poets, we are still occupied with the concepts of plastic art. The
artist achieves the complete expression of his idea only through
painful toil, and often lapse of years which leave him ready to
depart from a world in which accomplishment is itself a sign of
ripeness for death. With that universal animism, as we now say, by
which all general truths of man’s life are felt to be also applicable
to the course of Nature, the poet is entitled to apply the idea to
external being. And with what insight! If ever genius can be said to
have forecast the conclusions of scientific inquiry, it is so in this
instance; Michelangelo presents us with a truly modern conception of
Nature, as the creative artist, who through a series of ages and a
succession of sketches, is occupied with continually unsuccessful,
but ever-improving efforts at the expression of her internal life.
The perfection of the creature, which marks the accomplishment of
the undertaking, signifies also the end of the process; with such
completeness is felt the sorrow incident to all termination, and
especially the pain of the mortal, who feels that delight in perfect
beauty enforces the consciousness of his own transitoriness, and
emphasizes the sense of Nature as perishable. Hence, perhaps it may
be explained that all perception of perfect loveliness is said to be
accompanied by a sensation of fear. The piece possesses a grandeur
of rhythm corresponding to its depth of intellectual apprehension,
and is worthy to stand beside the greatest of the artist’s plastic
productions, as equally immortal. In such verse Michelangelo rose to
the level of a world poet; nor has early English literature anything
of a kindred nature worthy to be placed in comparison.
8 [XII] Michelangelo perpetually varies but never repeats the theme.
Once more, it is not the trembling of the hand which causes the
artist’s failure; it is the uncertainty of the mind, not clear as to
its intent.
9 [XIII] Again the bitter contrast of the permanence of art with
the fleeting period of human life. We have had the idea in sonnet
XVII. But the argument is now carried a step further. According to
mediæval (and also modern) national morality, the destruction of
kindred implies the duty of blood-vengeance. On whom, then, devolves
the conduct of the feud made necessary by the taking away of the
beloved? Not on man, but on Nature, whose pride must be offended by
the preference given to the works of her children as compared with
the transitoriness of her own. The permanence of the artistic product
is therefore a sign that Nature herself is bound to require of Time
atonement for the wrong done to imagination; and thus art is made the
prophet of restoration.
10 [XIV] The metaphor is now furnished by the work of the
metal-caster; and since in this case there has been no change in the
conditions of manufacture, the comparison still seems simple and
natural.
11 [XV] The tender, simple, and universally applicable lament at the
same time includes its own consolation.
12 [XVI] The idea of Death as deliverer from Love is often repeated
by the poet. Giannotti probably followed rather the verse than
any spoken words in the sentences he has put into the lips of the
artist: “I remind you that to re-discover one’s self, and to enjoy
one’s self, it is not necessary to seize on so many pleasures and
delights, but only to reflect on death. This is the only thought
which enables us to recognize ourselves, which maintains us in
unity with ourselves, and prevents us from being robbed by parents,
kinsfolk, friends, great masters, ambition, avarice, and other
vices and sins, which take man from man, and keep him dispersed and
dissipated, without suffering him ever to find himself and become at
one with himself. Marvellous is the effect of this thought of death,
which in virtue of its nature all-destructive, nevertheless conserves
and supports those who include it in their meditation, and defends
them from every human passion. Which, methinks, I have sufficiently
indicated in a madrigal, where, in treating of love, I conclude that
against it is no better defence than the thought of death.”
A beautiful variation, characterized by the author’s invariable
originality, is furnished by the number next in Guasti’s edition.
[XVII]
NELLA MEMORIA DELLE COSE BELLE
_When Memory may cherish and endear
Some lovely sight, resolve availeth not
For her discrowning, until Death appear,
And exile her, as she made him forgot,
Chill flame to frost, change laughter into pain,
And make abhorred the beauty loved before,
That tenanteth the empty heart no more.
