ITALIAN IMPROVISATORI.

No sooner had the gloom of the dark ages been dispersed and literature regained some portion of its pristine splendour, than in almost every town of Italy Improvisatori appeared, professing to descant in poetic metre upon any subject that might be proposed. Nor was it solely in the vulgar dialect of the provinces, or where the mere tinkling of rhyme would ensure applause, that these indefatigable bards appeared. On the contrary, many of them courted the criticism of the learned. Of some of these worthies, whose names are distinguished in the writings of their contemporaries, an account may not be uninteresting to the general reader. The literary historians of the sixteenth century, in their account of this class of poets in that age, all agree in honourable mention of Andrea Marone. The exact place of his birth we do not find recorded, but he seems to have been a humble schoolmaster in Venzone, until the fame of his versifying talents introduced him to the notice of the Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, whom he accompanied to the court of Alfonso I. Duke of Ferrara. His protector, the Cardinal, having occasion to make a journey into Hungary, Marone expressed a wish to be of the party. For some reason or other the Cardinal was not anxious for his company, and Marone unable to bear the mortification of the refusal, grew weary of the countenance of his patron, and at length abandoned the Court of Ferrara for that of Leo the Tenth, which was at that time the most advantageous arena for every species of talent. Giovio, Giraldi, and Valeriano, his contemporaries, relate almost incredible instances of the wonderful facility which this poet possessed in Latin improvisation. Accompanying himself on the viol, which he played with exquisite taste, he poured forth verses with astonishing rapidity, and as he proceeded, increased in copiousness and elegance.

Scarce a meteor appeared in the horizon of literature, science, or the fine arts, during the pontificate of Leo the Tenth, the lustre of which did not contribute to the splendour of his court and add glory to his reign. Possessed of no trifling share of acquirement himself, he knew well how to appreciate it in others, and from one end of Europe to the other, the Vatican drew learning and accomplishment to splendid leisure and luxurious enjoyment. Here then was a fit stage for the developement of the talents of Marone. We are told by Giovio that Querno, Raffaello, Brandolini, and other celebrated improvisatori of the Court, "hid their diminished heads" when confronted with him, and that on one occasion at a solemn festival given by his Holiness to the ambassadors and other distinguished residents at Rome, when commanded to dilate upon the league against the Turks, then the subject of discussion, he so far surpassed the anticipations of his patron, and so delighted and astonished the guests, that Leo immediately conferred on him a valuable benefice in Capua. Contemporary with Marone, though enjoying less honourable celebrity, was Camillo Querno, born at Monopoli, in the kingdom of Naples, A. D. 1470. His propensity to gormandizing was so great that many historians make no mention of him but as a notorious " ghiottone," whose other qualities were too trifling to redeem this unpardonable sin. He seems, however, early to have listened to the whisperings of his art, and ere he quitted his native

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country had composed a poem of 20,000 verses, called Alexias,* in which, as it frequently happens, the author discovered more beauties than were clear to the indifferent reader. On its merits he determined to risk his reception at Rome, and accordingly proceeded thither with his poem. On his arrival he presented himself to the scholars of the academy, and courted their inspection of his performance. The gentlemen, however, whom he chanced to meet, were much more inclined to merriment than criticism, loved a joke a great deal better than a poem, and concluding from the grotesque rusticity of his costume, the convivial ruddiness of his features, and the uncultivated shagginess of his long black hair, that he was a much fitter subject to laugh at than to laugh with, voted him at once more likely to contribute to their amusement than do honour to their patronage. They therefore prepared an entertainment in a small island in the Tiber, to which Querno was invited; and while he was displaying his poetical as well as his guzzling qualities, and doing full as much justice to Liber Pater as to the Muses, they entwined a new wreath of poppies, cabbage, and laurel, and placing it solemnly upon his temples unanimously declared him " Archpoet." Querno, inflated by an honour so far above his most sanguine expectations, thought himself quite competent to appear before the Pope, was presented and displayed before his Holiness his versifying talents. Leo soon perceived how great an addition the Improvisatore might prove to the hilarity of his entertainments, and accordingly ordered him to be regularly admitted. With the notion of making the hope of gratifying his gluttony an incentive to his muse, he was always kept at some distance from the table, and little delicacies were occasionally sent him to provoke him to exertion. After he had devoured these with the most disgusting avidity, the Pope had him placed nearer to himself, and filling a tumbler of the choicest wine, promised it to him on the express condition, that he should immediately produce two extemporaneous verses at least, which if he failed to do, or his verses were not approved, he was condemned not only to forfeit the wine, but to swallow an equal quantity of pure water or of wine very considerably diluted. On one of these tantalizing occasions the disappointment seems to have produced what expectation could not, and Querno very appropriately on receiving his penance, exclaimed

"In cratere meo, Thetis est conjuncta Lyæo

Est dea juncta deo, sed dea major eo."

