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About the same time, or even in the first half of the thirteenth
century, one of the many strictly balanced forms of mere, in which
Europe was then so fruitful, became a normal and recognized form in
Italy--the sonnet. The order of rhymes and even the number of lines
varied for a whole century, till Petrarch fixed them permanently. In
this form all higher lyrical and meditative subjects, and at a later
time subjects of every possible description, were treated, and the
madrigals, the sestine, and even the 'Canzoni' were reduced to a
subordinate place. Later Italian writers complain, half jestingly, half
resentfully, of this inevitable mould, this Procrustean bed, to which
they were compelled to make their thoughts and feelings fit. Others
were, and still are, quite satisfied with this particular form of
verse, which they freely use to express any personal reminiscence or
idle sing-song without necessity or serious purpose. For which reason
there are many more bad or insignificant sonnets than good ones.
Nevertheless, the sonnet must be held to have been an unspeakable
blessing for Italian poetry. The clearness and beauty of its structure,
the invitation it gave to elevate the thought in the second and more
rapidly moving half, and the ease with which it could be learned by
heart, made it valued even by the greatest masters.
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