149 THIRD PERIOD. THE CIVIL WAR AND THE COMMONWEALTH. A.D. 1639-1660. A. ET. 31-52. SONNETS. III. [11.] (1638 or 1639.) DONNA leggiadra, il cui bel nome onora Qual tuo spirto gentil non innamora, SONNET III.*—1. Donna, etc. It is not known who the lady was to whom this sonnet was addressed. From what follows, it would appear that she was a native of Bologna. Milton probably met her in Florence during the period of his first residence in that city. She seems to be the same whom he describes in Sonnet V., and to whom he addresses Sonnets VI. and VII.—il cui, etc. By this is probably meant that she belonged to one of the principal families of Bologna, as the Pepoli, the Bentivogli, etc. He however may only mean her own Christian name. We take il cui, etc., as the subject in the sentence. 2. L'erbosa, etc. The Reno is the river of that name which runs by Bologna and the varco is the vale through which it issues from the Apennines. As the name is spelt Rheno in the original editions, and Warton and the other critics have no note on it, we strongly suspect that they took it to be the Rhine. In our Life of Milton (p. 308), we have stated that we consulted our late friend Rossetti on various passages in these Sonetti, of the correctness of which we were dubious. We have in the following notes placed an R. after his remarks. Mr. Mitford has, in the Gentleman's Magazine (Nov. 1836), with the aid of Mr. Panizzi, modernized, as we have done, the orthography of these Italian Sonnets; in which it is rather remarkable that Mr. Panizzi seems to have discovered only three incorrect expressions. Che dolcemente mostra sì di fuora, E i don, che son d'amor saette ed arco, Che mover possa duro alpestre legno, Grazia sola di sù gli vaglia, innanti 5 10 IV. [III.] QUAL in colle aspro, al imbrunir di sera, Va bagnando l'erbetta strana e bella, 4. Qual, i.e. il quale. "Sarebbe meglio dire cui. Cui è accusativo, ma qual richiede l'articolo."-R. 8. Laonde, i.e. di cui, co' quali. 10. Che mover possa. The meaning of this is clear enough, but we doubt if it be a true Italian idiom. We unfortunately neglected to consult Rossetti on Mr. Panizzi says that possa is an Anglicism. it. 13. Grazia sola di sù, i.e. the grace of Heaven.-vaglia. This seems to be i.q. può valere, and we are dubious of its being pure Italian. SONNET IV.-2. L' avvezza. This word is almost invariably followed by a, di, or in. Rossetti however said, "Si usa," and Panizzi made no remark on it, and we have met with it apparently thus unattended in the following places :"Dove avea lasciato il cavallo, avvezzo In cielo e in terra, a rimontar veniva." Ar. Orl. Fur. xi. 13. "Ed avean seco quella male avvezza, Che v' avea posta la costuma rea." Id. ib. xxii. 76. "Ma, come costumato e ben avvezzo, e Non prima il paladin quindi si trassa." Id. ib. xxiii. 96. "E questa gente inculta Simile al luogo ov' ella è nata e avvezza." Id. Sat. vii. terz. 40. "Fra i ladroni d' Arabia, o fra simile Barbara turba avvezzo esser tu dei." Tasso, Ger. Lib. vi. 37. These passages, especially the last, may perhaps be regarded as justifying Milton in his employment of avvezza thus alone; but still we think that none of his Tuscan friends would have followed his example. Fuor di sua natia alma primavera ; Così Amor meco insù la lingua snella E'l bel Tamigi cangio col bel Arno. Deh! foss' il mio cuor lento e'l duro seno A chi pianta dal ciel si buon terreno 5 10 CANZONE. RIDONSI donne e giovani amorosi, 3. Va bagnando, i.e. goes watering. On a similar subject Ariosto (Cap. i. terz. 3) uses the more poetic term rorando. To our query on avvezza, Rossetti replied: “Trovarci piuttosto a dire su quell' erbetta strana e bella del 3o verso, dove l' aggettivo strana mi pare strano veramente. Io avrei piuttosto messo amena e bella." It is remarkable that our friend did not perceive that Milton used strana in the unusual sense of straniera, as he does strania in v. 7. Strano, no doubt, is thus used in the works of the Trecentisti, and even by Bernardo Tasso, who was rather fond of archaisms, in his Amadigi, but we doubt if any other poet of the sixteenth or seventeenth century so used it. Rossetti, when we recalled his attention to it, said, "Strano per straniero è Italiano." 