Vittorio Alfieri. Forerunner of Italian Nationalism 9780231899291

Table of contents :
PREFACE
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. HATRED OF TYRANNY AND LOVE OF LIBERTY
CHAPTER II. FREEDOM AND THE ADVANCEMENT OF LITERATURE
CHAPTER III. RELIGION
CHAPTER IV. CLASSICISM
CHAPTER V. PATRIOTISM AND NATIONALISM
CHAPTER VI. NATIONALIST INFLUENCE AND CONCLUSION
APPENDIX. ORIGINAL TEXTS OF ALFIERI’S POEMS TRANSLATED IN THIS VOLUME
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

Citation preview

STUDIES IN HISTORY, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC LAW EDITED BY T H E F A C U L T Y OF P O L I T I C A L S C I E N C E COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITY

Number 336 VITTORIO ALFIERI Forerunner of Italian Nationalism

OF

VITTORIO ALFIERI Forerunner of Italian Nationalism

BY

GAUDENCE MEGARO, PH.D.

NEW

YORK

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON : P . S . KING &

1930

SON, L T D .

COPYRIGHT,

1930

BY COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITY

PRESS

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA

®o MY PARENTS

PREFACE THE purpose of this volume is to present Vittorio Alfieri as a forerunner of Italian nationalism. The sketch of his life is not intended as a full-length portrait, nor is the analysis of his works intended to cover all aspects of his thought and sentiments. It should be made clear at the outset that it is not proposed to evaluate the aesthetic quality of Alfieri's works, but rather to stress their significance and intellectual content in respect of nationalism. The introductory remarks on eighteenth-century Italy are certainly not exhaustive, but are meant merely to indicate what should be borne in mind in studying the origins of the Italian Risorgimento. This study is the outgrowth of a paper prepared for a seminar conducted in the Department of History of Columbia University by Professor Carlton J. H. Hayes on the political philosophy of nationalism. The author wishes to express his appreciation of the important work that Professor Hayes has done in directing the attention of students to the significant historical problem of the origins and development of nationalism, and to thank him for the valuable criticism, suggestions, and assistance which he has given throughout the preparation of this work. The author also wishes to thank Professors Dino Bigongiari, Arthur Livingston, and Giuseppe Prezzolini of Columbia University for reading the manuscript and making helpful suggestions. The author takes this occasion to express his gratitude to scholars and friends in Italy who have taken a kindly interest, not only in this essay, but also in his study of many aspects of Italian history, and from whom he has received much en7

8

PREFACE

couragement and advice in many connections : Senator Benedetto Croce; the late Professor Cesare De Lollis; Professor Guido De Ruggiero; Marquis Antonio De Viti De Marco, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Rome; Senator Giustino Fortunato; Senator Gaetano Mosca, Professor of Political Theory at the University of Rome; Professor Umberto Ricci; Professor Michele Rosi; Senator Francesco Ruffini, Professor of Ecclesiastical Law at the University of Turin; Commendatore Antonio Serena-Monghini, of the Court of Appeals of Rome; Professor Pietro Silva ; and Dr. Angelandrea Zottoli. Finally, for special assistance and many courtesies, the author wishes to thank Dr. Fortunato Pintor, Librarian of the Italian Senate, and his staff; the staff of the Library of the Italian Chamber of Deputies ; Mr. Roger Howson, Librarian of Columbia University ; and Dr. Henry Fürst, Librarian of the Paterno Collection at Columbia University. GAUDENCE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, OCTOBER,

1930.

MEGARO.

CONTENTS FACE

PREFACE

7

INTRODUCTION

13

CHAPTER I Hatred of Tyranny and Love of Liberty CHAPTER

41 II

Freedom and the Advancement of Literature

.

63

CHAPTER III Religion

77 CHAPTER IV

Classicism

86 CHAPTER V

Patriotism and Nationalism

94 CHAPTER VI

Nationalist Influence and Conclusion

130

APPENDIX

(49

BIBLIOGRAPHY

161

INDEX

171

9

O Vate nostro, Secoli Sublimi

nato, eppur

create

età, che profetando

in hai

pravi queste andavi.

ALFIERI

INTRODUCTION I THE year 1748 may be taken as a convenient point of departure for consideration of the origins of the Italian Risorgimento. With the signing of the treaty of Aix-laChapelle, Italy entered upon a period of peace that was not broken until the French Revolutionary wars. For centuries the peninsula had not enjoyed such a long reign of tranquillity. It had been the favorite battleground of Europe and had been parcelled out time and time again to satisfy the ambitions of dynastic Powers of the continent. While England, France, Spain and Portugal were developing into strong national states, Italy continued to suffer foreign invasion and exploitation. The struggle between France and Spain for the domination of the peninsula from 1494 to 1559 ended in a victory for Spain. For one hundred and forty years Spain's position in Italy was predominant. A f t e r the wars of the Spanish, Polish and Austrian Successions in the first half of the eighteenth century, the strength of Spain was diminished and Austria arose as a great Italian power. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Italy was divided into eleven states, in which social, political and intellectual conditions varied. 1 The Papal States were the 1 The two states not discussed are the Duchy of Modena and the Republic of San Marino. There is no standard political history of Italy in the eighteenth century. D r y and out of date but still useful is Tivaroni, C., L'Italia prima della rivoluzione francese (Turin, 1888). Many histories dealing with periods of the Italian Risorgimento from the French Revolution to the completion of Italian unity contain introductory chap-

13

VITTORIO

14

ALFIERI

most backward in the peninsula. The Church and its principles were the target of the rationalism of the century. Rome had lost its great prestige, it resisted the onslaughts of the new thought and it played a minor role in the politics and intellectual life of the century. The expulsion of the Jesuits by Portugal, France and Spain, and the abolition of the Order by the Pope in 1773 were significant signs of the Church's loss of power. World conditions indeed had changed. The universalism of the Middle Ages, expressed in the formulas of Empire and Church, seemed no longer to be a living force. Protestantism and the lay spirit of the modern state were becoming more solidly entrenched as forces in European life. Venice, Genoa and Lucca—three aristocratic republics— were in a state of decline. Here again, especially in the case of Venice and Genoa, we must refer to a capital fact of modern European history as an important element in their decline. With the discovery of America, the commercial center of gravity had gradually been transferred from the Adriatic and the Mediterannean to the Atlantic. Furthermore, the city-state could no longer cope with the strength of the larger state units. The former Duchy of Piedmont, now become the Kingdom of Sardinia, was an absolutist state, patriarchal and on the whole unprogressive, though throughout the century there was considerable economic advancement.1 ters on the eighteenth century in Italy. Among those that may be mentioned are: Franchetti, Α., Storia d'Italia dal 1789 al 1799, 2d ed. rev. and enl. by F. Lemmi (Milan, 1907) ; Masi, E., Il risorgimento italiano (Florence, 1917), 2 vols.; Rosi, M., Storia contemporanea d'Italia dalle origini del risorgimento ai giorni nostri, 2d ed. (Turin, 1922) ; Lemmi, F., Le origini del risorgimento italiano (1748-1815), 2d ed. (Milan, 1924). For histories of separate Italian states in the eighteenth century, see Lemmi's bibliography, Il risorgimento (Rome, 1926). 1

See Prato, G., La vita economica in Piemonte a mezzo il secolo

XVIII

(Turin, 1908).

INTRODUCTION

IS

Four of the states of Italy—Naples (including Sicily), Tuscany, Lombardy, and Parma—participated in the fairly widespread European movement of benevolent despotism. In these states we find rulers and ministers guided to a greater or lesser extent by the motives that impelled rulers like Frederick the Great and Joseph II to regard themselves as servants and benefactors of their peoples. It is noteworthy that these parts of Italy were ruled by princes of foreign blood or under foreign influence. The attitude of mind which led the ruler to think of himself as the father of his people and as a philanthropist fitted in well with the " enlightenment " of the century. In the " benevolent " states of Italy, as elsewhere in Europe, the power of the sovereign was exalted and strong checks were placed on the power of the clergy and nobility or whatever privileged classes there happened to be. Among the governments of Italy there were no political ties of national significance. There was virtually a complete absence of nationalist motive in their acts. Political objectives were viewed from a dynastic or local standpoint; they were not of a nature to interest the whole peninsula in a common effort toward political unity. The bourgeoisie, the great force making itself felt conspicuously in France and England and which was to be the dominant class in later history, was but slightly developed in the Italian states. Absolutism, be it oligarchic, monarchic or theocratic, be it harsh, indifferent or benevolent, reigned in Italy. The clergy and in many cases the nobility had important privileges. The large mass of the people were ignorant. There were indeed signs of the formation of a middle class, especially in Lombardy, Parma, Tuscany and to a lesser degree in Naples. But, on the whole, such a class had as yet scarcely attained a consciousness and mentality of its own, or a clear conception of its needs and rights. It was

ι6

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

not from this class that the original motive force of the new Italy was to be derived. To understand the significant elements in Italian life, we must turn our attention to the field of intellectual activity. Too much stress has been put on the intellectual and political " decadence " of Italy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The germs of the revival of Italy, of the Risorgimento indeed, may, as Croce suggests, be detected as far back as the late decades of the seventeenth century. 1 The very consciousness at that time that the Italians were playing a minor role in Europe, that foreigners were criticising and commenting on the Italian "decadence" in literature, science, and manners, led Italians to an inner and profound examination of themselves and ultimately to the elaboration of new ideals and forms of life. The Italian intellectual movement of the late seventeenth and of the eighteenth centuries lacked homogeneous character and was marked by wide differences and even great contrasts. The contributions of Italians to history, economics, science and literature were noteworthy and often of European significance. Of that age the dominant fact in European culture was the tremendous influence of French thinkers, from Descartes on. Reflections of their point of view in Italy were numerous, but one must be careful not to regard the Italian culture of the time as an exclusively foreign importation. The figure of Vico (1668-1744) towers above all others during this period in Italy. It is he who through his antirationalistic and anti-intellectualistic attitude represents best the reaction against the abstractions of the Cartesians and a 1 Croce, Β., Storia della età barocca in Italia (Bari, 1929), especially the chapter " Decadenza ", pp. 41-51.

