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About Google Book Search Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world’s books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at http://books.google.com/ 1 TheFranciscanpoetsinItalyofthethirteenthcentury FrédéricOzanam COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE DAVIS, CALIFORNIA 85Wash'n St.Boston THE FRANCISCAN POETS THE FRANCISCAN POETS IN ITALY OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY * * * * * FREDEEICK OZANAM TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED BY A. E. NELLEN and N. C. CRAIG NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S " 1914 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE DAVIS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION The necessity for a translation into English of Ozanam's book — No other book reproduces so truly the spirit of the Franciscan movement — Unquestioning testimony given to the pre-eminence of Ozanam as an authority on the subject in Germany, France, and Italy — To Ozanam is due the discovery of the importance of Jacopone — Jacopone the Mystic Poet CHAPTER I POPULAR POETRY IN ITALY BEFORE AND AFTER ST. FRANCIS Poetry is the basis of Italian life, and from the earliest times reflects the national character, e.g. the poetry of the primitive Italian Church followed by the theo logical poetry of a more cultured age — The poetry of the monuments and the purposes served by it — Gradual enlarging of the subjects, and confusing of sacred and profane elements — With the advent of St. Francis begins the vernacular poetry of Italy, e.g. the Can ticle of the Sun — His followers pave the way for Dante both in his choice of subjects and in his style — This development of religious poetry in the national tongue followed by the dawn of the Italian romantic poetry, e.g. the cycle of Pope Alexander III . THE FRANCISCAN POETS CHAPTER II ST. FRANCIS PAOK The two sources of Italian poetry, the sensual and the re ligious, flow side by side, as is illustrated in the work of St. Francis — How the education of St. Francis pre pared him for his ministry — His conversion — His marriage with Lady Poverty and his prayer for her — The wide appeal of his poems — His faith strengthened by illness — His love of humanity and his desire to reveal to them the love of God — His passion for nature illustrated — His ecstatic love for the whole creation found utterance in poetry rather than prose — Quotation — He chooses the same medium to describe his mystic visions — Quotations — These poems became the source of inspiration for all the arts in the suc ceeding age 49 CHAPTER III THE FIRST FOLLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS Brother Pacificus— St. Bonaventura — Jacomino of Verona The conflicting strains of the Italian life of the Middle Ages — The sensual life of the court undermined by the teaching of St. Francis and his followers — The early life of Brother Pacificus, the king of verse, and his conversion to the Order of St. Francis — The work of St. Bonaventura the theologian — His response to the teaching of St. Francis — Quotations — The place of Jacomino of Verona in Italian literature — His two chief works described and fully illustrated by quota tions — Criticism of the beliefs expressed in his work — His use of allegory — His minor poems described and characterised 116 vi CONTENTS CHAPTER IV JACOPONE DA TODI, THE MYSTIC POET FAOK Brief survey of the political and intellectual atmosphere of the age of Jacopone — Claims of Jacopone, the fore runner of Dante, to recognition aa a great poet — Description of his birthplace, Todi — His upbringing and education — His career and pursuits whilst study ing at Bologna — His greed of gain during his early practice as a lawyer — Marriage — Tragic death of his wife causes turning-point in his career — His life of self-sacrifice and humiliation wins him the scorn of his contemporaries and the title of "Jacopone" — His consistent adherence to the teaching of St. Francis — Admission to the Third Order of Brothers Minor — Reflection of his principles in his first writings, from which long extracts are quoted — The influence of his life and teaching on his contemporaries — His attitude towards the dissensions between the "Conventuals" and the Brothers Spiritual— Jacopone's warning to the hermit pope— Events and writings leading up to his excommunication — His pleadings from his prison cell — His absolution — His friendship with and writ ings to Brother John — His illness and death . 186 CHAPTER V THE POEMS OF JACOPONE The sources of his inspiration — The Stabat Mater Dolorosa and its companion poem the Stabat Mater Speciosa characterised by means of quotations — Classification of his poems into three classes: (1) His theological poems and the system of mysticism they expound — vii THE FRANCISCAN POETS long extracts to illustrate and detailed criticism of an epic poem celebrating the redemption of human nature; (2) His satires denouncing contemporary society — Their subjects and literary characteristics again illustrated by quotations — His satires against the corruptions of the Church ; (3) His dramatic poems popularising sacred truths and festivals — Extracts — Detailed summary of his poem on Poverty — The judg ment of posterity on Jacopone — His place in the his tory of Italian literature 237 Index 329 viii ILLUSTRATIONS ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI . Frontispiece By Tiberio d'Assisi From a fresco belonging to Mrs. Gkllatly FAOINfl PAOI ST. CLARE 121 By Tiberio d'Assisi From a fresco belonging to Mrs. Gellatly JACOPONE DA TODI 188 Attributed to Domenico Veneziano Fresco in the Cathedral at Prato "JACOPONE IN ECSTASY BEFORE THE VIRGIN " 240 From the "Laude di Fkate Jacopone da Todi." Florence, 1490 Beproduced from "Christmas in Ritual and Tradition," by Clement A. Miles By permission of Mr. FlSHER Unwin ix Thanks are due to Mr. J. Slingsby Roberts for his translation of " The Canticle of the Sun " by St. Francis of Assisi, and of "The Ode to St. Clare " by Jacopone da Todi. X INTRODUCTION Frederick Ozanam was born in the year 1813 and. died in the year 1853, and his centenary has therefore just been celebrated in the year 1913. This, his chief literary work, which, to quote an eminent Catholic writer, " remains to this day one of the indispensable authorities for the history of literature, of Catholicism, and of Italy," will now appeal to a larger public in England; for, though all those who have striven to bring to light the hidden truths of Franciscan literature — whether in Germany, France, or Italy — have given unquestioning testimony to the pre eminence of Frederick Ozanam as an authority on the subject, no English translation of his inspiring and illuminating work has yet been attempted. No other book reproduces so sincerely and truly the spirit of the Franciscan movement, with all the glow of its religious ecstasy and all the charm of its innocent simplicity; no other book expounds so clearly THE FRANCISCAN POETS the gradual evolution of that spirit, or testifies so convincingly to its influence on all aspects of human life and art.