antiquity brought together upon this occasion, we are only the more surprised to see Theseus in such an assembly, conferring the honour of knighthood upon the two Theban chieftains.' Why, the surprise is pretty much like that which many a reader will feel at Arcite saying; Now it me shape eternally to dwelle, Cant. Tal. v. 1227. Those, however, who are acquainted with the old romances, as most certainly the elegant critic was, know very well that Hector and Theseus, Joshua and David, and all ancient heroes are constantly presented in the knightly costume. There is nothing more extraordinary at their being knighted, than at their fighting a solemn duel like knights of the middle ages, as CHAUCER, following BOCCACCIO, supposes them to do. With what justice can it be said, that because when Palemone and Arcita met the first time in the wood, they were friendly and civil to each other, this was too much in the style of romance? Their being civil to each other is no more in the style of romance than what we find in CHAUCER; that before the duel in the wood, Everich of hem halpe to armen other, As frendly, as he were his owen brother. Cant. Tal. v. 1653. The sneer, at the long and learned catalogue of all the heroes of antiquity, and the assertion, that in the description of the combat, the great advantage which Chaucer has over his original in this respect is, that he is much shorter,' is both unfair and ungenerous. Had CHAUCER translated BOCCACCIO's description of the combat and the catalogue of heroes of the Teseide, he would have acted most injudiciously, particularly because the veray parfit gentil knight' who tells the tale of Palamon and Arcite cannot be supposed to enter into these particulars, which would have taken up too much time in the relation. BOCCACCIO, who wanted to embellish his subject with the splendid epic forms of the great poems of antiquity, gave a catalogue of the combatants, and a description of the combat, neither of which is, in many parts, destitute of merit. It is for this reason, and in order that he might be able to say that he sang of arms,' that he described the two wars of Theseus against the Amazons and against Creonte; both of which episodes CHAUCER has very properly omitted in his tale. But this brevity of the imitator cannot in justice give him the advantage over his original. Let the reader only again peruse the speech of Creonte when he was about to be slain by Theseus, and say whether it is a merit not to have written such lines. 8 6 It is ungenerous to treat with such scornful irony the long and learned catalogue of the Grecian heroes by BOCCACCIO, as well as to condemn Teseid. 11. 63, et seq. quoted above, pag. 169. so indiscriminately' sa mauvaise méthode étymologique.' We may now laugh at such a catalogue, but it was a prodigy of erudition when it was written; it is not a second-hand knowledge vainly displayed; it is the best evidence of the gigantic studies of BOCCACCIO, as his titles of works formed of Greek words are a monument of his ardour for the study of that language and of his acquirements in it. Where was the man, five hundred years ago, who could write such a catalogue, or give a Greek title to a work? To ridicule BOCCACCIO's pedantry is very easy; where is now the man who has accomplished for Greek literature what BOCCACCIO did in his days? The same enthusiasm for the Greek language, which made the poet compose his catalogues of Greek heroes, and call his books by Greek names, made him travel from Milan to Florence to solicit the unprecedented establishment of a professorship of Greek from the government of his native city; it was this enthusiasm which impelled him, so soon as the professorship was founded, to hasten from Florence to Venice to fetch an uncouth professor, whom he lodged in his own house; it was this enthusiasm which induced him to purchase, at an enormous expence, poor as he was, a great number of Greek MSS., and to copy a still greater number with incredible patience; and it is to this enthusiasm that we are indebted for many Greek works, and for many excellent texts "GINGUENÉ, Hist. Lit. d'Ital. part i. ch. xv. of the Greek classics. That coxcombs should laugh at some strange cosmographical notions of COLOMBO is quite natural; but the man of education will remember, that he who may seem inferior to a boy of twelve years of age in our days, in the knowledge of the position of some part of the globe, was the man who discovered a new world. His quaint notions, nay, his mistakes are to be respected as evidence that even genius pays its tribute to humanity, else we should consider a great man as being of a superior order, and dispair of the inferior portion of mankind. After these observations, which could not be properly omitted in an historical Essay of this kind, we shall revert to the anaylisis of those narrative poems, which are founded on the romanesque traditions of the middle ages, and among which the Morgante of PULCI occupies a prominent station. W LUIGI PULCI was born on the 3rd of December, 1431. Of his life very little is known. He was, it seems, of a good but poor family. PULCI obtained some public office, probably through the influence of LORENZO DE' MEDICI,x with whose friendship he was honoured. He seems to have visited the principal cities of Italy; Naples, Venice, Milan, and even to have been in foreign and distant countries." It has ▾ PELLI, Elogio di PULCI. w Sonetti di M. FRANCO e L. PULCI. Son. 65. Son. 11. z Andato io son per paesi lontani. PULCI, Confessione. been said that he was a canon, but no authority is alleged in support of this assertion. -VOLTAIRE, who, by showing PULCI's irreligion, tried to defend one of his own poems, was much pleased to add a quality to PULCI's character which should cast some stigma on the clergy. The fact is, that PULCI was a layman, and married to LUCREZIA ALBIZZI, who bore him two sons that survived him. b It has been likewise asserted that he died at Padua very poor, and that, on account of his irreligion, his body was not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground. The precise time of his death is unknown; but it is not to be fixed before 1490. That a man of his merits died in extreme poverty, whilst such a munificent friend of his as LORENZO was still alive, can be believed with difficulty. That his religion was not orthodox cannot be denied; but we shall have occasion to speak of this subject more at length hereafter. It seems that he undertook to write his Morgante at the request of LUCREZIA TORNABUONI de' MEDICI, the mother of LORENZO, a lady distinguished alike for her piety and her literary ac d a GINGUENÉ, Hist. Lit. d'Ital. part ii. ch. v. © GIAMBULLARI, dedicating the edition of the Ciriffo Calvaneo, of 1514, to LORENZO (son of GIULIANO) de' Medici, says that LUCA PULCI had been dead for twenty-five years past. GAMBA, Serie dei Testi di L. 657. Now LUCA died before LUIGI. FRANCO and PULCI, Son. 37. GINGUENÉ is mistaken both in saying that LUIGI died in 1487, and that the first edition of the Morgante is posterior to his death. a Morg. Mag. c. xxviii. st. 2. 131 and 136. |