Gyraldus goes through a list of
these poets, among whom Vida, with his 'Christiad' and Sannazaro, with
his three books, 'De partu Virginis' hold the first place. Sannazaro
(b. 1458, d. 1530) is impressive by the steady and powerful flow of his
verse, in which Christian and pagan elements are mingled without
scruple, by the plastic vigor of his description, and by the perfection
of his workmanship. He could venture to introduce Virgil's fourth
Eclogue into his song of the shepherds at the manger without fearing a
comparison. In treating of the unseen world, he sometimes gives proofs
of a boldness worthy of Dante, as when King David in the Limbo of the
Patriarchs rises up to sing and prophesy, or when the Eternal, sitting
on the throne clad in a mantle shining with pictures of all the
elements, addresses the heavenly host. At other times he does not
hesitate to weave the whole classical mythology into his subject, yet
without spoiling the harmony of the whole, since the pagan deities are
only accessory figures, and play no important part in the story. To
appreciate the artistic genius of that age in all its bearings, we must
not refuse to notice such works as these. The merit of Sannazaro will
appear the greater, when we consider that the mixture of Christian and
pagan elements is apt to disturb us much more in poetry than in the
visual arts.
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