INTRODUCTION

17

new reliance on the concreteness of tradition and history. 1 In Muratori ( 1 6 7 2 - 1 7 5 0 ) , we find extraordinary historical acumen, and not mere arid pedantry but true critical erudition. 2 Giannone ( 1 6 7 6 - 1 7 4 8 ) , in his famous Civil History of Naples, attacked the temporal pretensions and privileges of the Holy See and advocated complete freedom of the Neapolitan state from them. In the anti-clerical and lay tone of his writings is a note that pervades the history of the Italian Risorgimento.3 During the forty years preceding the French Revolution, Naples, Tuscany and Lombardy were living centres of intellectual ferment. In the South of Italy, Genovesi and Galiani wrote on economic subjects with acute understanding, and Filangieri reflected the optimism of his age in his Science of Legislation.* Various problems of political economy were 1 Among the principal works of Giambattista Vico are : De antiquissima italorum sapientia ex linguae latinae originibus eruenda (Naples, 1710) ; Vita di G. Β. V. scritta da sé medesimo, included in A . Calogerà's Raccolta di opuscoli scientifici e filologici (Venice, 1728), vol. i, pp. 143-256; prìncipi di una Scienza nuova, etc. (Naples, 1744) ; what is known as the Prima Scienza nuova was published in 1725 at Naples, and what is known as the Seconda Scienza nuova was published in 1730 at Naples ; an excellent book on Vico is Croce, Β., The Philosophy of Giambattista Vico, tr. by R. G. Collingwood (New York, 1913). 2 Among the principal works of Ludovico Muratori are: Rerum italicarum scriptores (Milan, 1723-1751), 28 vols.; Delle antichità Estensi ed italiane (Modena, 1717, 1740), 2 vols.; Antiquitates italicae medii aevi (Milan, 1738-1742), 6 vols.; Annali d'Italia, dal principio dell' era volgare sino all' anno 1749 (Milan, 1744-1749), 12 vols. 3 Pietro Giannone, Dell' 1723), 4 vols.

istoria civile del regno di Napoli

(Naples,

4 Antonio Genovesi, Delle lezioni di commercio o sia di economia civile (Naples, 1765) ; Ferdinando Galiani, Della moneta (Naples, 1750) ; Gaetano Filangieri, La scienza della legislazione (Naples, 1780-1785), 8 vols. An excellent account of the political and social thought in Southern Italy during the eighteenth century is De Ruggiero, G., Il pensiero politico meridionale nei secoli XVIII e XIX (Bari, 1922).

ι8

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

discussed in Tuscany by Fabbroni and others. 1 In Lombardy, the periodical, Il Caffè ( 1 7 6 4 - 1 7 6 6 ) , gathered together a group, zealous for improvement, in the persons of Beccaria, the brothers Verri, Carli and others. 2 All of these men, in the southern, central and northern parts of Italy, represented what might be called the " encyclopaedic " movement in Italy, directed toward civil, economic, administrative and penal reform. Much was done by them to popularize ideas of liberalism and equality. Italian literature was undergoing a process of renovation. In 1690 the Arcadia was formed to purify Italian literature of its abuses and to correct literary taste. 3 Despite these intentions, which at least show a need for change and improvement, the Arcadia, whose chief representative was Metastasio (1698-1782), degenerated into vapid froth. W i t h the appearance of Goldoni (1707-1793) and Parini ( 1 7 2 9 - 1 7 9 9 ) , the one through his comedies, the other through his satire, there was revealed a pronounced tendency to get away from the superficial and the decorative in 1 For a list of books and essays by Fabbroni and others, see Ciasca, R., " L'orìgine del " Programma per l'opinione nazionale italiana " del 1847-48 (Milan, 1916), pp. 73-79. See also Mondaini, G., Giovanni Fabbroni (1752-1822): contributo critico alla storia dell'economia politica in Toscana (Florence, 1897). 2 Cesare Beccaria, Dei delitti e delle pene (Livorno, 1764) ; Pietro Verri, Meditazioni sulla economia politica (Livorno, 1772) ; Storia di Milano (Milan, 1783-1798), 2 vols. Alessandro Verri, Le notti romane al sepolcro dei Scipioni (Rome, 1792). Gian Rinaldo Carli, Opere (Milan, 1784-1794), 19 vols.; noteworthy is his article in II Caffé, entitled La patria degli italiani. On II Caffé, see Ferrari, L., Del Caffé (Pisa, 1899). 3 Arcadia is the name of the famous literary academy which exercised a dominant influence on the literature of Italy roughly from 1690 to the French Revolution. It advocated a return to the simplicity and naturalness of the pastoral life. The able discussion of the Arcadia by Vernon Lee in her Studies of the Eighteenth Century in Italy (London, 1880) may serve as a good introduction to a study and appreciation of its origin, development and characteristics.

INTRODUCTION

19

literature and to bring it into more intimate contact with the realities of life.

N e w moral ideals, evolved as a conse-

quence of providing the forms of literature with a more serious and practical content, were to have a great influence in disciplining the Italian character and conscience. There is no history of

"Italy"

during the eighteenth

century, but rather a history of its single states.

In general,

patriotism was regional, not national, in nature.

Inhabi-

tants of one state were accustomed to call those of another forestieri,

or Venetians, Romans, Florentines, or Neapoli-

tans as the case might be.

O n the other hand, the word

" Italy " was not a mere geographical expression.

Besides

occupying territory bounded by the A l p s and the sea, it represented a language, a literature and a culture.

Such

an epochal movement as the Renaissance was looked upon as an expression of the Italian spirit.

T h e national

factor

appears prominently in the titles and subject matter of such works as Muratori's Rerum 1751)

and

Tiraboschi's

(1772-1782).

italicarum

Storia

della

script ores letteratura

(1723italiana

W h e n a man f r o m Italy went abroad to

Spain, France, or England, he was generally considered an Italian, and frequently this gave the visitor or emigrant the sense of belonging to something larger than his particular native state.

Ultramontane criticism directed against Italian

manners and literature served to bring to their defence and to inspire with a feeling of national amour propre many an Italian intellectual.

Possession of a literary language, and

pride in a great culture and history were latent elements of Italian patriotism which could be, and were, stimulated in the minds of many Italians by examples of national consciousness afforded them by Spaniards, by Englishmen, and especially by Frenchmen, notwithstanding the tendency

throughout

eighteenth-century

cosmopolitanism and humanitarianism.

Europe

increasing towards

20

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

The greatest impetus to the development and fusion of these and other patriotic elements into a positive will and sentiment for an independent and politically united Italy was given by forces set in motion during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. Before the Revolution, the strongest and most decisive of all the expressions of a yearning for an independent and united Italy came from Italy's great tragic poet, the true beginner of modern Italian literature and the precursor of Italian political unity—Vittorio Alfieri. II Thanks to Alfieri's Autobiography/ we are acquainted not only with the external events of his life, but, what is more important, with the spiritual elements of his character. The Autobiography is a notable work of art and a striking portrait left by an artist of himself, and it ranks with the autobiographies of Cellini and Rousseau for the picture it gives us of a remarkable and bizarre man. Meticulous writers, accustomed to seeing the trees instead of the forest, have approached this book in the spirit of a prosecuting attorney, hunting down omissions and contradictions of fact, leaving us in the end with materials of biography, useful as such, but not sufficient in themselves for a reconstruction of the man's character. Where Alfieri is given to exaggeration and self-idealization—and this is frequent—it must be borne in mind that what a man thinks he is or hopes to be is valuable in disclosing his real character. While the Autobiography is the chief and best source for his life and character, practically all of his other works—sonnets, satires and tracts—also reveal the dominant traits of his personality. The descendant of one of the oldest and most illustrious 1 Vita dì Vittorio Alfieri scritta da esso, in Opere, vol. i, pp. 1-264; cited hereafter as Vita. T h e centenary edition of the works of Alfieri ( T u r i n , 1903), l i vols, is used throughout this volume f o r purposes of citation.

INTRODUCTION

21

families of the Piedmontese nobility, 1 Alfieri was born in the town of Asti in 1749, the same year in which Goethe was born. His father died when he was not yet a year old, and he was left in the care of his mother, a woman of Savoyard origin, who soon remarried. While still a boy, Alfieri revealed qualities that were marked in him throughout his life; a sensitive and emotional nature, melancholy, obstinate, proud and ambitious. How pained he felt when his sister was placed in a convent, how he almost committed suicide at the age of seven, and other similarly self-revealing incidents are told in some of the best passages of his Autobiography.' Alfieri's first years were spent at Asti under the guidance of a good but rather ignorant priest from whom he learned little. His parents, of small culture themselves, were not preoccupied with giving him a thorough education, and this seemed quite a normal attitude in view of the commonplace maxim of the time that it was not necessary for a nobleman to be learned.3 At the age of nine, he was sent to the exclusive Academy of Turin, where he says he passed all his time the " most ignorant among the ignorant ", 4 acquiring little of value. The lives of Cornelius Nepos were translated, but, according to him, none of the students and probably not even the instructor knew the history of the individuals whose lives they read, what country had given them birth, at what period and under what government they flourished, nor, in short, 1

See Masi, E., Asti e gli Alfieri nei ricordi della Villa di San Martino (Florence, 1903) ; also Bertana, E., Vittorio Alfieri studiato nella vita, nel pensiero e nell' arte, 2d ed. (Turin, 1904), pp. 14-29. Bertana's book is the most exhaustive study of Alfieri. The greater part of it deals with Alfieri's life. It is a scholarly book, though hypercritical, and should be consulted by all students of Alfieri. 2

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 7-17.

3

Ibid., p. 8.

4

Ibid., p. 21.