4. a disusata spera. This is rather a strange mode of expression for a 'region it is not indigenous in.' 5. primavera, i.e. the region whose spring had called it into existence; also rather an unusual expression. 6. meco. "Meco per a me non si può."-R. 9. dal mio, etc., i.e. in a language not understood by my countrymen in general. We are to recollect that he was writing in Italy. 11. peso, i.e. spese. This is, we believe, an unusual sense of the word. "I do not recollect any such Italian phrase: this seems unintelligible, although I guess the meaning."-P. Surely the meaning is clear enough. 12. mai. “Mai per non mai ha rari esempj.”—R. It may in fact be regarded as peculiar to Dante. CANZONE.-2. M' accostandosi. "Non si può dire, e il secondo verso avrebbe dovuto essere, Venendo a me d' intorno e perchè scrivi, ecc.; o pure, Dicendo a me d'intorno perchè scrivi, ecc., poichè senza il Dicendo mal regge il senso.”—R. Dinne, se la tua speme sia mai vana, Spuntati ad or ad or a la tua chioma Canzon dirotti, e tu per me rispondi, 5. se. "Il se col congiuntivo esprime augurio, e non altro. Ma in questo verso la dizione me pare un po' zoppa, e avrebbe dovuto dirsi : Di, se la speme tua non sia mai vana."-R. As Rossetti seems here not to have perceived the reason of our query respecting se, which was its archaism, we will here give the result of our own researches respecting it. It is then the Latin sic, as in "Sic te diva potens Cypri, Sic fratres Helena, lucida sidera." Hor. Carm. i. 3, 1. "Sic tua Cyrneas fugiant examina taxos, Sic cytiso pasta distendant ubera vaccæ.' Virg. Buc. ix. 30. It seems to have been almost peculiar to the Tuscans; for though Dante, Boccaccio, and Pulci use it frequently, it occurs but once in Petrarca :— "Or dimmi, se colui in pace ti guide." Tr. d'Amore, ii. terz. 9; twice in Ariosto : “Se da grandine il cielo sempre ti schivi.” Or. Fur. vi. 27 ; Al fumo sì ch' a te non più ascenda." Ib. xxxiv. 9; once in Bernardo Tasso : "Se mai sempre vi sian fiorite e liete De' vostri umidi alberghi ambe le sponde." Amadigi, vi. 38; and once in Torquato Tasso : "Se non t'invidii il ciel sì dolce stato." Ger. Lib. vii. 15. It occurs once in the eighteenth century : "Se t'arrida il ciel." Maffei, Merope, iv. 2. We have not met with it anywhere else except in Sannazaro's Arcadia; and never in lyric poetry. In old French si was thus employed: "Seigneur, si Dieu vous garde," Marot. 6. lo miglior. This employment of lo before a single consonant may also be regarded as a Tuscanism. With the exception of lo cui, still in use, it is almost peculiar to the Florentines. Petrarca has lo qual (Son. viii.), and lo mio (Sest. i. 24); and T. Tasso, lo mio in his Torrismondo (iv. 6, 8), and his lines to Sisto V., st. 28, and lo cor in those to the Virgin of Loreto, st. 3. 12. Perchè, etc. “Può omettersi il verbo, ma sarebbe meglio se ci fosse.”—R. v. [iv.] DIODATI-e te'l dirò con maraviglia Quel ritroso io, ch' amor spreggiar solea, Gia caddi, ov'uom dabben talor s'impiglia. M'abbaglian sì, ma, sotto nova idea, E degli occhi suoi avventa sì gran fuoco 5 10 vi. [v.] PER certo i bei vostr'occhi, Donna mia, Chiaman sospir; io non so che si sia. SONNET V.-1. e te'l, etc. "Può stare quell' e.”—R. 5 6. idea, i.e. forma. He uses idea in the sense of idéa, but this is unusual in Italian or any other modern language. 10. Parole, etc. "Il verso è senza dubbio inarmonioso, ma se ne trovano innumerevoli esempj fra i nostri.”—R. 12. faticosa. "Faticosa per attiva o operosa è alquanto strano, ma può stare."-R. 13. degli. t 'Meglio dagli che degli; e forse sarà errore di stampa."-R. It is however only another instance of Milton's employment of the language of Dante, who constantly uses del, etc., for dal, etc. SONNET VI.-2. lo mio. See on Canzone v. 6. 3. Si mi, etc. He probably had Ariosto in view here: "Percote il sol nel valle e fa ritorno." Or. Fur. x. 35. |