PO E M S J- y hw G I O S U E C‘A R D U C C I TRAN SLATED W ITH TW O INTRODUCTORY ESSAYS I GI O SUE CAR D U CCI AN D THE HE LLE N IC R E ACT IO N IN ITAL! I I CAR DU CCI AN D THE CLASSIC R E ALI SM B! FRAN K S E W A LL w ‘w “ ’ L e s cr t de l a rt rec reside 1d darts c rt: e e g ‘. e fi n esse d dégager la hg ne um ue ct ‘n ices ’ ’ w s az re q uz év oq ue la v ie et en éterm zn e d coup commale typ e étern el P AU L B OU R G E T LO N DON o M I A l o scoo x) c LV N E c . , LBEM RLE S T . W . 4 5 A A , 1 893 CO N T E N T S PRE FAC E E S S AYS x G x O sU E C R DUCC I D T H E H ELLE I C R E A C . A AN N T I O N I N I TALY u C R D U CC D T H E C L C R E LI M . A I A N ASSI A S TRA N S LATIONS L R O M A . u H M T o S T . Y N A AN m H O M ER . x v V R G L . I I I OC T O T o TH E L R E v. NV A I N Y v 1 SU D LO E . N AN V vu T o A U ROR . A 8 24 774 C on fen ts I R U T H OR V II . I A x / T H E O x I X . T o PH IE E U S A PO LLO X . H M T o TH E R E DE EM ER XI . Y N O UT DE TH E CE RTO XII . SI SA D TE S ET XIII . AN ONN I N G OTH C C H URCH XIV . A I x v I Z Z ! . NNAN I , INNAN I SER M O E XVI . I N T o H OR E XVII . A S A D RE M SU M M ER XVIII . A IN ’ O N S I T PE T E R s E V E XIX . A A N T H E M OT H E R XX . L E M I A O L T R . P P TO XXI ASSA A NAV , S A , A IAN ~ C R L . XXII . A NIVA V O I C E FRO M T H E P A LA C E V O I C E FRO M T H E H OV E L V O I C E FRO M T H E B A N QU ET V O I C E FRO M T H E G A RR ET V O I C E FRO M B E N EA T H XXIII . SONNET TO PETRAR C H V XXI . SONNET TO G OLDO NI XXV . SONNET T o A LFIERI N XXVI . SO NET T o M ONTI C ohten ts I N T T O I C O N XXVI . SON E N C LI I I N S T CRO C E XXVIII . AN A XXIX . V OI CE O F TH E PR I E STS V O C E O F G O D XXX . I ’ O N M D UG HTER M RR G E XXXI . Y A S A IA A T T H E B LE O F FR E ND XXXII . TA A I D TE XXXIII . AN V O N TH E S T H CE TE R O F D TE XXXI . IX N NA Y AN B E T R CE XXXV . A I ’ J E S T I D P R M I L D . A O U SC I A XXXVI Q I I A A VI I . “ ’ ’ N O N O UELL I o CH E C I A D I XXXVII . S N Q A M C H E CE N E T H EJ A N C I E N T U C P ETR XXXVIII . T S AN O Y O LD XXXIX . FI G U RI NE S M ADRI G AL SNO W E D U N DE R PRE FA CE w E n lish (a N endeavouring to introduce Carducci to g readers 55 through the following essays and translations , I would not be understood as being moved to do so alone o f by my high estimate the literary merit Of his poems , nor by a desire to advocate any peculiar religious o r social prin I ciples which they may embody . t is rather because these poems seem to me to afford an unusually interesting example o f the survival of ancient religious motives beneath the litera ture of a people o ld enough to have passed through a succes sion of religions and also because they present a form o f realistic literary art which , at this time, when realism is being so perverted and abused , is eminently refreshing , and sure to impart a healthy impetus to the literature of any a people . For these reasons I h ve thought that , even under of the garb very i nadequate translations , they would consti tute a not unwelcome contribution to contemporary literary study . I am indebted to the courtesy of Harper Brothers for the of privilege including here, in an amplified form , the essay ' ’ ’ ’ o n iosu C arduccz an d tbe Hellen ic eaétzon in I ta G é R ly, which ’ ' fi Har er s M a n e 1 8 0 . appeared rst in p n for July, 9 W A HINGTO . C 2 N l 8 . S , D . , June , 9 Gro suE CARDUCC I AN D THE HE LLE NI C R E ACTIO N IN I TAL! HE passing of a religion is at once the most interesting and the most tragic theme that can engage the his torian . Such a record lays bare what lies in mostly o f o o r at the heart a people , and has , c nsciously unconsciously , shaped thei r outward life . of or The literature a time reveals , but rarely describes o n analyses, the changes that go in the popular religious beliefs . It is only in a later age , when the religion itself has become desiccated , its creeds and its forms dried and parcelled for o f better preservation , that this analysis is made its passing o f modes, and these again made the subject literary treatment . Few among the existing nations that possess a literature have a history which dates back far enough to embrace these great fundamental changes , such as that from paganism to Christianity , and also a literature that is coeval with those changes . The Hebrew race possess indeed thei r ancient Scriptures , and with them retain their ancient religious ideas . The R ussians and Scandinavians deposed their pagan deities to give place to the White Christ within comparatively recent times, but they can hardly be said to have possessed a l itera l I ’ ' G zosue C ardueez - ture in the. pre Christian period . Our o wn saga of Beowull . I s indeed:a1reI I gI ous war - chant uttering the savage emotions o f o ur o f Teutonic . ancestors, but not a work literary art ' f calirily re fl etjin g the universal life o the people . ' ‘ ' lt is O t to the Latin nations of Europe , sprung from Hellenic stock and having a continuous literary history cov ering a period of from two to three thousand years , that we m o f ,may look for the exa ple a people undergoing these ' radical religious changes and preserving meanwhile a living o f m record them in a conte poraneous literature . Such a fi nation we nd in Italy . So thorough is the reaction exhibited during the last half of the present century in that country against the dogma and the authority o f the Church of Rome that we are led to in‘ quire whether , not the church alone, as Mr . Symonds says , “ but Christianity itself has ever imposed o n the Italian char acter to such an extent as to obliterate wholly the underlying o r Latin or Hellenic elements , prevent these from springing again into a predominating influence when the foreign yoke is once removed . To speak of Christianity coming and going as a mere pass ing episode in the life of a nation , and taking no deep hold o n the ' n ation al m re character , is so ewhat shocking to the li ious g ideas which prevail among Christians, but not more so than would have been to a Roman of the time of the Caesars the suggestion that the Roman Empire might itself o n e o f day pass away , a transient phase only in the life a “ R ome itself had n eve r gathere d the Italian cities i n to what we call a ’ n a on an d e n R o me the o d s e ad fe the m n a e s o f I a t e ti ; wh , w rl h , ll, u icip liti t ly ma n e d an d the I al an e o e s an to fe a a n b o n a e i , t i p pl p r g li g i y c t ct with th ir m ian e o e ab e as .