The sun., 1916-12-24


Dramatically they move o. tho pinions
Of song: the lyric element prevails;
their movement Is measured, and tho
juggling of the dulcct phrases pleas
antly falls on the ear. Nevertheless
Francesca da I,imini' is glorified
melodrama. In theme II Is less novel
than La G%ioconda,' and In sheer liter
airy quality 1t is inferior, fine as 1t Is,
to la Citta Morte" However. in his
ing his realistic lcanings, is to the fore.
Above all. D'Annunzio Is n poet. Il poet
In his prose romances. in his plays.
Ito writes the beautiful and dlstin-
guishcd prose Of a poet. and of his
poetic diction such II connoisscur as
the late Pope Leo Nil. W. iulumina;-
ing praise. Let II be added that THE
Daughter of Jorio' and the latter plays
bctray a more practised and theatrical
hand. Tho very lusciousncss OF the
dialogue, which will not provo amiss
in an operate garb. IL IL stumbling
block TO tho enjoyment OF theatre
goers. who demand svtftness OF
action and loss verbal redundancy.
Even the genius OF Duso did not make
of Francesca n marked success.
It was first given December .. 1901.
In the ,rcatro Costanzi, n. Rome. by
Duse and her company. Gustavo SAL
vini was the Paolo. Tho D'Annunzio
Of those days did not promise to de-
vclop into a dramatirt OF the first
rank. And thanks to the Puritanical
drop in our veins such q theme as
incest in The Dead City" was consid-
cred shocking, though the same audi
ence sat through Die Walkuere." and
presumably had reaS the O;dipus Of
Sophocles and the Ilippolytus Of Eu-
ripides-who can forget Sarah Bern
hardt's puissant and pathetic Phedre
In llicine's paraphrase Of the Greek
dramatist? Perhaps the novel I'll
FNuoco." which had been translated
irto English. prejudiced Dur public
against the work OF the greatest Ital-
ian poet since Carducci, and q man OF
wider learning and versatility in every
province Of literature. So Francesca
da Rimini" shared the fate OF its
companions.
II 10 unnecessary 20 revert TO tho
plays. poems. books. pictures and
symphonies that have been made
from the stun OF the unhappy loves
NJ Francesca H., pimjpi and p,o,o
Whom IN. preot I-,orentipe e,i,e .anp
in Canto V. NJ hi. "Jnferno,. .In ,,s
leaves thar dav 30 read M moro :.
Dante ,~nsn,red nos,. no,n,or, sc,,n-
tors-Rodin not among the least of
the lattcr-musicians and playwrights.
Leigh Hunt wrote The story Of
Rimini": and there IL likewise
George II. BOXERS play. I'm which
Lawrence Barrett. Louis James. Otis
Skinner and others have red
There t. too. an OLD pl,v nv Sliyio Pol.
leo and the t.yo settings OF tho story
by Stephen Phillips and Marion Craw.
ford-the version by tho American
novelist was prcparod FOR Nine Bern.
hardt, List and Tschaikoyskv com
posed symphonic poems on the sub.
tect. D'Annunzio. as il he had wished
to demonstrate his fitness in the han
ding Of any dramatic form, conceived
n executed n species Of poetic melo.
drama In which the life Of q feuda'
period is unrolled before us In five
glowing tableauN. proiigality in col.
urlng, bloody war. horrid lust are ar.
tistically mingled with the proccSsIona
| attitudes of tircwomen. sweet singing
and %interludes Of lyric passion.
AS in n mirrored dream of Burne.
Jones, Francesca slowly moves from
rapt maldcnhood To forced marriage;
from unhappy marriage to dcceptior
, and death. Not content To follow III,
1,arn lina. az ia. ,,,,t-,, .,'a-a.,1, 81.