VITTORIO

22

ALFIERI

what was meant by a government. Alfieri came upon a copy of Ariosto and did not understand half of what he read, and he was unacquainted with the name of Tasso. 1 During this period of unprofitable studies, he wrote a sonnet in praise of a woman who was being courted by one of his uncles, but it was so severely censured that he did not attempt to write poetry again until he was twenty-five. 2 H e read some of Metastasio and Goldoni, many French romances, and what is very important, considering that he was only about sixteen years old, and that his education was formal and superficial, he read some of the prose works of Voltaire that delighted him very much. 3 It should also be noted that he was far from being as ignorant and idle as he makes it appear. Frequently he sought to emulate the best scholars. But on the whole study was wearisome; stimulation from teachers was lacking ; the system of education was poor and not intended to train the mind seriously. A smattering of the usual Latin, of some French, of a little history, science and other subjects was the result. There was as yet nothing in this young man that augured a brilliant literary career. Five years after entering the Academy, there occurred an important event in Alfieri's life. According to the Piedmontese law of the time, he became, at the age of fourteen, virtually master of the fortune left him by his father. The change in his economic condition made it possible for him to lead at the Academy the free and easy life of the English and other foreign students whose liberties and privileges he had so envied. Subject to little restraint, he indulged his whims, made friends, and enjoyed everything that follows in the train of prosperity. H e cultivated especially his liking for horses which was to become a passion with 1

Vita,

Opere,

vol. i, pp. 21-22, 26.

s

Ibid,., p. 31.

3

Ibid., pp. 26, 33-34, 39, 44.

INTRODUCTION

23

him. When he left the Academy, he held the position of ensign in the provincial regiment of Asti. But the military atmosphere was ill-suited to him. He tells us in characteristic fashion that he could never accustom himself to that gradual chain of dependence termed subordination which is the soul of military discipline but which could never be the soul of a future tragic poet.1 Alfieri's restless, riotous and passionate nature called for movement. The Wanderlust seized him. And so, " after eight years of sickness, idleness, and ignorance ", 2 he, like so many aristocratic youths of his time, began his travels. He went from one place to another with incredible speed. He never rode, he galloped. Always impatient, it seems he could never stay long in one place. Astonishing are Alfieri's revelations of his tour of Italy. Here was a young man, who was to become the reviver of Italian letters, throwing aside with indifference an autographed manuscript of Petrarch shown him at Milan, going to Venice without seeing the Arsenal or paying the least attention to the government of the city, learning English instead of Tuscan at Florence because he wished to speak Italian as little as possible.3 He who had met many Englishmen and had heard much of their power and political influence viewed Italy as lifeless, and the Italians as divided, weak, enslaved, and he was ashamed to be or appear to be one. He spoke and wrote French, the language he knew best. Even his guide-books were in French. His excessive pride led him to scorn the Italians of his day and to seek to identify himself with nations that appeared to him more civilized and advanced. The period of his literary production was still far distant and it was necessary for him, as he 1

vol. i, pp. 36-45.

Vita,

Opere,

2 Ibid.,

p. 45.

3

pp. 46-48, 57.

Ibid.,

VITTORIO

24

ALFIERI

himself observes, to live a long time outside of Italy in order to know and appreciate the Italians. He passed by many cities hurriedly, stayed no more than a day at Lucca, at Pisa and Siena, and used few of his many letters of introduction.1 Eager to visit foreign lands, he absolutely " did not want to see or hear any more of Italy." 2 France, especially Paris, was the object of his desires. Brought up in a region where French was commonly spoken by the upper classes and where the dialect was half French, taught more French than Italian at school, accustomed to think and read books in that language, it seems natural that a youth of seventeen should have felt thus. " Francia, Francia esser vuol ", he exclaimed in his most interesting satire, I viaggi.3 But, on his visit to France in 1767, when he was eighteen, all his expectations met with keen disappointment.4 He was disgusted with the bad weather and the damp and dirty district of St. Germain where he took lodgings. " After so much hurrying and longing and wild illusions of heated fancy, to plunge myself into that stinking sewer ! " 5 A s he rambled through Paris, his illusions were still further dissipated. Wretched buildings, filthy Gothic structures, the vandal-like construction of the public theatres, the extremely ugly women far outweighed in his mind the beauty and elegance of the public walks and gardens, the infinite variety of coaches, the lofty façade of the Louvre and the number of spectacles and entertainments of every kind. Worst of all were the ugly women! A t Versailles, he was presented to Louis X V . When informed that the King never deigned to speak to any but the most celebrated 1

Vita,

Opere, vol. i, pp. 48-49, 57.

*Ibid., p. 58, see also p. 51. 8

Opere, vol. iv, p. 80.

4

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 60-63.

5

Ibid., p. 61.

INTRODUCTION

25

foreigners, he felt he could not bear the Jove-like demeanor 01 that monarch. He relates with what a supercilious air Louis X V received him and foreigners in general, surveying them from head to foot as though a giant were inspecting dwarfs. England, which Alfieri visited in 1768, filled him with admiration. Just as he was displeased with the first sight of Paris, so was he pleased with the first sight of England and of London particularly. The roads, the inns, the women, the horses, the neatness of the houses, the absence of beggars, the general prosperity and activity delighted him. Above ali, he was struck by the political liberty enjoyed there—an impression common to many of the best minds of the century. 1 His mania for travelling brought him, between 1768 and 1772, to Holland, Germany, Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, and Spain. At Vienna, he refused to take advantage of an opportunity to meet Metastasio, then Italy's most celebrated poet, partly because he held in contempt every Italian book and author and partly because he had seen Metastasio perform the customary genuflection to Maria Theresa in a servile and adulatory fashion. 2 Prussia to him was like a vast guardhouse and encampment. His hatred of the military life, that " most infamous basis of arbitrary authority " , was deepened, and of all the countries he visited, Prussia left the most disagreeable and painful impression on him. Presented to Frederick the Great, he experienced neither wonderment nor respect but rather indignation and rage at seeing " the 1

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 63-65. Alfieri was one of the many Italian anglophiles of the eighteenth century. On the notable phenomenon of anglomania in Italy during this century, see Graf., Α., L'anglomania e l'influsso inglese in Italia nel secolo XVIII (Turin, 1 9 1 1 ) . 2

Ibid., ρ. 72.

26

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

false " assume the mask of " the virtuous ". H e saw none of the elements of social happiness in Prussia, though Frederick " commanded " letters, art and industry to flourish under his protection. 1 Alfieri's curiosity about Russia had been aroused by his reading of Voltaire's Peter the Great, his association with Russian students at the Academy, and the general contemporary praise of the rising Russian nation. But his visit proved very disappointing. What he saw of the bearded inhabitants left him with the feeling that the country was not worthy of being seen. H e did not try to meet his old acquaintances. H e did not care to be presented to Catherine the Great, and later, on investigating the reason for such extraordinary conduct, he became convinced that it proceeded from the intolerance of his own character and his hatred of tyranny, and further from the fact that the Empress was suspected of a most horrible crime—the murder of a defenceless husband. Alfieri was not won over by the " benevolent " intentions of Catherine to give her people a constitution or to alleviate their hardships. All he saw was militarism, oppression, servitude. 2 Throughout his travels, love affairs occupied a great deal of Alfieri's time. In Holland he was so smitten with love of a young married woman—Alfieri had a special and, it seems, exclusive fondness for married women—that he felt deep chagrin and melancholy at having to be separated from her. H e implored death to come to his aid. Such, he thought, was perhaps the mere volatility of temper natural to a youth of nineteen.® Three years later, on his second trip to London, he fell desperately in love with a lady of high rank. 4 Penelope Pitt was her maiden name, but Alfieri 1

Vita3

Opere,

2

Ibid.,

pp. 77-78.

3

Ibid.,

pp. 65-67.

4

F o r this incident see ibid., pp. 80-92.

vol. i, p. 73.

27

INTRODUCTION

knew her as Lady Ligonier, wife of an Irish peer. Her husband soon became aware of their liaison. Not only a duel followed, but also a celebrated divorce trial. 1 Still preserved in the Medicea-Laurenziana Library of Florence is the manuscript of a court citation against Alfieri to answer charges by Lord Ligonier. 2 Alfieri tells us he might have taken on an English wife, but all illusions were dispelled when he learned that his beloved had also had another lover. One of her husband's grooms ! During a brief return to Italy, in the midst of his wanderings, Alfieri experienced a fit of ambition. He had brought along with him a number of books, among which were the works of Rousseau, Montesquieu, Helvetius and others. 3 The De l'Esprit of Helvetius made a deep though disagreeable impression on him. H e liked the prose works of Voltaire very much and he read some of his tragedies, but Voltaire's poetry did not suit his taste. Alfieri was absorbed and delighted by Montesquieu, and he read him twice from beginning to end. H e found too much affectation in La Nouvelle Hélo'ise of Rousseau and he did not appreciate this writer's political works, notably Le Contrat Social. He esteemed Rousseau more for what he thought was his upright and independent character than for his works, and considering himself as proud and unbending as the French writer, he let pass a chance to meet him. 4 For him the book 1 See Trials for Adultery 1779). vol. iii.

or the History

of Divorces,

etc.

(London,

* See Ms. 13 in Alfieri collection at the Medicea-Laurensiana Library in Florence; twenty years later, in 1791, Alfieri saw Penelope as he was returning to France from his fourth trip to England. They did not formally greet each other but a brief correspondence followed. See Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 222-225; also sonnet CCXXI ( 1 7 9 1 ) , Opere, vol. iii, p. 147. * Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 68-69. * Ibid., pp. 93-94·

28

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

of books was the Lives of Plutarch; it awakened in him a love for the ancients that remained throughout his life and showed itself so markedly in his writings. 1 Later, at the age of twenty-two, he bought a set of Italian classics, including the works of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Ariosto, and Tasso, none of whom he had read, with the exception of some passages of Ariosto. 2 His education was indeed imperfect; he had given no evidence of precocity and he was prepossessed with an exaggerated idea of his ignorance ; yet Alfieri was not without literary yearnings. Music affected him profoundly, and excited in him whimsical ideas and sentiments. 3 The first sight of the sea at Genoa and other beauties of nature had a similar effect. 4 In Spain, with his Andalusian courser on the vast plains of Aragon, infinite were his moral and melancholy reflections, varied were the images that passed through his mind. 5 How he longed to express all these feelings in verse ! Noteworthy is the enthusiastic love of poetry he evinced on hearing his friend, Abbé Caluso, read some enchanting stanzas of Guidi's Ode to Fortune.6 But these were sparks quickly extinguished. The attempts he made to write were desultory and in rather bad French. The results, as we now know them, were, however, promising. 7 Again he fell in love, this time with a Marchioness about ten years older than himself. This passion absorbed what1

Vita-, Opere, vol. i, p.69.

