DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67375#0314
256 NAPLES AND ITS ENVIRONS.
After his return to Naples at this time, he wrote his
Piscatorial Eclogues, which were justly celebrated; in
them, it has been said, he surrounded himself by the
pastoral Muses on the seashore. Where else in the world
are the combined charms of land and sea so full of poetry
as on the Bay of Naples ? Where else are the fishermen
so picturesque ? Then, too, it is the very home of sirens
and nereids, and we must believe it to have had its attrac-
tions for Poseidon and the tritons. It would seem that
a poet who loved the sea, and knew his classics well, could
scarcely prevent such eclogues from flowing off his pen
when living with this entrancing bay always before his
eyes, and its associations in his mind. Sannazzaro’s second
love was of a platonic nature and most creditable to him,
since Cassandra Marchesa remained his devoted friend
through life; her companionship was the joy of his latest
years, and he is said to have died in her house.
Sannazzaro is best known by his “ Arcadia,” which is
a most valuable exponent of the classical revival at its
height, — midway between its untutored youth and its too
conscious age. Its title suggests its nature; and although
it is full of shepherds, nymphs, fauns, and allegorical tales,
it is a truly valuable picture of Southern Italy in the fif-
teenth century. It was immensely popular in its time, and
is now a masterpiece of its epoch, and has a double interest
for us, since it is believed to have inspired Sir Philip
Sidney’s work of the same nature.
Masuccio Guardato, a noble of Salerno, passed his life
at the court of Naples, and wrote the “ Novellino,” which
appeared in 1476. He called himself the disciple of
Boccaccio and Juvenal. Each of his tales is dedicated to
some noble man or woman well known in Naples; they
are a curious mixture of the language of the cultivated
with that of the common people, and are an important
contribution to our knowledge of the manners of his time,
After his return to Naples at this time, he wrote his
Piscatorial Eclogues, which were justly celebrated; in
them, it has been said, he surrounded himself by the
pastoral Muses on the seashore. Where else in the world
are the combined charms of land and sea so full of poetry
as on the Bay of Naples ? Where else are the fishermen
so picturesque ? Then, too, it is the very home of sirens
and nereids, and we must believe it to have had its attrac-
tions for Poseidon and the tritons. It would seem that
a poet who loved the sea, and knew his classics well, could
scarcely prevent such eclogues from flowing off his pen
when living with this entrancing bay always before his
eyes, and its associations in his mind. Sannazzaro’s second
love was of a platonic nature and most creditable to him,
since Cassandra Marchesa remained his devoted friend
through life; her companionship was the joy of his latest
years, and he is said to have died in her house.
Sannazzaro is best known by his “ Arcadia,” which is
a most valuable exponent of the classical revival at its
height, — midway between its untutored youth and its too
conscious age. Its title suggests its nature; and although
it is full of shepherds, nymphs, fauns, and allegorical tales,
it is a truly valuable picture of Southern Italy in the fif-
teenth century. It was immensely popular in its time, and
is now a masterpiece of its epoch, and has a double interest
for us, since it is believed to have inspired Sir Philip
Sidney’s work of the same nature.
Masuccio Guardato, a noble of Salerno, passed his life
at the court of Naples, and wrote the “ Novellino,” which
appeared in 1476. He called himself the disciple of
Boccaccio and Juvenal. Each of his tales is dedicated to
some noble man or woman well known in Naples; they
are a curious mixture of the language of the cultivated
with that of the common people, and are an important
contribution to our knowledge of the manners of his time,