The sun., 1898-05-15


Infinitely indebted TO her. The position she has
so long retained as the instructor and cxemplar
Of civilized nations invests her literature with
an Importance moro considerable than that at
tachlnE to the merits OF her Individual authors,
illustriouB as those are"
Literature in itself, as he points out, is In
Italy a less exhaustive manifestation than elso-
where Of the intellect Of the nation. In the agos
OF her development artists far outnumber au.
thors, and the best energies Of the country are
employed in artistic production, and hence II II
that in n mere history OF tho literature OF the
country. ono of the greatest men Of all time,
Michael Angelo claims no moro than para
graph on the strength Of n few Bonnets. OF
nine Italians enumerated by DIR. Garnett as
most brilliantly conspicuous In the first rank OF
genius and chievement-Aquinas, Dante. CO.
lumbus, Leonardo, Michael Angelo, haphael,
Titan, Calico, Napoleon-only one was q man
of letters Hence. an Prof. Jowett pointed
out, while Italy may justly claim front place
among the litoratures of tho world, IL is only on
condition that her Rrcat representatives shall
| be weighed rather than counted.
Tho earliest literary compositions dednSble as
italian, and excluding all compositions In Latin,
are scarcely Older than the thirteenth century.
The eleventh century in Italy was an age Of en-
inent theologians, and when in the twelfth cen
tury poetry appears in the songs of the
/
stil Latin. In the following century, under
| the fostering influence of the North italian
| Princes. Provencal troubadours at the courts
| began to write such poems they would have
written at homo, and they gradually introduced
hore and there an Italian strophe or oven occa-
| sionally wrote in q curiously mixed dialect of
| French and italian.
There 10. however, no actual Italian litera-
turo shrlier than that Of the school OF vernacu-
1 T.. nj. ,h,NrN
under the patronage of Frederick H.. Emperor of
| Germany. who was an italian on his mothers
| side, and himself one of the principal writer's
| of the canzone of his day. No important speci-
| mon of italian prose, however, is found till we
| roach the "vita Nuova" Of Dante near the end Of
! the thirteenth century.
In his chapters OF Dante and Potrarch DR..
| Garnott gives good deal Of interesting detail
| and points the way by which the student may
| obtain the fullest and best knowledge; and hero
we5.nsy cafl attention to the exccllently con.
denBed photography he has supplied, by ref
erence TO which the reader may find the way
| TO everything In the various branches Of his
| subject that is of practical value.
| Following Dante and Petrarch, the third
great Italian writer was Boccaccio, tho first
| modern novelist, and in q short chapter, DR..
Garnctt opitomizes the life of the jovial Flor
ontine, and has few interesting notes on some
| of his principal works Neither the date Of his
birth nor the birthplace of the author Of the
"Decameron" can be fixed with certainty, though
| 1t is probable that the latter Florence, and
! that he was born somewhere near the year 1913.
| His friendship with Petrarch and his devotion
| to tho elder writer are celebrated, and one OF
Landors Imaginary Conversations depicts o
supposed visit OF Petrarch to Boccaccio at
| Certaldo. The "Filocopo." Boccaccio's first
| and longest work Of fiction, is set down by Dr.
| Garnett important landmark in the his
tory of literature, in that 1t sguaizes tho trans
| ition from tho metrical romance to the pure
novel. 1t is founded on the ancient lay Of
Floris and Blanchefleur here converted into
prose. with new incidents, characters, and de-
scriptions, though with little semblance of prob
ability in the incidents or accuracy of delinea-
tion in the characters. The "Amato' OF Boo
caccio, in which the tales are supposed to re-
cord the experiences of shepherdcsses and per-
sonify their virtues, also possesses Importance
in literary history as being the first modern
instance OF the Pastoral Romance. afterward
carried to such perfection 1t is, however. on
the "Decameron" that Boccaccio's fame rests.
for here he attained that perfection which in
the earlier works is only indicated.
Here for the first time we find an alliance be-
tween the elegant but artificial literature Of
courts and the vigorous, homely and natural
style that Is scholarly and forcible and purged
of all roughness and vulgarity, and that ap-
pealed equally to the educated MOBILES and
ladies and to the common people The oriRi-
mails of the stories may be discovered In tradi-
tionary folk lore or in French fablAux, CLASH
cal or Oriental writers, while many Of them are
probably true stories in every respect but for the
alteration in names. and. in DR.. GArnetts Wow,
this latter fact is Boccaccio's best defence
oho 80
not, like SO many others, write with the express
purpose of stimulating the passions. but repro
duced tho ordinary talk Of hours of relaxation
giving It the attraction of a pure and classic
style. The share Of the ladies as narrators OF or
listeners to these loose stories, so repuGnant
to ideal conceptions of the female character, Is
not only explained by the manners of the time,
but has greatly contributed to the charm of his
work by tempering its license with a refinement
best appreciated by comparison with such simi
lar collections as the Fdcetie OF Pogglo. After
ALL the sensuous eloment, though conspicuous
is not predominantin the "Decameron." and few
books contain more or finer traits of courtesy,
humanity and generosity" Among the minor
works OF Boccaccio written subsequently TO the
'Decaueron" are the "Corbaccio," lampoon
upon widow who Tilted him, and the "ur-
bano," n short romance, the genuineness of
which. however. has sometimes been doubted
Not only in his prose writings, hut also In his
narrative poetry, Boccaccio was an innovator
and the maker Of a. epoch, and just as the
heroic. tho pastoral anG the familiar romance
owed their first considerable beginnings 10 him.
so, too, he was the first to show the fitness for
| poetic narrative of the octave stanZa, a form Of
versdcation which has proved itself superior
for epic purposes to either the sinuous and d.
gressive terra rinn or to the Italian limitations
Of the stately blank verso OF England. His
poetry and much Of his prose are to-day prac-
tically forgotten, though a few exquisite trans
lations by Rosetti, surpassing, perhaps, the
! originals. have made them known to English
readers. But the freshness Of tho "Decameron"
Is undying and tho tales to-day are readable
as ever. and DR.. Garnett thus not ungener-
| ously sums up their author: In morals and
conduct. until his latter days, Boccaccio seems
| TO have been perfect type of the gay and easy
IL. af lar.utiI.a ri iz.as