2

Ibid., p. 94.

3

Ibid., pp. 29-30.

* Ibid., pp. 43-44, 60. 5

Ibid., pp. 95-96.

6

Ibid., p. 99.

' Ibid., pp. 103-104 ; see especially the Esquisse du jugement universel, in Scritti giovanili inediti o rari di Vittorio Alfieri, ed. by A . Pellizzari (Naples, 1 9 1 6 ) .

INTRODUCTION

29

ever literary ambition he had and plunged him anew into a life of indolence and self-indulgence. Somehow he could not free himself from her, even though conscious that he was not truly in love. He attempted a trip to Rome to be far away from her, but when he reached Tuscany, his resolution weakened and he went back to Turin. A sense of humiliation and shame aroused in him a strong determination to liberate himself from this disgraceful thralldom. He called forth all his will and energy. In order not to go out and return to the house of his lady, he cut off a long tress of his hair. In those days a nobleman did not dare to be seen in public with short or clipped hair. To keep away from her and come back to his senses, Alfieri resorted to another peculiar expedient—he had himself tied to a chair. The cords were hidden by a large cloak wrapped around him; his hands were free for reading, writing and beating his head; and yet his visitors did not know that he was bound to the chair. His servant, Elia, was the only party to the secret. When he felt at ease, he would motion to Elia to unbind him. Another whimsical act was his appearance at a masquerade ball. Dressed as Apollo, with a lyre, playing it as well as he could, he recited several verses on love, deception, and so on. Any shame, any ridicule, he was ready to face other than that of renewing his attachment. Several days before his last rupture with his mistress, Alfieri recovered from under the pillow of her armchair, where it had lain for a whole year, a piece of writing on Cleopatra, which he had previously scribbled. Feeling the resemblance between his own heart and Antony's, he resolved to develop the manuscript. He scribbled, altered, read, re-altered ; he ransacked dictionaries and grammars and finally managed to put together his first dramatic piece, Antony and Cleopatra. This, together with a one-act comedy, The Poets, was produced at a Turin theatre in

VITTORIO

3°

ALFIERI

177S and was very favorably received. While not carried away by applause and success nor exalted by the literary character of his writings—he was still immature—Alfieri felt strongly animated by a love of glory. O n various occasions he referred to it as his principal thought and passion. Absorbed by the ambition to become a famous dramatist, he embarked on a literary career and dedicated his life to Melpomene

and

Apollo}

His resources for becoming a dramatist were meagre indeed if we are to believe his own estimate of himself. A resolute, obstinate and ungovernable character, susceptible of all kinds of feeling, among which predominated most ardent love, and a profound and extremely enraged abhorrence of every species of tyranny; a faint and imperfect recollection of several French tragedies, which I had seen on the stage a good many years before, but which I had neither read nor pondered ; an almost total ignorance of dramatic rules and a lack of skill in expressing myself with elegance and ease in my own language. To these were added an incredible presumptuousness or, more properly speaking, petulance, and an impulsive character which seldom allowed me to investigate and discern truth. With such elements, it would have been easier to form a tyrannical prince than a luminous man of letters.2 In the eighteenth century, French was better known in Piedmont than Italian. Alfieri observed that to speak Italian was contraband in Turin, and such was the mixed jargon there that he curiously described the city as " amphibious ". His uncle, an architect, appeared odd when he spoke Tuscan. 3 W h a t were to be Alfieri's first published 1 O n the period of his " literary conversion ", see Vita, pp. 102-130. 27bid.,

p. 131.

Opere,

vol. i,

It is to be recalled, however, that A l f i e r i admitted hav-

ing read some of Voltaire's tragedies before this t i m e ; ibid., p. 69. 3

Ibid., p. 24.

INTRODUCTION

31

tragedies, Filippo and Polinice, were prepared in French, but he could never express himself happily in Italian so long as he continued to translate his own works from the French and refashion them into Italian verse.1 They exhibited a mongrel appearance of Italian and French, without being either the one or the other. Alfieri likened the result to what Dante said of burning paper,— . . . . Un color bruno, Che non è nero ancora, e il bianco muore.2 To become an Italian author, he perceived the necessity of studying and mastering Italian. Filled with shame at his profound ignorance of this language, he resolved to give up speaking and reading French—to " degallicize " himself —and to go to Florence to learn Italian thoroughly. With extraordinary perseverance he set himself to his new pursuits. He tells us that he plunged himself into the abyss of grammar with the courage of a Curtius. 3 In a famous phrase now become proverbial in Italy, Alfieri later said of himself: " Volli, e volli sempre e fortissimamente volli·—I willed, I willed always, I willed most strongly ",4 He began to study Italy's great poets, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto and Tasso, then to study the principal Latin authors and to improve as best he could his powers of versification and expression. At various places, Parma, Siena, Pisa, he made the acquaintance of men of letters, scholars and others who might guide, advise and stimulate him to greater effort. His strong impulse to write was immeasurably strengthened by his " worthy love as he describes it, for the 1

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 131 et seq.

* Ibid., p. 137. 3

Ibid., p. 132.

* Risposta dell' autore voi. vii, p. 190.

(Alfieri) alla lettera del Calsabigi

(1783),

Opere,

32

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

Countess of Albany, whom he met for the first time in 1777, when he was twenty-eight years old. 1 The Countess of Albany, née Princess of Stolberg, was the daughter of an Austrian lieutenant-general who was killed in the battle of Leuthen. In 1772, at the age of twenty, she had been married to Charles Edward Stuart, the Y o u n g Pretender, then fifty-two years old. They lived in Rome under the name of Count and Countess of Albany. In his younger days, Charles Edward had displayed a sense of heroism in his attempt to recapture the English throne, immortalized in Walter Scott's Waverley, but now he had become addicted to over-indulgence in liquor. It pleased Alfieri, who ardently loved the Countess and was inspired by her to write his best amatory verse, to think that he had rescued this worthy woman from the tyranny of an unreasonable man, who was given to inordinate drinking, without compromising in any respect her honor and without infringing in the smallest degree the established customs of society. 2 A n d probably it equally pleased the vanity of the young Piedmontese count to court this queen without a throne, but yet of royal station in the eyes of the world, to conquer her and to live with her for the rest of his life. Alfieri was a hater of tyrants and a fervent lover of liberty, impetuous and undisciplined, intolerant of any form of restraint. By virtue of his noble and distinguished ancestry, he moved always among the upper classes of society. In his travels he had met several royal sovereigns. H e disliked them all and refused to be presented to some of them. H e took Plutarch seriously and looked not with admiration but with contempt on Frederick the Great and 1 The best account of the life of the Countess of Albany is Reumont, Α., Die Gräfin von Albany (Berlin, i860), 2 vols. Lee, Vernon, The Countess of Albany (London, 1884), is an interesting account. 2

Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 166.

INTRODUCTION

33

Empress Catherine, those " wicked and perfidious tyrants "- 1 His native Piedmont, with its reactionary government had laws requiring that its subjects ask permission of the king to remain out of its borders and that no Piedmontese publish a book without the consent of the proper authorities. Some, like the historian Denina and the scientist L a Grange, had gone elsewhere to be freer to write and carry on their research. Permission to leave the kingdom was given for a limited time and generally with bad grace. Alfieri was tired of asking for it continually, and he could not adapt himself to such petty intrusions in an individual's private affairs. Then, too, the works he was writing breathed sentiments of liberty and struck at the spirit of despotism; and he realized he could not publish such writings and still remain a good Piedmontese subject. A b o v e all, he was anxious to be un libero scrittore, a free writer. Furthermore he was desirous of living with the Countess of Albany. All these motives led Alfieri to take a singular step. H e decided to expatriate himself and did so by conveying all his property in Piedmont to his sister, reserving to himself a relatively small annual allowance.2 H e wanted to do what he liked, " free to settle in America if it suited me In a letter, probably written in 1778, when he was twenty-nine years old, he said that he never forget the pursuit of glory: It is always my principal passion. For the sake of this divinity, I have given up my property to my sister, reserving to myself enough to live on ; I have exchanged my English horses and a thousand other superfluities for that divine and most precious liberty to say, think, write, publish, go and come freely accord1

Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 77.

On this donation, see ibid., pp. 156-162; also Lettere di Vittorio fieri, Opere, vol. ii, pp. 5-12. s

3

Letter to his brother-in-law (1778), Opere, vol. ii, p. 11.