Yet if she turn again
Her lucid eyes toward home of their desire,
With arid bough more ardent grows the fire._
13 [XVIII] The idea that only through contemplating the person of the
beloved can the soul transcend from time to eternity is familiar in
the later compositions of Michelangelo. Compare sonnet 21 [LVI].
14 [XIX] The same conception receives a different treatment; mortal
beauty is now represented as exercising too potent an attraction, and
preventing the desire from mounting beyond it.
15 [XXI] The thought has been elaborated in a modern sense by Lowell
in his “Endymion:”--
_Goddess, reclimb thy heaven, and be once more
An inaccessible splendor to adore,
A faith, a hope of such transcendent worth
As bred ennobling discontent with earth;
Give back the longing, back the elated mood
That, fed with thee, spurned every meaner good;
Give even the spur of impotent despair
That, without hope, still bade aspire and dare;
Give back the need to worship that still pours
Down to the soul that virtue it adores!_
So far the idea coincides with that of Michelangelo; but the
conclusion of the later poet varies:--
_Goddess triform, I own thy triple spell,
My heaven’s queen,--queen, too, of my earth and hell!_
Such could not be the termination of the author of the Renaissance,
at a time when his star was Vittoria Colonna.
16 [XXIII] The sweet and plaintive verse was popular as a song even
in the lifetime of Michelangelo, as may be inferred from its mention
by Varchi.
17 [XXV] The madrigal has all the spirit of English song in the early
part of the seventeenth century; but what English verse, having the
same idea, could be mentioned in comparison?
18 [LII] The beautiful song exhibits a great number of variations.
Perhaps on account of the musical character, counteracting a
meditative tendency, Platonic philosophy appears only as lending a
gentle mist transformed by the sunshine of pleasurable passion.
19 [LIII] Compare No. LXXII. I should assign this madrigal, in spite
of its light character, to the later epoch.
20 [LIV] The ninth line appears to contain a reference to Vittoria
Colonna, who lived in a convent, toward which the desires of the
poet, as he says, scarce dared to reach.
21 [LVII] It can scarce be doubted that the attribution of masculine
thought to the beloved is a reference to the character of Vittoria.
22 [LXVIII] The dialogue of this madrigal is intentionally veiled,
as if the poet were conscious of dealing with a dangerous theme.
Sublime are the last two lines, containing all the Michelangelo of
the Sistine frescoes; the sentiment is not the purely Christian
conception of forgiveness of injuries, the mildness which on
principle turns the other cheek. Significant is the word _altero_,
haughty; Michelangelo describes the sentiment of a great and proud
spirit, so lofty as to feel a superiority to personal resentment, so
truly Florentine as to receive no satisfaction in the prospect of
vengeance taken on a citizen of Florence.
23 [LXIX] A pretty piece of poetic ratiocination, cast into the form
of a case tried before a court of love, and ending, in the spirit of
the poet, with a universal truth.
24 [LXXII] Compare No. 20 [LIV]. It will be seen that the allusions
give some reason to believe that the idea is intended to be
biographic, though of course not to be taken as entirely literal.
25 [XCIII] A pleasing way of expressing a sense of the incompatibility
of Love and Death, that appears in many variations, and must be
considered biographic in its sentiment.
