Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Origins and Duecento
- 1 The earliest evidence
- 2 Poetry
- 3 Prose
- The Trecento
- The Quattrocento
- The Cinquecento
- The Seicento: Poetry, Philosophy and Science
- Narrative prose and theatre
- The Settecento
- The Age of Romanticism (1800–1870)
- The Literature of United Italy (1870–1910)
- The Rise and Fall of Fascism (1910–45)
- The Aftermath of the Second World War (1945–56)
- Contemporary Italy (since 1956)
- Bibliography
- References
2 - Poetry
from Origins and Duecento
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
- Frontmatter
- Origins and Duecento
- 1 The earliest evidence
- 2 Poetry
- 3 Prose
- The Trecento
- The Quattrocento
- The Cinquecento
- The Seicento: Poetry, Philosophy and Science
- Narrative prose and theatre
- The Settecento
- The Age of Romanticism (1800–1870)
- The Literature of United Italy (1870–1910)
- The Rise and Fall of Fascism (1910–45)
- The Aftermath of the Second World War (1945–56)
- Contemporary Italy (since 1956)
- Bibliography
- References
Summary
Francis of Assisi
None of the documents mentioned so far indicates conscious cultural accumulation or progressive literary development, and this unsophisticated localised production was to carry on for centuries in its geographical and linguistic isolation, long after literary standards had been established. Piety and humour were to be its staples, and genre and metrical forms were to remain closely linked to the oral humus from which it spontaneously germinated. This hidden dimension (hidden, that is, from the history of ‘high’ literature) could occasionally throw surprises, such as the impressive religious outpourings of Umbria, starting with St Francis (1182–1226) himself. The saint, whose very name indicates how fashionable French culture was, and who sang in French when jolly, who liked to name his companions after the characters in the Round Table, and whose followers were nicknamed ioculatores domini (minstrels of the Lord), was able, even in the discomfort of his last illness (c.1225), to compose a hymn of astounding freshness and innocence. The Laudes Creaturarum, also known as the Cantico delle creature (‘Praise of God's Creation’), starts by singing the praises of God for creating the sun, moon and stars, then, after thanking Him for the four elements, concludes in gratitude for patience in suffering and for Death itself.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Italian Literature , pp. 5 - 27Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1997