Al-

34

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

ing to my fancy; and I do not seem to have lost anything but rather to have gained very much in this exchange. Besides, I have given spontaneously that which the tyrants in a few years would have doubtless taken away from me as soon as they knew me by unequivocal proof as their worst foe. 1 Free and unhampered, urged on by his yearning for glory and his consuming love for " half of his existence ", Alfieri proceeded with his literary work with energy and enthusiasm. In his resolution to become a great poet, as in his love of women, hatred of tyranny and passion for horses, he displayed equally the impetuous force of his n a t u r e — " fury " , he would have said. In the space of fourteen years, from 1 7 7 5 — t h e date he sets for his " l i t e r a r y c o n v e r s i o n " — t o 1 7 8 9 — o n the eve of the French Revolution—he published nineteen tragedies which entitle him to fame as Italy's greatest dramatist, and besides, he wrote much verse and noteworthy prose works on political subjects. Alfieri spent most of his time between 1786 and 1792 ir¡ Paris, and though preoccupied with putting out a complete edition of his works, he had an opportunity to observe historic stages of the French Revolution. 2 A t first, when the Bastille was stormed, he was sympathetic towards the revolutionary movement, but, as it progressed, he became one of its fiercest opponents. Despite his own craving for liberty, he saw in the Revolution the deformation of all true liberal principles. T o him there was no difference between the tyranny of one or the few and that of the many. One of his writings, II Misogallo ( " T h e Anti-Gaul " , or " The French-hater " ), is a work in prose and verse denouncing the Revolution and reflecting his antagonism to the French people. His personal experiences with the revolutionists were very unpleasant. The depreciation of money affected 1

Letter to Lampredi, Opere, vol. ii, pp. 4-5.

2

See Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 200-230.

INTRODUCTION

35

him and the Countess seriously. The Countess, a member of the " contemptible aristocracy " and dependent for a good part of her income on the generosity of the French government, was exposed to persecution. The famous insurrection and provisional suspension of the K i n g on August 10, 1792, and the violence of the extremists alarmed Alfieri. O n August 18, 1792, he and the Countess set out to cross the borders of revolutionary France. Though they had passports, they met with difficulty in passing the Paris barrier. According to Alfieri, a mob of about thirty individuals of the lowest description, half-naked, furious and in a state of intoxication, on beholding two carriages loaded with luggage, with two maids and three men-servants, clamored that if the rich were allowed to leave Paris and carry off their wealth, the people would be reduced to utter misery. The mob began an altercation with the National Guards who wished to let the travelers pass. Alfieri leaped from his carriage, showed his passports to those who could read, and snatching the papers from their hands, cried out in a paroxysm of indignation and fury : Look, listen, Alfieri is my name, Italian not French; tall, lean, pale, red-haired; I am the man, look at me; I have a passport; we have had it legitimately from those who have the power to give it ; and we wish to pass, and by God, we will pass ! 1 They were happy to have fled before the September massacres. This perhaps compensated for the confiscation of their property. 2 O n his return to Italy, Alfieri again settled in Florence. In consonance with his contemptuous disposition, he wrote much satire and kept on adding to his Misogallo. A t the comparatively late age of forty-six, this man, who was 1 2

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 228-229. Ibid., pp. 229-230.

VITTORIO

36

ALFIERI

acclaimed by contemporaries as a Sophocles, began to learn Greek. With characteristic tenacity and diligence, he started with the elements and ended with translating Greek writers. 1 Study served to divert his mind from the " damnable " revolution and the political evils afflicting Italy. The French invasion of Italy in 1796, " a disastrous year for Italy " , overpowered his spirits. He imagined misery and slavery hovering over his head.2 With the invasion of Tuscany in 1799, he moved to a villa in a suburb of Florence to be alone, away from those " slaves " and that " most truly monstrous, ludicrous, lamentable and insupportable tyranny " that was like a tiger led by a hare. 3 Solitary and embittered, he remained filled with hatred of revolutionary France. He refused to meet Miollis, the French general in Tuscany, who was interested in literature and desired to visit the Italian poet. Alfieri wrote to the general : If General Miollis, as commander of the troops in Florence, orders Vittorio Alfieri to receive him, so long as the undersigned knows the day and the hour, he will yield readily to this intimation. I f , however, it is a mere private wish of General Miollis to see the aforesaid person, Vittorio Alfieri begs leave to observe that, being of a solitary and churlish disposition, he never receives nor has anything to do with anybody. . . . 4 To L a Grange, the great mathematician, he wrote : La Grangia, are you French or Italian? If you are French, I shall not contaminate my voice by speaking to you; but if you are Italian . . . I shall fulfill the indispensable and sacred duty 1 Ibid., pp. 233 et seq. ; see also Schiarimento del traduttore su questa Alceste seconda, Opere, vol. vii, pp. 145-146. 2

Ibid., pp. 233-234.

3

Ibid., p. 249.

4

Opere, vol. ii, pp. 315-316; see also Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 255-256, and

Mazzatinti, G., " L e carte Alfieriane di Montpellier ", in Giornale

della letteratura italiana (Turin, 1884), vol. iii, pp. 330-342.

storico

INTRODUCTION

37

of an independent and truthful writer by telling you this : a man of your calibre cannot and should not pass his days in France among ill-bred slaves and under such an infamous and stupid tyranny. . . . Much less should you (even if it were at the cost of an honorable, indeed glorious, condition of beggary) receive your bread from the oppressors and assassins of your desolate native land. 1 With the Academy of Sciences at Turin, now " gallicized Alfieri would have nothing to do. 2 H e severely rebuked the husband of one of his nieces f o r serving in the army of the " oppressors and tyrants of our Italy " , 3 During his last years, Alfieri worked hard. H e translated several works f r o m Greek and Latin authors and added six comedies to his productions. Exhausted by overwork and afflicted with gout, he died in 1 8 0 3 in his fifty-fourth year. H i s remains rest in a tomb designed by Canova near the tombs of Machiavelli and Michelangelo and other Italian immortals in the famous Church of Santa Croce at Florence. Alfieri was a man of complex character. In a portrait of himself, we find that his mind and heart were in endless strife, now an Achilles and then a Thersites : Thou mirror of veracious speech sublime, What I am like in soul and body, show: Red hair,—in front grown somewhat thin with time: Tall stature, with an earthward head bowed low; A meagre form, with two straight legs beneath ; An aspect good; white skin with eyes of blue; A proper nose; fine lips and choicest teeth; Face paler than a throned king's in hue ; Now hard and bitter, yielding now and mild ; 1

Opere, vol. ii, p. 305.

2

See Lettere di Vittorio Alfieri, Opere, vol. ii, pp. 320-322 ; also Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 256-258. 3

Opere, vol. ii, pp. 288-290 ; see also Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 250-252.

VITTORIO

38

ALFIERI

Malignant never, passionate alway, With mind and heart in endless strife embroiled ; Sad mostly, and then gayest of the gay. Achilles now, Thersites in his turn : Man, art thou great or vile ? Die, and thou'lt learn ! 1 He was alternately vehement and vivacious, melancholy and retiring.2 Vain and excessively proud, with an insatiable thirst for glory, he was none the less magnanimous and noble in his ideals. The lofty and dignified dialogue on Unknown Virtue is exemplary.3 When a young man, he contemptuously gave up his connections with his regiment, but later, even while engaged in " de-piedmontizing " himself, he donned the uniform of his regiment in order to enhance his looks.4 He hated more than he loved. He was disdainful rather than sympathetic. His irony becomes ire, his dislike hatred.5 In this man of extremes, it is easy to find contradictions. Criminal anthropologists of the school of Lombroso have found sufficiently erotic elements in his life to place him among those great men that can serve as examples of the relationship between genius and degeneracy.6 Critical research has been employed to demonstrate that 1 The translation is by W . D. Howells, in Life of Vittorio Alfieri, ztiith an essay by William D. Howells (Boston, 1877), pp. 50-51. For the original text see Appendix, p. 149. 2 On melancholy, see sonnet " Malinconìa, perchè un tuo solo seggio questo mio core misero ti fai?...", Opere, voi. iii, p. 61 ; and the sonnet " Malinconìa dolcissima...", ibid., p. 172 ; see also sonnet C X I I I , ibid., p. 80.

* La virtù sconosciuta. 4

Dialogo, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 197-215.

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 106, 159.

5 See sonnet " Due fere donne, ansi due furie atroci, tor non mi posso (ahi misero!) dal fianco. Ira è l'una... Malinconia dall'altro...", Opere, voi. iii, p. 78. 6 See Lombroso, C , Genio e degenerazione (Palermo, 1897), pp. 74-77; also Antonini, G., and Cognetti De Martiis, L., Vittorio Alfieri, studi psicopatologici (Turin, 1898).

INTRODUCTION

39

Alfieri did not have the strong indomitable will generally associated with his name. 1 True, he sought to modify the conditions of his donation to his sister, 2 but this detail does not detract from the substantial and inspiring value of his spontaneous and sincere act in giving up the greater part of his property. H e despised kings and popes, but in order to counteract the attacks made against him by the clergy because of his attentions to the Countess of Albany, the sister-in-law of Cardinal York, he tried to dedicate his' Saul to Pope Pius VI ; 3 and when King Charles Emmanuel of Piedmont was forced to leave his land after the invasion oi the French, he visited the king and paid cordial compliments to him.'4 Once, a servant in arranging his hair pulled one harder than the rest. This so excited him that he seized a candlestick and struck the servant on the right temple with such violence that blood gushed out in a torrent. 5 This incident is as characteristic of Alfieri as that of having himself tied to a chair for self-discipline. Considering the society in which he lived, generally taken up with the transient and lighter things of life, and the irregularities of his youth, Alfieri's seriousness of purpose, the intensity of his efforts, the vigor and enthusiasm with which he overcame difficult obstacles elicit admiration. His " literary conversion " is one of the most singular episodes in the history of any great literary career. Energy, restlessness, an " heroic fury " remained hidden under a supercilious exterior. His sensitive, emotional temperament, his extreme individualism, his resentment toward everything that suggested restriction and control found 1

See especially Bertana, Vittorio

Alfieri,

* See Bertana, op. cit., pp. 133-155. 3

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 175-176.

4

Ibid., pp. 252-253.

6

Ibid., pp. 96-97.

etc.

