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Ma che dirò di te, spirito illustre, Ariosto gentil, qual lode fia Uguale al tuo gran merto, al tuo valore? Cede a te nella comica palestra Ogni Greco e Latin, perchè tu solo Hai veramente dimostrato come Esser deve il principio, il mezzo e 'l fine Delle comedie, etc. |
Le Pellegrine, Intermedio Sesto, published by Barbèra, 1855.
[236] See the "Esaltazione della Croce," Sacre Rappresentazioni, Lemonnier, vol. iii. Compare those curious hybrid plays, Il Figliuolo Prodigo, La Morte del Re Acab, La Conversione della Scozia, in his collected plays (Lemonnier, 1856). Lo Sviato may be mentioned as another of his comedies derived from the Sacre Rappr. with a distinctly didactic and moral purpose.
[237] See Prologue to La Strega, and above, [p. 124].
[238] I reserve for another chapter the treatment of the Pastoral, which eventually proved the most original and perfect product of the Italian stage.
[239] The titles of his Farse given by D'Ancona are I Malandrini, Pittura, Andazzo, Sciotta, Romanesca.
[240] Prologue to the Romanesca, Firenze, Cenniniana, 1874.
[241] Dolce in the Prologue to his Ragazzo says that, immodest as a comedy may be, it would be impossible for any play to reproduce the actual depravity of manners.
[242] What I have already observed with regard to the Novelle—namely, that Italy lacked the purifying and ennobling influences of a real public, embracing all classes, and stimulating the production of a largely designed, broadly executed literature of human nature—is emphatically true also of her stage. The people demand greatness from their authors—simplicity, truth, nobleness. They do not shrink from grossness; they tolerate what is coarse. But these elements must be kept in proper subordination. Princes, petty coteries, academies, drawing-room patrons, the audience of the antechamber and the boudoir, delight in subtleties, doubles entendre, scandalous tales, Divorce Court arguments. The people evokes Shakspere; the provincial Court breeds Bibbiena.
[243] Cortigiana, act ii. sc. 10.