Querno had expressed a very pardonable exultation in his talent by the following line:

Leo replied:

Querno :

Leo :

Archipoeta facit versus pro mille poetis."

"Et pro mille aliis archipoeta bibit."

"Porrige quod faciat mihi carmina docta, Falernum."

"Hoc etiam enervat debilitatque pedes ;"

alluding to the gout to which the jester was a martyr.

* The first line only of this poem has been preserved. Infelix Europa diu quassata tumultu Bellorum, &c.

The usual lot of buffoons was at length that of poor Querno. The applause of one moment was often effaced by the insults of the next; and we are told that some pointed witticisms did, on one occasion, so irritate the feelings of his patron, as to earn for the protégé very violent marks of his displeasure. An additional mortification was provided for him in the great superiority of Marone, and between the caprice of the Pontiff and the occasional outrages of his company, he retired from Court in disgust.

Giraldi, from whom this account is principally taken, mentions other poets of the same description, who, like Querno, were introduced to Leo in the hope of establishing their own fortunes upon the gratification of their patron, and like him, instead of favour or patronage, received nothing but mockery and derision. Among these he particularly names one Giovanni Giraldi, who for his absurd libels upon poetry was frequently publicly whipped by order of his Holiness-a species of despotism, which, happily for many poets of the present day, has now become obsolete. Baraballo, Abated a Gaeta, is likewise more famous for his inordinate vanity and ludicrous conceit than for any real merit. He seems to have been one of those ennuyeur, whom Molière describes

Au palais, aux cours, au jardins, au table

De ses vers fatigants lecteur infatigable.

At any rate he carried his stupid vanity so far as to compare his improvisations to the sonnets of Petrarch, and actually claimed the honour which that poet had received, of being crowned in the Capitol. This idea opened a fine prospect of amusement to Leo and his Court; his pretensions were acknowledged by acclamation, and it was arranged that his coronation should take place upon the festival of St. Cosmus and Damian. The Pope was so enchanted with the ludicrous anticipation of Baraballo's self-complacency, and of his utter insensibility to the real nature of the part he had to play, and of the applause he was to receive, that he determined to give every possible éclat to the farce, and assemble all Rome to witness the ridiculous exhibition. Baraballo, too, within sight of the very summit of his ambition, resolved that the ceremony should proceed with the utmost magnificence, and this inclination received every encouragement from the courtiers, who naturally concluded that the more pageantry surrounded him the greater was their dupe. It happened about this time that a very large elephant had been presented to Leo by the King of Portugal, and it was suggested and finally agreed, that the elephant should convey the Improvisatore to the Capitol. On the appointed day the " Eternal City" was on the alert to catch a glimpse of the procession; every avenue to the Vatican was crowded to suffocation; elegantly dressed females, the rank and beauty of Rome, of course, decorated the windows, and the air resounded with vivas, and shouts in honour of Baraballo. He himself was betimes at the palace, from whence the cortège was to proceed, and was feasting upon the honour that awaited him, when a deputation was announced from Gaeta, where the friends of the Abate enjoyed some consideration, The deputation was admitted to the presence of Baraballo, who received them in the costume which was worn by the triumphant generals of ancient Rome. He was clad in a garment of purple, embroidered with

