Par che 'l cor del petto se gli schianti,

belongs to Boccaccio. In stanza 60 the first line:--

La notte che le cose ci nasconde,

together with its rhyme, 'sotto le amate fronde,' is borrowed from the
23rd canto of the 'Paradiso.' In the second line, 'Stellato ammanto'
is Claudian's 'stellantes sinus' applied to the heaven. When we reach
the garden of Venus we find whole passages translated from Claudian's
'Marriage of Honorius,' and from the 'Metamorphoses' of Ovid.

Poliziano's second poem of importance, which indeed may historically
be said to take precedence of 'La Giostra,' was the so-called tragedy
of 'Orfeo.' The English version of this lyrical drama must be reserved
for a separate study: yet it belongs to the subject of this, inasmuch
as the 'Orfeo' is a classical legend treated in a form already
familiar to the Italian people. Nearly all the popular kinds of poetry
of which specimens have been translated in this chapter, will be found
combined in its six short scenes.

* * * * *

_ORFEO_

The 'Orfeo' of Messer Angelo Poliziano ranks amongst the most
important poems of the fifteenth century. It was composed at Mantua in
the short space of two days, on the occasion of Cardinal Francesco
Gonzaga's visit to his native town in 1472. But, though so hastily put
together, the 'Orfeo' marks an epoch in the evolution of Italian
poetry. It is the earliest example of a secular drama, containing
within the compass of its brief scenes the germ of the opera, the
tragedy, and the pastoral play. In form it does not greatly differ
from the 'Sacre Rappresentazioni' of the fifteenth century, as those
miracle plays were handled by popular poets of the earlier
Renaissance. But while the traditional octave stanza is used for the
main movement of the piece, Poliziano has introduced episodes of
_terza rima_, madrigals, a carnival song, a _ballata_, and, above all,
choral passages which have in them the future melodrama of the musical
Italian stage. The lyrical treatment of the fable, its capacity for
brilliant and varied scenic effects, its combination of singing with
action, and the whole artistic keeping of the piece, which never
passes into genuine tragedy, but stays within the limits of romantic
pathos, distinguish the 'Orfeo' as a typical production of Italian
genius. Thus, though little better than an improvisation, it combines
the many forms of verse developed by the Tuscan