VITTORIO

40

ALFIERI

a stimulus in the thought of the century—smouldering with the spirit of revolt. Protest against the old order was strident throughout France and Alfieri heard its echoes. This haughty rebel, born and reared in Piedmont, cut the ties that bound him to his state, went into a self-imposed exile, and dedicated his life not to a military or diplomatic career but to literature. Living at a time when the Arcadia with its pastorals and ornamental poetry was flourishing, he sought to replace the melodious with the stirring and dramatic, to uproot enervating and effeminate customs and to substitute in their stead a strong and manly spirit. He wrote not to adorn a festival, a wedding or a court function, but to teach men to be free and courageous. H e pictured himself as an example of a liber uomo — a free man. 1 In opposition to the complacency of most Italians of his age, he called for action and a sense of devotion to high ideals. Brought up in an absolutist state, full of restrictions and regulations, he rebelled and railed against tyranny in all its forms. Accustomed to speak and write French as a youth, he revolted, studied and mastered Italian and enriched its literature. While Italians remained indifferent to patriotism and nationalism, he aimed to stir them from their lethargy. Vittorio Alfieri announced the Italian Risorgimento. In him we do not find the note of provincialism, of localism, which was one of the great factors retarding Italian unity, but the vision of a man who was determined to arouse the Italians to become one and independent. Few men of letters in any country have had so much to do with the development of national sentiment as Alfieri. To appreciate fully his character and his importance in the history of Italian nationalism, it is necessary to study and analyze his works and their relation to the times that preceded him and those that followed him. 1

See sonnet C C L X X I V (1798), Opere, vol. iii, p. 173.

C H A P T E R

I

H A T R E D OF T Y R A N N Y A N D L O V E OF L I B E R T Y

ONE who reads the works of Alfieri is struck by the intensity of his hatred of tyranny and of his love of liberty. " My predominant passion he once wrote, " is the hatred of tyranny; the only aim of all my thoughts, words and writings is to combat it always in every form, be it mild, frenetic or stupid, in which it manifests or hides itself ", 1 For him, it appears, the dominant struggle in the world has been between two forces—that of tyranny and that of liberty. References to this theme are constant. One of his tragedies is dedicated to George Washington, Liberator of America.2 H e wrote Odes to Free America exalting the American revolutionary movement. 3 Some of his principal prose works— Della tirannide (On Tyranny), 4 Del principe e delle lettere (On Government and Literature), 5 Panegirico di Plinio a Traiano (Panegyric of Pliny to T r a j a n ) 6 —are intended to show the incompatibility between despotism and true progress. The Autobiography is itself a drama of a revolutionary character, almost anarchical in its spirit of independence. The passion and impulsiveness with which he yearned for freedom reminds us at once of one of his French 1

II Misogallo,

2

Bruto primo,

3

L'America

Opere, vol. iv, p. 140. Opere, vol. vi, p. 301.

libera.

Odi, Opere, vol. iii, pp. 36-53.

* Opere, vol. χ, pp. 1 1 3 - 1 9 5 · 5

Ibid., pp. ι - ι 11.

6

Ibid., pp. 217-246; see infra, pp. 87-88. 41

42

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

contemporaries, Rousseau. There is heat in the words of Alfieri. Although Alfieri was indebted very much to Montesquieu and the Encyclopaedists for many of his ideas, he was by no means a rationalist. H e was eminently a man of sentiment, relying more on will and passion than on reason. Moreover, he lacked the optimistic outlook toward life that was characteristic of the French philosophes. With declamations against oppression, Alfieri's tragedies are replete. W a r on tyrants is the symbol of them. As Leopardi said of Alfieri : On the stage He waged war on tyrants. 1 H e was stimulated by moral and patriotic ends. Among his principal aims was that of reforming and strengthening the Italian character. Explaining the purpose of his tragedies, he said : I firmly believe that men must learn in the theatre to be free, brave, generous, enamored of virtue and intolerant of every form of violence, to love their country, to be aware of their rights and to be ardent, upright and magnanimous in all their passions. . . . I write with only this hope: that perhaps on the rebirth of the Italians these dramas of mine will some day be presented. . . . To have a theatre in modern nations as in the old presupposes the existence of a true nation, not ten divided peoples who, though united, would be found to have nothing in 1 In Leopardi's Ad Angelo Mai, in his Opere (Florence, 1924), vol. i, pp. 49-50. Parini, in his ode to the Marchesa Paola Castiglioni (/Ζ dono), referring to the tragedies of Alfieri, says : Queste, che il fero Allobrogo Note piene d'affanni Incise col terribile Odiator de'tiranni Pugnale, onde Melpomene Lui fra gl'itali spirti unico armò .... In Parini, Tutte le opere, ed. by G. Mazzoni (Florence, 1925), p. 185.

HATRED

OF TYRANNY

AND

LOVE

OF LIBERTY

43

common; then it presupposes education, private and public, culture, armies, commerce, navies, war, enthusiasm, fine arts. . . . The best protection of the theatre as of every lofty art and virtue would be a free people.1 For the realization of these ends, the theatre was especially suited because the drama was a very effective literary medium for political propaganda in the eighteenth century. With the exception of two dramas, which are probably his greatest artistic productions, Mirra and Saul, the one dealing with an incestuous passion and the other with a Biblical figure, the political content of his dramatic productions is very prominent. In giving a summary of many of his tragedies, we are concerned not with their poetical or aesthetic qualities but rather with their " practical " content, revealing the character of his sentiments and thoughts and their importance in political and cultural history. Alfieri's first tragedy, Filippo ( 1 7 8 3 ) , is a portrayal of a tyrant of Spain " with the fierce and base character of the Tiberius of Tacitus ", 2 who is dominated by a love of power to the point of excluding consideration of everything else, even tenderness towards those nearest him. Suspicious of the character of relations between his wife, Isabella, and Carlos, his son by another marriage, Philip makes them the victims of his cruel, base and malignant nature. The figure of Philip dominates the tragedy and is described with such masterly touches as to arouse a constantly growing feeling of hatred in the reader. In Alfieri's Polinice ( 1 7 8 3 ) , the lust for power leads to fratricide. The ardor of a mother to pacify and reconcile her two sons proves futile. Antigone ( 1 7 8 3 ) is the drama of a woman who heroically resists the 1 Risposta dell'autore vii, pp. 196-197. 2

Ibid., pp. 191-192.

(Alfieri) alla lettera del Calsabigi, Opere, voi.

VITTORIO

44

ALFIERI

tyranny of Creon. Rather than obey him, she welcomes death and gives up her love for Haemon, the son of Creon. Timóle one (1785) embodies the conflict between two brothers, Tymophanes, representing tyranny, and Timoleon, representing liberty. They feel a strong affection for each other as brothers but their ideas are irreconcilable and Timoleon, the paladin of liberty, consents to the killing of his brother in the name of the fatherland. Virginia ( 1 7 8 3 ) reveals a tyrant, Appius Claudius, bent on absolute power, accompanied by another though weaker impulse, that of love of Virginia, a woman of the people. To free her from Appius' truculence, Virginio, the father of Virginia, is led to kill her. This " tragedy of liberty " / as Alfieri called it, ends with an uprising of the people against Appius. In Agamemnone ( 1 7 8 3 ) , the cowardly Aegisthus seeks to gain the throne through a conspiracy with Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon. Clytemnestra kills her husband. But he is avenged in Oreste ( 1 7 8 3 ) . Here Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, consumed by a desire for revenge, slays Aegisthus and unwittingly also his own mother. Don Garzia (1789) brings out the horror of tyranny in the midst of a single family. Cosimo, the father-tyrant, orders his son, Don Garzia, to kill Salviati, his enemy, or sacrifice his love for Salviati's daughter, Giulia. Don Garzia sets out to carry out the order but by mistake kills his own brother, Diego. Cosimo, in fury on learning that Salviati's life was not taken, murders Don Garzia. In Bruto primo (1789), Brutus the consul, bent on freeing his country from the tyrannical Tarquins, proves himself stronger than Brutus the father, and is impelled to order the death of his two sons as conspirators against the liberty of Rome. In Bruto secondo (1789), instincts of liberty move Brutus to give the signal for the 1

Parere dell'autore (Alfieri) su le presenti tragedie, Opere, voi. vii,

p. 252.

HATRED

OF TYRANNY

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OF LIBERTY

45

death of his own father, Caesar, the tyrant. The tragedy Âgide (Agis, 1783) reveals the principal character as an exemplary king of Sparta, imbued with love of country and desire for the freedom of his people, who lays down his life almost in passive resignation to the tyrants who rule it. M er ope ( 1 7 8 5 ) illustrates the fall of the tyrant, Polyphonies, by the hand of Aegisthus, the son of the king whose throne Polyphonies had usurped, and whose mother, Merope, he was tormenting. Full of zeal for liberty is the character of Raymond, aiming to liberate Tuscany from the Medici oppressors in the Congiura de'Pazzi (Conspiracy of the Pazzi, 1783). 1 Thus Alfieri enveloped the struggle of liberty and tyranny in extraordinary situations. The tyrant-father, the tyrantlover, the seeker of power, noble sentiments, impious, treacherous stratagems, horrible catastrophic scenes are portrayed in a bold style, with loftiness of purpose. The tragedies of Alfieri succeeded in arousing profound emotions in those who read or saw them. He appears to us as an orator who has spoken with the touch of genius and with substantial effect. To be especially studied as a sort of commentary on the tragedies and as better sources for Alfieri's political opinions are the prose works On Tyranny, On Government and Literature, and Panegyric . . . . to Trajan—all of which were written before the French Revolution. On Tyranny was almost entirely written in 1777, when Alfieri was twenty-eight years old, and though it was printed in 1789, it was not published until 1800. It is dedicated to Liberty, Divine Liberty, in whose behalf he 1

Other tragedies illustrating the horror of tyranny and the love of liberty are Rosmunda (1783), Ottawa (1785), Maria Stuarda (1789), Sofonisba (1789). These tragedies and those discussed in the text are in Opere, vols, v, vi.