INDEX OF FIRST LINES
INDEX OF FIRST LINES
_The Roman numbers refer to the numeration of Guasti_
SONNETS
PAGE
XXXI. _A che più debb’io mai l’intensa voglia_ 72
XVIII. _Al cor di zolfo, alla carne di stoppa_ 74
XLI. _Colui che fece, e non di cosa alcuna_ 83
XVII. _Com’esser, donna, può quel ch’alcun vede_ 7
XIV. _Da che concetto ha l’arte intera e diva_ 5
I. _Dal ciel discese, e col mortal suo, poi_ 3
XXI. _D’altrui pietoso e sol di sè spietato_ 68
XXV. _Dimmi di grazia, amor, se gli occhi mei_ 11
XXIX. _I’ mi credetti, il primo giorno ch’io_ 15
XIX. _Io mi son caro assai più ch’io non soglio_ 7
XXXIX. _La ragion meco si lamenta e dole_ 19
XXVIII. _La vita dal mie amor non è ’l cor mio_ 13
XV. _Non ha l’ottimo artista alcun concetto_ 5
XXVI. _Non men gran grazia, donna, che gran doglia_ 79
XXVII. _Non posso altra figura immaginarmi_ 13
XL. _Non so se s’è la desiata luce_ 19
LII. _Non vider gli occhi miei cosa mortale_ 23
XLIV. _O nott’, o dolce tempo benchè nero_ 21
XLIII. _Perchè Febo non torc’e non distende_ 21
XXXIII. _Perchè tuo gran bellezze al mondo sieno_ 17
LVI. _Per ritornar là donde venne fora_ 23
LXII. _Quand’el ministro de’ sospir me’ tanti_ 86
II. _Quante dirne si de’ non si può dire_ 63
XX. _Quanto si gode lieta e ben contesta_ 9
XXXVIII. _Rendete a gli occhi miei, o fonte o fiume_ 80
LXI. _Se ’l mie rozzo martello i duri sassi_ 25
XXII. _Se nel volto per gli occhi il cor si vede_ 9
XXXV. _Sento d’un foco un freddo aspetto acceso_ 79
L. _S’i’ avessi creduto al primo sguardo_ 81
XXIV. _Spirto ben nato, in cui si specchia e vede_ 11
XXXII. _S’un casto amor, s’una pietà superna_ 17
LI. _Tornami al tempo allor che lenta e sciolta_ 87
XXX. _Veggio co’ bei vostri occhi un dolce lume_ 15
EPIGRAMS
I. _Caro m’è ’l sonno, e più l’esser di sasso_ 27
II. _Io dico a voi, ch’al mondo avete dato_ 27
V. _Amore è un concetto di bellezza_ 27
MADRIGALS
XXI. _A l’alta tuo lucente diadema_ 47
XCIII. _Amor, se tu se’ dio_ 57
XV. _Beati, voi che su nel ciel godete_ 41
LIII. _Chi è quel che per forza a te mi mena_ 51
XXV. _Come può esser ch’io non sia più mio_ 49
XXIII. _Deh! dimmi, amor, se l’alma di costei_ 47
VIII. _Gli occhi miei vaghi delle cose belle_ 35
LXVIII. _Io dico che fra noi, potenti dei_ 53
CII. _Lezzi, vezzi, carezze, or feste e perle_ 67
LXXIII. _Mestier non era all’alma tuo beltate_ 55
XI. _Negli anni molte e nelle molte pruove_ 37
XVII. _Nella memoria delle cose belle_ 100
XIV. _Non pur d’argento o d’oro_ 39
XVI. _Non pur la morte, ma ’l timor di quella_ 41
III. _Non sempre al mondo è sì pregiato e caro_ 31
LII. _Ogni cosa ch’i’ veggio mi consiglia_ 49
V. _Ora in sul destro, ora in sul manco piede_ 33
IV. _Perchè è troppo molesta_ 31
VII. _Per fido esemplo alla mia vocazione_ 93
I. _Per molti, donna, anzi per mille amanti_ 29
VI. _Per non s’avere a ripigliar da tanti_ 88
XIX. _Quantunche ver sia, che l’alta e divina_ 45
LXIX. _S’alcuna parte in donna è che sia bella_ 55
IX. _Se dal cor lieto divien bello il volto_ 35
XIII. _Se d’una pietra viva_ 39
XVIII. _S’egli è che ’l buon desio_ 43
LIV. _Se ’l commodo de gli occhi alcun constringe_ 51
XII. _Sì come per levar, donna, si pone_ 37
LVII. _Un uomo in una donna, anzi uno dio_ 53
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
English translations have been moved to imediately follow the original
text, rather than on opposing pages as in the original text.
The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page
references.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg 10: “tuo” replaced with “tue”
Pg 90: “Gianotti” replaced with “Giannotti”