DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.55582#0103
VENICE. i$
save his Heroine’s Honour, has so or-
dered it, that the King always acts with
a great Case-Knife stuck in his Girdle,
■which the Lady snatcfies from him in
the Struggle, and so defends her self.
The Italian Poets, besides the cele-
brated Smoothness of their Tongue, have
a particular Advantage, above the Wri-
ters of other Nations, in the difference
of their Poetical and Prose Language.
There are indeed Sets of Phrases that in
all Countries are peculiar to the Poets,
but among the Italians there are not only
Sentences, but a Multitude of particu-
lar Words that never enter into common
Discourse. They have such a different
Turn and Polissiing for Poetical Use, that
they drop scveral of their Letters, and
appear in another Form, when they
come to be ranged in Verse. For this
Reason the Italian Opera seldom sinks
into a Poorness of Language, but, a-
midst all the Meanness and Familiarity
of the Thoughts, has something beau-
tiful and sonorous in the Expression.
Without this natural Advantage of the
Tongue, their present Poetry would
appear wretchedly low and vulgar, not-
withstanding the many strained Allego-
ries that are so much in use among the
Writers of this Nation. The Englijb
E z and
save his Heroine’s Honour, has so or-
dered it, that the King always acts with
a great Case-Knife stuck in his Girdle,
■which the Lady snatcfies from him in
the Struggle, and so defends her self.
The Italian Poets, besides the cele-
brated Smoothness of their Tongue, have
a particular Advantage, above the Wri-
ters of other Nations, in the difference
of their Poetical and Prose Language.
There are indeed Sets of Phrases that in
all Countries are peculiar to the Poets,
but among the Italians there are not only
Sentences, but a Multitude of particu-
lar Words that never enter into common
Discourse. They have such a different
Turn and Polissiing for Poetical Use, that
they drop scveral of their Letters, and
appear in another Form, when they
come to be ranged in Verse. For this
Reason the Italian Opera seldom sinks
into a Poorness of Language, but, a-
midst all the Meanness and Familiarity
of the Thoughts, has something beau-
tiful and sonorous in the Expression.
Without this natural Advantage of the
Tongue, their present Poetry would
appear wretchedly low and vulgar, not-
withstanding the many strained Allego-
ries that are so much in use among the
Writers of this Nation. The Englijb
E z and