VITTORIO

46

ALFIERI

would be ready to abandon his pen and draw his sword. 1 A tyrannical government, according to Alfieri, is one in which he or they who are supposed to enforce the laws may make, interpret, suspend or destroy them with impunity. Anyone is a tyrant, be he hereditary or elective, good or bad at heart, who violates the laws or has the potentiality to do so. The power to violate the laws, be it in the hands of one or of many, characterizes a tyranny. A n y society that admits such a state of affairs is a tyranny ; every people that tolerates it is enslaved. He or they who make the laws must not have the power to execute them. Thus, it seems, Alfieri believed in the separation of powers. Such, for him, was the line of demarcation between a good government and a bad one.2 Almost everywhere in Europe, Alfieri perceived nothing but despotism, nothing but the faces of slaves. 3 A m o n g those peoples whom he named as enjoying a certain measure of liberty were the English, the Swiss, the Dutch, and the inhabitants of certain parts of Germany. 4 Alfieri's description of the foundations of tyranny is well worth reading for those who wish to appreciate his conception of the vicious and oppressive nature of tyrannical rule. Despite the rhetorical flourish that he employed, Alfieri succeeded very well in portraying the concomitants of tyranny such as fear, cowardice, false honor and ambition, the militia and religion. He began the discussion on fear as follows : The free Romans, a people whom we do not in any respect resemble, profound in their understanding of human nature, had built a temple to Fear ; and having made it a divinity, they assigned priests and made a daily sacrifice of victims. Our courts seem to offer a revival of this ancient cult, though now 1

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, p. 117.

2

Ibid., pp. 120-122.

3

Ibid., pp. 119, 121.

* Ibid., pp. 121, 141, 146; Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, voi. x, p. 87.

HATRED

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47

it is instituted for other reasons. The temple is the royal court ; the idol is the tyrant ; the priests are the courtiers ; the daily sacrifice is of our liberty, and hence all respectable customs, right thinking and true honor.1 A sense of mutual fear leads the subject to live in blind obedience and the tyrant to strengthen and never modify his oppression.2 While recognizing the great force of public opinion in perpetuating or destroying a tyrannical government,3 Alfieri did not hesitate to urge violence against the tyrant. The very spirit of oppression that stifles the best qualities of men and all sense of liberty would provoke men to find a remedy against despotism. Precisely in the cruelty, rapacity, atrocious dishonesty and continual acts of injustice of the tyrant lies the readiest, the most efficacious and certain remedy against tyranny—tant pis tant mieux. The more criminal and ruthless the tyrant, the more he abuses his unlimited authority, the greater the hope that the multitude will finally arouse itself and bring an end to such government. Any conspiracy must be directed not only against the tyrant but against tyranny itself and must symbolize not only private revenge but the will to establish true liberty.4 This encouragement to revolt is best revealed in Alfieri's poem, L'Etruria vendicata (The Revenge of E t r u r i a ) i n which Lorenzino de Medici, inspired by passion for liberty, kills his cousin, Alessandro, the tyrant. Herein is exalted tyrannicide, the " theory of the dagger " as one of the most effective means of putting an end to oppression. 1

Della

2

Ibid., pp. 1 2 3 - 1 3 1 .

tirannide,

Opere,

vol. χ, p. 123.

8

Ibid., pp. 188, 194.

4

Ibid., pp. 184-189; see also pp. 124, 126.

5

Opere, vol. iii, pp. 181-239.

48

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

In Alfieri's political discussions, we may observe certain points, some clearly expressed, others implied. T w o of these are fundamental, one the necessity of the overthrow of tyrannical governments, the other a belief in natural rights and popular sovereignty. Alfieri, without going into detail, refers to " natural rights," 1 those " precious rights that nature has given man ". 2 Despotism, the synonym of unlimited authority, means the usurpation of the natural rights of all. 3 The despot is he who despoils men of " their sacred prerogatives Government cannot be concentrated in the hands of one man, cannot be based on the theory of divine right, and must have some basis in the support and the will of the people. Laws, conceived by Alfieri as stable in so far as they are independent of arbitrary power, are described as those mutual and solemn social pacts which must be the product of the majority's will, a will to be expressed through representatives elected by the people.5 The negative spirit and the censure of despotism in A l fieri's writings are clear, but it is difficult to find in them a systematic conception of popular sovereignty. U n f o r tunately Alfieri never wrote the essay On the people for which he made a brief outline. 6 However, the definitions that he gave of the " people " in various parts of his works show that while he abhorred tyrants, he was far from being a democrat. In a footnote in his On Tyranny, Alfieri defined the word " people ". " B y people ", he wrote, 1

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, p. 167.

2

Ibid., p. ISS-

3

Ibid., p. 130; see also pp. 156, 167, 190.

4

Ibid., p. 175.

5

Ibid., p. 120; see also pp. 164-165.

β In Ms. X of the Alfieri papers at the Medicea-Laurenziana Library of Florence. Parts of the outline are reproduced by E. Teza in his edition of Alfieri's Vita, giornali, lettere (Florence, 1861), pp. x i x - x x .

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I mean nothing but that mass of citizens or farmers more or less well-to-do who have their own property or trade and who have wives, children and relatives, and not that more numerous perhaps, but so much less estimable class of nulla tenenti of the lowest plebeians. T o these people, accustomed to living from day to day, and indifferent to any type of government, because they have nothing to lose, and being extremely corrupt and boorish, especially in the cities, any government, even a pure Democracy, cannot and should not accord any other indulgence than that of never letting them lack bread, justice or fear. For any time that one of these three things is wanting to them, every good society can in an instant be overthrown by them and can even be completely destroyed. 1 T h e uncertainty about the numerical proportion between the rich and the poor w a s clarified by Alfieri in a discussion of the distribution of wealth during his time. a more rational division of wealth.

H e advocated

In a tyranny the dis-

parity of wealth between one class and another is great.

But

in a republic there would be a more just economic equilibrium between various classes of the people.

F e w would be v e r y

rich, a great many would be well-to-do, and a f e w would be indigent. 2

O n another occasion, w r i t i n g of events during

the French Revolution, he said : B y people, I do not mean the lazy and needy dregs of a large city: I mean rather a multitude, almost all of the respectable inhabitants of city and country, composed promiscuously of all classes, who, not instigated or hired, but moved to indignation and fury by wrongs received, in a spontaneous outburst of sublime impetuosity act with enthusiasm and courage. 3 T h e hateful servitude that the F r e n c h revolutionists had brought about meant " the dependence o f the possidenti 1

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, p. 143.

s

Ibid., pp. 167-171.

' Il Misogallo, Opere, vol. iv, p. 130.

and

VITTORIO

50

ALFIERI

the good on the nulla tenenti and the criminal ", 1 In a stinging satire, Alfieri attacked lawyers and merchants and all others who said they belonged to the middle class. They have nothing but the vices of all other classes. Their class is not the middle class but the sesqui-plebe.2 One of his comedies is filled with abuse of the common people.3 Alfieri thus emphasized the importance of property or some other form of distinction. The liberal, moderately popular nationalism of the mid-nineteenth century, that perhaps of a Cavour, a Gladstone or a Belgian liberal of 1830 seems to have been foreshadowed by him. He suggested rather than formulated a theory of popular sovereignty. What is significant is that the source of authority for him is the people, as understood by him, not the monarch. The people in his Virginia, his First Brutus, and his Second Brutus may be artificial and unhistorical but the basic thing is that he introduced the people in his works and made it an active personage. He realized that the people in Virginia is not sufficiently Roman and is portrayed with exaggerated foreshortening. I shall briefly assign the reason for this. When this tragedy is performed before a free people, it will be said that the Roman people does not take an adequate part in this tragedy, and it will be said that the author was not born a free man. But, performed before a servile people, exactly the opposite will be said. . . . I have wished to pursue a middle course in satisfying both these types of spectators.4 In two tragedies, the First Brutus and the Second Brutus, I

II MisogalloJ Opere, vol. iv, p. 130.

8

La sesqui-plebe, Opere, vol. iv, pp. 59-60.

II 4

troppi, Opere, vol. viii, pp. 91-138. Parere dell'autore

P· 235-

(Alfieri) su le presenti tragedie, Opere, voi. vii,

HATRED

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I have included the people as an active personage and I have excluded women. This will seem, and perhaps is, little adapted to the modern way of thinking ; but, if ever again there shall be a people in Italy . . . it will probably be very grateful to me for having made it an active personage at a time when it was utterly mute and buried.1 Alfieri's conception of the people is certainly not that of Rousseau or of an advanced democrat. On the other hand, a man of his revolutionary ardor, hatred of arbitrary power, and belief in natural rights and the equality of citizens before the law, does not compare unfavorably with Montesquieu or Voltaire, Sieyès or Thomas Jefferson, who did not have to preach universal suffrage in order to merit the reputation of being radical reformers. His praise of the ancient Roman Republic and of the England of his day would indicate that he wanted a country to be governed by a propertied, cultured and public-spirited ruling class. T h e two " myths " in the thought of Alfieri were the ancient Roman Republic and England. The latter was the closest approximation to the ideal of the former. " The Roman Republic ", Alfieri wrote, had " the most splendid political liberty that the world has ever seen ", 2 Since his youth, he had admired the political liberty enjoyed in England. H e excepted England from his tirade against hereditary tyrannies existing all over Europe. 3 So fond was he of that country that he wrote in his declining years an epitaph to adorn a possible burial place in England : 1 In a manuscript note to his Bruto primo, reproduced by Milanesi, C , Tragedie di Vittorio Alfieri da Asti con una notizia intorno agli autografi delle tragedie conservati nella Mediceo-Laurenziana ed alle prime e principali edizioni di esse (Florence, 1866), voi. i, p. x x x v i i .

* Della tirannide, 3

Ibid., p. 1 2 1 .

Opere, voi. x , p. 186.

