Taylor, Edgar [Editor]; Austin, Sarah [Editor]: Lays of the minnesingers or German troubadours of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries: Illustr. by specimens of the contemporary lyric poetry of Provence and other parts of Europe ; With histor. and crit. notes, and engravings from the ms. of the minnesingers in the king's library at Paris, and from other sources (London, 1825)

ITALY. 61

idiom ; indeed, one that seems as classical as that of
Dante—

Or potess' io venire a voi, amorosa,
Come il ladron ascoso, e non paresse :
Ben lo mi terria in gioja avventurosa
Se V amor tanto di ben mi facesse;
Se bel parlare, donna, con voi fora;
E direi come v' amai lungamente,
Piu che Piramo Tisbe dolcemente
E v' ameraggio, in fin ch* io vivo, ancora.

Guido delle Colonne follows a few years later in

the same school, and tells his lady,

Ben passa rose e fiori
La vostra fresca cera,
Lucente piu che spera ;
E la boeca aulitusa
Piu rende aulente audore
Che non fa una fera
C ha nome la Pantera.*

Jacopo da Lentino, of the same period, furnishes a
sonnet that proves the Italians to have very early
attached themselves to that form and style of poetry
to which they so long adhered with success. The
mixture of love and religion is in the genuine feeling
of the Troubadours.

Io mi agio posto in core a Dio servire
Com' io potesse gire in Paradiso,
Al santo loco c' agio audito dire
Ove si manticne sollazzo, gioco e riso.

* The panther is introduced in several of the early Italian
poets as a subject of comparison. How the breath of that beast
acquired the repute assigned to it, does not appear.