo Stecchetti (pseudonym of Olindo Guer-