[90] See Le Novelle Antiche (another name for Il Novellino), per cura di Guido Biagi, Firenze, Sansoni, 1880. It is a curious agglomeration of anecdotes drawn from the history of the Suabian princes, Roman sources, the Arthurian legends, the Bible, Oriental apologues, fables, and a few ancient myths. That of Narcis, p. 66, is very prettily told. Only one tale is decidedly cynical. We find in the book selections made from the débris of a vast and various medieval library. French influence is frequently perceptible in the style.
[91] Precursori del Boccaccio, p. 57 to end.
[92] See Carmina Burana (Stuttgart, 1847), pp. 1-112; Poems of Walter Mapes, by Thomas Wright (for Camden Society, 1841), pp. 1-257, for examples of these satiric poems. The Propter Syon non tacebo, Flete Sion filiæ, Utar contra vitia, should be specially noticed. Many other curious satires, notably one against marriage and the female sex, can also be found in Du Méril's three great collections, Poésies Populaires Latines antérieures au douzième Siècle, Poésies Populaires Latines du Moyen Age, and Poésies Inédites du Moyen Age, Paris, 1843-1847. Those to whom these works are not accessible, may find an excellent selection of the serious and jocular popular Latin medieval poetry in a little volume Gaudeamus! Carmina Vagorum selecta, Lipsiæ, Teubner, 1877. The question of their authorship has been fairly well discussed by Hubatsch, Die lateinischen Vagantenlieder, Görlitz, 1870.
[93] The erotic and drinking songs of the Vagi deserve to be carefully studied by all who wish to understand the germs of the Renaissance in the middle ages. They express a simple naturalism, not of necessity Pagan, though much is borrowed from the language of classical mythology. I would call attention in particular to Æstuans interius, Omittamus studia, O admirabile Veneris idolum, Ludo cum Cæcilia, Si puer cum puellula, and four Pastoralia, all of which may be found in the little book Gaudeamus cited above. In spontaneity and truth of feeling they correspond to the Latin hymns. But their spirit is the exact antithesis of that which produced the Dies Iræ and the Stabat Mater. The absence of erudition and classical imitation separates them from the poems of Beccadelli, Pontano, Poliziano, or Bembo. They present the natural material of neo-pagan Latin verse without its imitative form. It is youth rejoicing in its strength and lustihood, enjoying the delights of spring, laughing at death, taking the pleasures of the moment, deriding the rumores senum severiorum, unmasking hypocrisy in high places, at wanton war with constituted social shams. These songs were written by wandering students of all nations, who traversed Germany, France, Italy, Spain, England, seeking special knowledge at the great centers of learning, following love-adventures, poor and careless, coldly greeted by the feudal nobility and the clergy, attached to the people by their habits but separated from them by their science. In point of faith these poets are orthodox. There is no questioning of ecclesiastical dogma, no anticipation of Luther, in their verses. This blending of theological conformity with satire on the Church and moral laxity is eminently characteristic of the Renaissance in Italy.
[94] See the last sentence of Giorn. iii. Nov. 1.
[95] Op. Volg. vol. xiv.
[96] Cap. xlix.
[97] Letter to Leigh Hunt, September 8, 1819.
[98] Op. Volg. vol. vii. p. 230. I am loth to attempt a translation of this passage, which owes its charm to the melody and rhythm of chosen words:—
"With ears intent upon the music, he began to go in the direction whence he heard it; and when he drew nigh to the fountain, he beheld the two maidens. They were of countenance exceeding white, and this whiteness was blent in seemly wise with ruddy hues. Their eyes seemed to be stars of morning, and their little mouths, of the color of a vermeil rose, became of pleasanter aspect as they moved them to the music of their song. Their tresses, like threads of gold, were very fair, and slightly curled went wandering through the green leaves of their garlands. By reason of the great heat their tender and delicate limbs, as hath been saaid above, were clad in robes of the thinnest texture, the which, made very tight above the waist, revealed the form of their fair bosoms, which like two round apples pushed the opposing raiment outward, and therewith in divers places the white flesh appeared through graceful openings. Their stature was of fitting size, and each limb well-proportioned."