Ligurian:
# Bernabé Çigaa Casê (sec. XVI–XVII)

Da quello che se ne sa, o Bernabé Çigaa Casê (sec. XVI, prinçipio sec. XVII) o l’é stæto o primmo à compoñe di lözi in lengua zeneise in ocaxon de eleçioin do Duxe (pe-o Antònio Cebà, do 1593, e pe-o Agostin Döia, do 1601), unna smersa letteräia ch’a saiæ stæta portâ a-o mascimo de l’esprescion artistica da-o Cavallo quarche anno apreuvo. Into primmo encòmio, o Çigaa o dimostra l’intençion de conseggiâ, con prudensa, i patriçi in scê cöse da fâ pe-o ben da cösa pubrica, tanto che into segondo o se dedica ciù che atro à exartâ a famiggia do neuvo Duxe e a seu importansa inte l’istöia de Zena; à sta mainea o l’antiçipa a poexia do Cavallo, donde o lözo o no l’é guæi ciù de un attesto pe unna manifestaçion de bravua stilistica. Inte tutti i caxi, o zeneise, inta poexia do Çigaa, o vëgne à ëse un scimbolo da diverscitæ politica da Repubrica e do seu pòpolo, apreuvo che no peu ësighe nisciun sospetto de un uso «nostargico» e conservatô da lengua, de seguo ancon meno che inti versci do Foggetta polemico de «toghe». Atro aspeto importante da poexia do Çigaa a l’é a lirica amosa, donde o petrarchezza, comme inte Ottave à Margherita e inta canson Quando un fresco, soave, doçe vento, ma o l’arriësce à adattâ à l’ambiente ligure de imagine che a-i seu tempi poeivan pai za vege, con freschixe de lenguaggio e un fondo senso da muxicalitæ da poula. Se porrieiva pensâ che l’euvia do Çigaa a fïse destinâ à restâ patrimònio de unn’elite de letteræ e a no saieiva mai sciortia d’inte l’ambiente de Corte: in cangio, ancon do 1840, inti Canti Popolari de Pòrto Mauriçio stæti accheuggeiti da Bertomê Aquaron, attrovemmo unn’eco paròdica da-e Ottave à Margherita: «Ti te credevi aveme affeturao / che ‘ro me cheu ti t’eri feita padrona?», o dixe l’anònimo poeta ponentin; cösa ch’a preuva che quelli antighi versci ean conosciui ascì in Rivea, à distansa de secoli, e inte di ambienti ben ben lonten da quelli pe-i quæ ean stæti scriti.

Inte sta avvoxâ canson, de stampo petrarchesco, ma à tutte e mainee potentemente originäia, se peu dî che o Çigaa Casê, o poeta da «maravegia», do stupô de fronte a-a bellessa da dònna, sentia comme unna personificaçion do spiito divin ch’o l’anima a natua, o preannonçie tutti i succescivi desviluppi de unna gran partia da lirica in zeneise, da-o Cavallo, a-o De Franchi a-o Firpo.

Inte sto poemetto ben conosciuo, do quæ demmo chì coscì solo che a primma parte, o Çigaa, comme de za o Foggetta, o traspòrta e tematiche stilnoviste ò petrarchesche inte un ambiente domestego e çitten; ma a dònna a l’é angelicâ solo che a-i euggi de l’iñnamoou, ch’o l’é mai tanto piggiou de lê da figuâsela comme un ëse sorveuman: o poeta o s’accòrze da pròpia debolessa, e tutte e ottave son fondæ in sce unna legia autoironia.

Inti descorsci pe l’eleçion do Duxe, o Çigaa o se tëgne à unna prasci ch’a voeiva di lözi convençionali e de critiche moderæ e generiche, indirissæ a-a classe politica, seguie da di conseggi ätretanto generichi, con exortâ o pòpolo e i patriçi a-a concòrdia, à ëse tutti à uña, into nomme da prosperitæ da Naçion. Inte unn’espoxiçion e ciù vòtte ciatta e monòtona, o poeta o l’arriva de ræo à quarche lampo de inspiaçion, con di reciammi a-a poexia çivile de l’Anònimo.

English translation:
# Barnaba Cigala Casero (16th–17th cent.)

As far as we know, Barnaba Cigala Casero (16th century, early 17th century) was the first to compose eulogies in the Genoese language on the occasion of election of the Doge (for Antonio Cebà, in 1593, and for Agostino Doria, in 1601), a literary genre that would be brought to the height of artistic expression by Cavalli a few years later. In the first encomium, Cigala shows his intention to prudently advise the patricians on what to do for the good of the state, while in the second he devotes himself more to extolling the family of the new Doge and its importance in the history of Genoa. In doing so he anticipates Cavalli’s poetry, in which praise is not much more than a pretext for a display of stylistic prowess. In any case, the Genoese language becomes a symbol of the political diversity of the Republic and its people, as there can be no suspicion of a nostalgic and “conservative” use of the language, certainly even less so than in Foglietta ’s polemical verses about the “robes”. Another important aspect of Cigala’s poetry is the Petrarchan love lyric, as in the Ottave a Margherita and the song Quando un fresco, soave, dolce vento, where he succeeds in adapting to the Ligurian environment images that in his time might have already seemed old-fashioned, with freshness of language and a profound sense of the musicality of words. One might think that Cigala’s work was destined to remain the patrimony of a literary elite and never to leave the milieu of the Court: instead, still in 1840, in the Folk Songs of Porto Maurizio, collected by Bartolomeo Acquarone, we find a parodic echo from the Ottave a Margherita: “Did you think you had bewitched me / making you mistress of my heart?” says the anonymous poet from the east – which proves that those ancient verses were well known even on the Riviera, centuries later, and in environments far removed from those for which they were written.

In this famous song, Petrarchan in style, but nonetheless powerfully original, one can say that Cigala, the poet of “maravegia”, of astonishment before the beauty of woman, felt to be a personification of the divine spirit that animates nature, heralds all the subsequent developments of a large part of Genoese lyric poetry, from Cavalli to De Franchi and Firpo.

In this well-known poem, of which we only quote the first part, Cigala, like Foglietta, transposes Stilnovist or Petrarchan themes to a domestic and urban setting, but the woman is angelic only in the eyes of the lover, who is so taken with her that he imagines her to be a superhuman being; the poet realises his own weakness and all the octaves are based on a light self-irony.

In his speeches for the election of the Doge, Cigala adheres to a practice that called for conventional praise and restrained, generic criticism, addressed to the political class, followed by equally generic advice, exhorting the people and politicians to harmony, to all stand united, in the name of the Nation’s prosperity. In an exposition that is usually flat and monotonous, the poet rarely achieves strokes of inspiration, with references to the civil poetry of the Anonym.