[273] See De Hortis Hesperidum, p. 139, and Amorum, lib. ii. p. 33.
[274] Versus Lyrici, pp. 91-94.
[275] See, for example, the elegy "De Venere lavante se in Eridano et quiescente," Erid. lib. i. p. 118.
[276] De Amore Conjugali, lib. i. p. 35. "Hither, and bind with myrtle thy shining hair! O hither, Elegia, with the woven tresses! Take a new form of sumptuous grace, and let thy loose robe flutter to thy snow-white feet. And where thou movest, breathe Arabian nard, and blandest perfume of Assyrian unguents. Let the girl Graces come, thy charge, with thee, and take their joy in dances woven with unwonted arts. Thou in his earliest years dost teach he boy of Venus, and instruct him in thy lore. Wherefore Cytherea gives thee perpetual youth, that never may thy beauty suffer decrease. Come hither, then, and take, O goddess, thy lyre, but with a gentle quill, and move the soft strings to a dulcet sound. Nay, thou thyself hast tried new pleasures, and knowest the sweet thefts of lovers laid on meadow grass. For they say that, wandering once in Umbria, my home, thou didst lie down beside Clitumnus' liquid pools; and there didst see a youth, and dote upon him while he swam, and long to hold him in thine arms. What dost thou, beauteous boy, beneath the wanton waves? These fields are better suited to thy joys! Here canst thou weave a violet wreath, and bind thy yellow hair with flowers of many a hue! Here canst thou sleep beneath cool shade, and rest thy body on the verdant ground! Here join the dances of the Dryads, and leap along the sward, and move thy supple limbs to tender music! The youth inflamed with this, and eager for the beauty and the facile song, wherewith thou captivatest gods, with thee among the willows, under a vine-mantled elm, joined his white limbs upon a grassy bed, and both enjoyed the bliss of love."
[277] I will only refer in detail to the elegy entitled "Lætatur in villa et hortis suis constitutis" (De Amore Conjugali, lib. ii. p. 52). The two books De Hortis Hesperidum (Aldus, 1513, pp. 138-159), compose a typical didactic poem.
[278] It was printed in 1486.
[279] See the Poesie Volgari e Latine del Conte B. Castiglione (Roma 1760), pp. 7-26.
[280] To do so would be almost impossible within lesser limits than those of a bulky volume. Any one who wishes to form a conception of the multitudes of pastoral plays written and printed in Italy, may consult the catalogues. I have before me one list, which I do not believe to be complete, in the Teatro Italiano, vol. x. It occupies twenty-seven closely-printed pages, and is devoted solely to rural scenes of actual life. The Arcadian masks and plays are omitted. Mutinelli, in the Annali Urbani di Venezia, p. 541, gives a list of the shows performed at Doges' banquets between 1574 and 1605. The large majority are pastoral; and it is noticeable that, as years go on, the pastorals drive all other forms of drama out of the field.
[281] See above, [Part i., pp. 381], [382].
[282] For Berni, see Barbèra's small edition, Florence, 1863. For Buonarroti, Lemonnier's edition in two volumes, 1860.