gold, and surrounded by facetious wags, who were loading him with congratulatory mockeries. Baraballo, elated by this new mark of attention, had begun in pompous verse to express his acknowledgments to his fellow-citizens of Gaeta, for the interest they took in his good fortune, when they interrupted him by earnest entreaties not to dishonour his family and stamp ludicrous notoriety upon his birthplace, by exposing himself to the jests and ribaldry of Rome. This unexpected rebuff, instead of cooling the ardour of Baraballo, only roused him to exertion. He burst into a violent paroxysm of rage, vented in impromptu verse the most violent imprecations upon the deputation, which he accused of mean and sordid jealousy at the distinction he had reached, and leaving them abruptly and in anger, mounted his elephant amid the suppressed giggle of the Court and acclamations of the populace. He had not, however, proceeded very far, before some misgivings overtook him of the honorary character of the proceeding: the jibes of the people became at length too unequivocal to be mistaken-he saw through the double-entendre or the insincerity of every fresh compliment he received, and by the time he had arrived at the Ponte S. Angelo, he had become excessively impatient, and had given his attendants several indications that their fulsome flattery was offensive. Shame and mortification still chained him to his seat, and had not an impediment occurred where it was not expected, this extravagant pantomime must have been consummated. Luckily, however, for the Abate, further than the Ponte S. Angelo the elephant would not move. It seemed to have conspired with the Nine Sisters to prevent the profanation of an honour, until then only enjoyed by their darling votaries, and nothing could induce it to proceed. It was soon understood that another conveyance would be supplied to complete the burlesque; but in the midst of the hurry Baraballo had disappeared, and having doffed his triumphant robes, sneaked to his lodging. From the failure and exposure of the two last-mentioned Improvisatori, it will appear that mere versification, without intrinsic merit, was not sufficient to procure applause, either from the learned or the vulgar. No poet was considered to have attained perfection in the art, until he was able to treat with accuracy and precision the theme appointed for his amplification. Music, too, that twin sister of Poetry, in its primitive unsubdued existence, was the inseparable companion of extemporaneous recitations, and the mere effusion of verses was held a very mediocre performance unless enhanced by the charms of song and the sweet notes of the lyre. But some instances are recorded of Improvisatori, who, to this varied and extensive accomplishment, added profound learning and erudition. Towards the end of the fifteenth century flourished Bernardo Accolti, son of Bendetto, secretary of the Republic of Florence, and a celebrated historian. He was a native of Arezzo, and from his extraordinary talent in improvisation obtained the name of "l'unico Aretino." It is to be regretted that little of the poetry of the Improvisatori of his age has been preserved by historians; but in the absence of such testimonies of ability, the suffrages of their contemporaries must be admitted as evidence, and the proficiency of Bernardo will not be doubted when supported by the authority of Ariosto, who, speaking of him in his 46th Canto, says

"Il cavalier che tra lor viene e ch' elle
Onoran sì, s'io non ho l'occhio losco
Dalla luce offuscato de' bei volti

E'l gran lume Aretin, l'unico Accolti."

Cassio da Narni is not less flattering in his testimony of Accolti:

"Vedevasi poi l'unico Aretino

Un nuovo Orfeo, con la citra al collo
All' improviso un stil tanto divino

Che invidia gli ebbe non pochi anni Apollo."

The applause which Accolti received at the Court of Urban and afterwards of Leo the Tenth, was almost without example. When it was understood that he was going to recite, the shops in the neighbourhood were closed, crowds assembled to listen to him, and cardinals, ambassadors, and the most distinguished literati of Rome, were regular attendants. Pietro Bembo, in a letter to the Cardinal of St. Maria, 19th April 1516, furnishes other instances of this poet's ability, and throws some light upon his amours. He says he had lately heard from Accolti, who was still very assiduous in his attentions to a young lady with whom he had long been enamoured, that when he wrote he had the most encouraging prospect of success, for that she had desired him, when he next came, not to forget his lyre, and he doubted not that by its assistance he should be able to describe his passion in such glowing colours as would overcome the hesitation of his mistress. This certainly was turning the talent of improvisation to some account, but from the silence of Bembo it would appear, in this instance, that it was not successful.

The Conte Mazzuchelli, in his account of the Improvisatori of this age, makes particular mention of Aurelio Brandolini. He was the son of Matteo di Giorgio Brandolini, of a noble Florentine family, and when very young was afflicted with a defluxion in his eyes terminating in total blindness-a misfortune which acquired for him the name of Lippus, and which he beautifully deplores in a sonnet written when very young to Lorenzo de' Medici.

Risguarda alla mia cuca adolescenza,

Che in tenebrosa vita piango e scrivo
Com' uom che per via luce l'abbandona.

The fame of Aurelio's extraordinary talent soon reached the ears of Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, who at that time was making every exertion to attract men of letters, and particularly Italians, to his court. By this prince he was prevailed upon to leave Italy, and he seems to have enjoyed some lucrative employment in the University of Buda, founded by that prince. After the death of Matthias, he returned to Florence, and entered into the religious order of the Augustines, in which he became a distinguished preacher. Although blind, many cities in Italy witnessed the display of his talents from the pulpit, and the numerous testimonies of his contemporaries furnish abundant evidence of his success. His talent, however, in extemporaneous versification obtained for him a much greater celebrity than his oratorical powers, and from the account which Matteo Bosso sends of him from Verona to one Girolamo Campagnola, a citizen of Padua, he seems to