The Jersey City news., 1899-11-09
DANTE And PETRARCH.
Discussed By Misses Lord
and Lacey at Literature
Department Yesterday.

iona ri ont Of a yEQTDln'C (tl1ih
continued its study of ITALY and the
Renaissance Yesterday afternoon. In
Hasbrouck Tnstftute A. the department
has outgrown it's former quarters. Room
/. ii Yesterday betook itself to the kinder
garten room.
Miss Annie I,ouise I.ord had the first
nane, on "Dante , which she made most
interesting. giving biography Of Dante
with his love AFFAIR with the angelic
Raatrice hfs axi1a and of his aDivina
f.ommedia 3, which shes said. was
an alleporv ~ human Iife from
the lowest sin to the highest par
adise. with the spirit Of the Renais-
sance. This talk Miss Lord Illustrated
from time to time nv reading extracts in
the poets own words on various SUBJ
iects esneciallv Raatrice.
The second paner on ..Petrarch and Boc-
cacios, was bv Miss Margaret Al. Lacey
who. after giving a short description Of
the poets youth. said
..Petrarch has been called the founder
Of the Renaissance. He revived the study
of the classics and created an enthusiasm
over old writings Through his efforts
MANY valuable old manuscripts were
brought to light and studied with great
zeal. Ancient learning had an intense fas-
clnation for him. and by his magnetism
he succeeded in imparting some of this
spirit to the people Of his age. He was
the first modern man. f)ur r,ublfc libraries
owe their origin to him for he NAV be
t,,stlv regarded as their founder. He was
na,hans the first man to insist on self
development as the duty of every tndivid-
nal. He was also one Of the nrst letter
writer's. over six hundred letters. writ
ten by him. have been preserved. and
these are of great interest even today. as
they deal with the religious. political and
philosophical questions which interested
men of the fourteenth century.
s.Petrarch regarded his Latin work a.
his hest but If is his Italian writing
which now occupies the foremost uosition.
His principal Latin prose work is his
Book Of Famous Men which contains
the biogra phies of thirty-one men. most
of them Romans His principal poetfcal
Latin work is Africa, an epic celebrat-
ing the deeds of Scipio Africanus one of
Petrarch's fayorite heroes. AS this is an
epic poem. and as Petrarch is essentially
a lyric poet. modern critics do not con-
slider the production q great success
ut is his italian work which has our
warmest sympathy. The sCanzoniere' has
always been popular. During the life of
Petrarch two hundred editions of It were
sold to forty-hve editions Of the Divine
Comedy II is by virtue of this poem
that Petrarch bears the title of Prince
Of Lyrics. OF course 1t is all Laura, and
I shall not attempt any detailed account
this laureate poet. admits that the Hymn
to the Virgin found In this work. is the
finest hymn in the world. will conclude
my remarks about Petrarch with mem
tion of his patriotic odes, which still live
in the hearts of the people II / had
studied italian little more diligently,
last winter, I might be able to recite one
for you; but, as it is, / fear that such an
attempt on my part would live in your
ears like a nightmare
Although Petrarch was certainly great
er than Boccaccio, the influence Of the
latter has been far more widely spread.
Boccaccio was the poet of the people, who
knew their tastes and thoughts and voiced
their feelings He was also the creator
of Italian prose. In fact, although he per-
fected the octave stanza, his poetry would
be but frai1 foundation for his fame.
He seemed to sympathize with one part
of his work only, and hence his verses
lack refinement and polish 1t has been
said that when he abandoned verse for
prose he became a poet.
1.-THE earliest composition of Boccaccio
known to US is the .F,ilocopo.' This Is the
earliest monument of the genuine Renais-
sance In it modern art is produced by
the welding of classical and mediaeval
materials. In Petrarch these two kinds
of writing were kept separate. but Boc-
caccio effected the fusion Of humanism
and yernacular poetry.
..The oTeseide' is interesting to us be-
cause If has been renraduced bv cbaucer
in the .Knighte,s Tale: by DRYDEN. in
.Pa1amon and Arcite.' and bv sha akes
neare and Fletcher In Two Noble
K,nsmen.' The plot was NOT original with
Roccaccio. but he said the possibilities of
the tale and in this sense may be called
us inventor.
A similar debt is due Boecaccio on ac-
ca,,nt of .Trflostrato an which Chas,car
ss-s.s ~. .g,~as,ss r-s-,.sas 80
rouhoeo ms 1rolius ana Sresepe, ana
Shakespeare his sTroilus and Gressida-'
..Boecaccio,s works on mythology. peo-
- -
graphy ana DloEraphy nave Qlsllnct
value in the evolution of humanism. They
,.,ara tbas erst at+an,nts IL 5;ctionarias IN
these subjects and served as valuable aids
to the students who were to carry on
40 ,vorL ~ tbo pano3ssa,,oa
Tue "otA u .ne isenaissa'iee =.