EUROPEAN. 295 



of those of Petrarch ; and those of Uberti, are highly esteemed, as 

 also the later ones of Bembo and Frugoni. Of pastoral poetry, the 

 Arcadia, of Sannazaro, contains some beautiful idyls; the Sagrifizio, 

 or Sacrifice, by Beccari, was the first Italian pastoral in a dramatic 

 form ; and the Ammta, of Tasso, is a beautiful pastoral drama, in 

 which shepherds and shepherdesses are the speakers. The Pastor 

 Fido or Faithful Shepherd, by Guarini, is similar to the Aminta ; 

 alike original and beautiful, though perhaps less critically composed. 

 Of descriptive poems, we would mention the Jlmbra, of Lorenzo di 

 Medici, in praise of his gardens ; the Tournament, of Politiano ; 

 the Sette Giornate, or Seven Days of Creation, by Tasso ; and the 

 Coltivazione, of Allemanni, a descriptive and didactic poem on 

 Agriculture. 



Of Italian dramatic poetry, the Sophonisba, of Trissino, was the 

 first regular tragedy ; and next to it was the Rosmonda, or Rosamond, 

 of Rucellai. The Jocasta, of Dolce, and the Orbecche, of Cinzio, 

 (or Cintio), are among the older tragedies of merit. Tasso wrote one 

 tragedy, entitled Torrismondo : and that of Merope, by MafTei, suggest- 

 ed those on the same subject by Alfieri and Voltaire. Of the numerous 

 tragedies of Alfieri, the best are probably those entitled Saul, and 

 Mel, both from Scripture History ; the latter of which, intermediate 

 between a tragedy and opera, was called by its author a tramelogedia. 

 The Galeotto Manfredi, of Monti, is a more recent tragedy of note. 

 Goldoni excelled chiefly in comedy; but his Belisarius, is a valuable 

 tragedy. The first opera, was composed by Rinuccini, about 1594 ; 

 and the first performed at Naples was in 1615 : but the best of the 

 early operas was probably that of Apostolo Zeno, entitled IS Ing anno 

 Felice, or the Fortunate Stratagem, performed at Venice in 1695. 

 The operas of Metastasio are unsurpassed : among them are his 

 Didone Jlbbandonata, or Dido Forsaken ; La Clemenzia di Tito, or 



the Lem- 



early Italian comedies, are the Virginia, 

 of Accolti ; and La Mandragora, and La Clizia, by Macchiavelli : 

 but the most esteemed, are those of Goldoni, the first of which was 

 La Donna di garbo, or the Lady of merit. Those of Avelloni are 

 also popular. 



Of Italian romantic poetry, and romance, some of the oldest 

 specimens are the Jlspramonte, by an unknown author ; Giron il 

 Cortese, or Giron the Courteous, by Alamanni ; and the J2madis, 

 by Bernardo Tasso ; all of them tales of chivalry and magic. The 

 oldest collection of Italian prose tales, extant, is the Centi Novelli 

 Jlnticlie, or Hundred ancient stories, by unknown authors. Boccacio 

 wrote two novels ; one entitled Fiammetta ; the other called Filo- 

 copo ; both chiefly amatory : and Macchiavelli is the author of 

 Belfagor, a satirical novel against scolding women. Here may be 

 mentioned the tales of Boccacio, Sacchetti, and Giovanni ; none of 

 which can be recommended as worthy of general perusal. Giraldo 

 Cinzio also wrote a collection entitled the Hundred Fables; most of 

 which are mere stories. The historical species of romance has lately 

 been introduced into Italy by Manzoni, in I Promessi Sposi, pub- 

 lished by him in 1827. In oratory, we have the published orations 



the Clemency of Titus ; and Hypsipyle, or the conspiracy of i 

 nian women. Among the early Italian comedies, are the I 