VITTORIO

52

ALFIERI

In safety here at last the Italian Alfieri reposes To whom the English alone both peace and liberty gave.1 Alfieri remained essentially a nobleman, an aristocrat in spirit. This is also basic as a source of his hatred of tyranny, for, with him, as with many other nobles, proud and individualistic, the all-powerful tyrant or monarch represented an insufferable limitation on his own freedom, let alone that of others. H e kept aloof from ordinary people, from the interests of the common folk. H e prided himself on not being born a plebeian.2 He had the typical eighteenth century nobleman's contempt for merchants and for commerce. 3 And yet he was by no means a defender of his class or of its privileges. H e regarded the nobility of his time as lazy and useless and together with the clergy as " one of the major obstacles to freedom and one of the most permanent props of tyranny 4 . . . . This class in every tyranny is always the most corrupt; it is therefore the principal ornament of the courts . . . . the just laughing stock of the few who think ", 5 As time went on, it was natural for the nobles to protect zealously their own interests and to desire an increase of power. Alfieri's remarks, however, were directed against the hereditary nobility, for he thought that a free people in a republic might well create a class, smaller in number but greater in virtue than the masses, 1

Secure alfin l'italo Al fier qui giace. Cui sol dicr gli Angli e libertade e pace. Epigram CVI Ü 7 9 9 ) , Opere, voi. iv, p. 33.

2 See sonnet X X I X ( i 7 9 5 ) , in II Misogallo, Vita, Opere, voi. i, p. 5.

Opere, voi. iv, p. 174; also

3 See satire XII, Il commercio, Opere, vol. iv, pp. 97-100. The banker's class was "one of the vilest and worst in society"; see Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 101.

* Della tirannide, 5

Ibid., p. 161.

Opere, vol. χ, p. 157.

HATRED

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53

members of which class might bear the distinction of being nobles for life or for a limited time, without, however, maintaining the right of transmission to their heirs.1 Liberty could not long endure where a hereditary nobility existed as a dominant group.2 Of the existing nobility in Europe he did not altogether despair. On the other hand, he hoped that in view of their relative wealth and intelligence, a group of nobles, who felt the need of independence from the tyrant, even if they had to suffer expatriation, could devote themselves to the cause of freedom by creating a literature advocating opposition to tyranny and inculcating the virtues needed to restore liberty.3 Just what form of government Alfieri favored is a question that has been considerably discussed. He has been described as a republican,'4 as a constitutional monarchist5 and as an anarchist.6 Certainly the tone of On Tyranny and of the tragedies is anti-monarchical. This anti-monarchical spirit appears logically as an aspect of his repugnance to all kinds of superior and uncontrolled authority, of his conception of the antithesis between the forces of liberty and oppression. 1

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, p. 157.

2

Ibid., p. 163.

3

See Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 94-99.

* See the introduction of Mestica, G., to his edition of Prose e poesie di Vittorio Alfieri (Milan, 1898), noting that Alfieri was a republican before the French Revolution and became a constitutional monarchist after the Revolution. To the same effect see Brofferio, Α., I miei tempi (Turin, 1902-1905), vol. ii, p. 472. 5 See Masi, E., Il pensiero politico di Vittorio Alfieri (Florence, 1896), and his Asti e gli Alfieri, etc., pp. 525-601 ; Novali, F., " L'Alfieri poeta comico", in Nuova Antologia (Rome, September 15, October ι, 1881) ; Faldella, G., Piemonte ed Italia. Rapsodia di storia patriottica (Turin, 1910-1911), vol. ii, pp. 7-64. 6

Calosso, U., L'anarchia di Vittorio Alfieri. Discorso critico sulla tragedia Alfieriana (Bari, 1924) ; see also Gerbi, Α., La politica del settecento. Storia di un'idea (Bari, 1928), especially pp. 311-319.

VITTORIO

54

ALFIERI

The Rome he admired is that of the republic. The virtues he exalted are associated with the word republican.1 It is highly probable that Alfieri entertained the ancients' conception of a republic ; that is, a government of laws. When he compared the Roman Republic and the England of his day, he referred to the English republic.2 Still there was a king in England, and this may be interpreted as meaning that a constitutional monarchy may be termed a republic. Alfieri's works are marked by much satire and many epigrams against kings, and even if his republicanism is " classical ", still the sentiments expressed by him served the rising anti-monarchical elements in Europe and the movement for the establishment of republics after the French Revolution. Alfieri's works were used as an arm of propaganda by those Italians who were bent on establishing liberty in the peninsula. The struggle for freedom was intimately associated with the word republic. One devoted to liberty might well be called a republican. Kings were then the symbols of the established order. Very frequently the words tyrant and king were used interchangeably to designate the reign of despotism. Much evidence has been adduced to make of Alfieri a constitutional monarchist. England was highly praised by him. One of the characteristics of English political life that most impressed him was the disagreement of parties reflected in parliament by the conflict between the ministry and the opposition. In view of this, it seemed to him that the English government was even more solidly organized than that of the ancient Roman Republic.3 The English were lauded by him together with the Greeks and the Romans. England abolished the absolute power of the Crown, but re1

Della

tirannide,

2

Ibid.,

p. 159.

3

Ibid.

Opere,

vol. χ, pp. 1 3 4 - 1 3 7 , 142, 155.

Regarding Alfieri's observations on the conflict of parties in

HATRED

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55

tained her kings under the control of law and rose to great power and glory in less than a century. W e have seen her, single-handed, facing and often conquering, but so far without ever succumbing to them, many of the most powerful European States conspiring to subdue her. Thus in the recent war with America we have seen nine million Englishmen face twenty or more million Frenchmen, ten or ever so many million Spaniards and five or six million Dutch and Americans. A political miracle, the reason for which cannot be found unless it be confessed that one free man is equal to at least six slaves. 1 W h e n Alfieri applauded the razing of the Bastille, he wrote : Already is the king's majesty reassured, On terms better adjusted at last. Already have the impious been expelled, And the good men recalled. Nor will the august National Assembly Allow a King to err again. 2 Is there not in these lines, it has been argued, the crux of the idea of a king and ministerial responsibility? * Did he not later write that government by Louis X V I , based on England as not being opposed to or incompatible with the good of the Liberalism, tr. by whole, De Ruggiero, G., in his History of European R . G. Collingwood (London, 1 9 2 7 ) , p. 283, n. 1, remarks: " I have not come across this thought anywhere in eighteenth-century literature; yet I cannot make up my mind to give Alfieri the credit for inventing it, so incompatible does it appear, in inspiration and political penetration, with the literary orientation of his treatise." 1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, p. 104.

In his Parere on the

tragedy Agide, Opere, vol. vii, p. 258, Alfieri said that among the English, liberty was hidden rather than revealed in all its sublime and noble splendor. This criticism is isolated and is not in agreement with his other opinions on England. Perhaps he was prompted to criticize the English by his sympathy for the American revolutionaries. 2

F o r the original text, see Appendix, p. 149.

® Faldella, loc. cit., p. 35.

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

more legitimate authority, would have been part of a satisfactory solution of the French crisis ? 1 Finally, four comedies of Alfieri, completed in 1803 and the last expression of his political opinions, have been cited to show his belief in a constitutional monarchy. In the first three of these, L'uno ( T h e O n e ) , I pochi ( T h e F e w ) , and I troppi ( T h e T o o M a n y ) , he brought out the faults of monarchic, aristocratic and popular government, and the fourth, L'antidoto ( T h e Antidote), aims to show that a blending of the best in these three types of government would make up a good system. A Persian monarch is represented in L'uno. In I pochi abuse is heaped on the Gracchi of Rome, who are portrayed as ambitious hypocrites. A n d in I troppi the Greece of Demosthenes is ridiculed. The subtitle of L'antidoto is Three Poisons Mixed Together And One Has The Antidote.2 In it a ruler awaits the birth of a child to succeed him. If his w i f e is to bear him a successor, he must choose a child in one of three forms. The first choice is a child without legs (monarchy), the second, a child with legs and three heads but without hands (aristocracy), and the third, a child without a head (democracy). Through the aid of an Arabian magician, a miracle occurs. A child, perfect in body and mind, is born, assuring the people happiness and liberty. This comedy has been regarded as indicating Alfieri's preference for a constitutional monarchy. 3 T h e fact that it was his intention to give the comedy the sub-title, Magna Carta/ has been presented 1

See II Misogallo,

Opere, vol. iv, pp. 136-137.

The comedies discussed are in Opere, vol. viii. Maggini, F., in his introduction to Alfieri's Commedie (Florence, 1927), p. vii, brings out the fact that in 1788 Alfieri wrote the titles of several comedies, among which were Monarchy, Aristocracy and Democracy. s

* Novati, in Nuova Antologia 4

(October I, 1881), p. 437.

Maggini, in his edition of Alfieri's Commedie, pp. 257-258.

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57

as proof that the child born was a mere personification of Magna Carta, the basis of English liberty. 1 The attempt to reduce Alfieri's ideas to a schematic political formula seems mistaken. He was not concerned with forms of government. This was a contingent matter. The essence of Alfieri is in his opposition to arbitrary power. H e was opposed to it whether it was exercised in the name of a monarchy or in that of a republic. The despotic republics of Venice and Genoa, the despotic theocratic power of an elective Pope were no more to his liking than the autocratic power of a hereditary king. 2 Alfieri wanted a government of laws and it was immaterial whether this was realized under the form of a republic or of a kingdom. To classify him under labels that have a different significance at various times may be of practical propagandist utility to a political party, but it would not truly represent the spirit of his writings. " Ever since my earliest childhood ", he once wrote, I felt in myself a fiery and predominant passion for civil liberty, known to me at that time more because of a certain indomitable natural instinct than because of acquired ideas. With the passing of years, through experience and through long assiduous study of things and of men, I perhaps learned to know it truly and to appreciate it rationally.3 His temperament more than anything else seems to explain his political opinions. He was a poetic spirit, a great individualist, a superman, if you like, violent in his hatred of 1 2

Novati, loc. cit., p. 437.

See Della he said:

tirannide,

Opere, vol. χ, pp. 120-121".

Referring to Genoa,

E bench'un Re non mi piacessi, io voti Non fea pur mai per barattarmi un Re In sessanta parrucche d'Idioti. In the satire I viaggi, Opere, voi. iv, p. 77; and ibid., p. 83, he speaks of the " oscena libertà posticcia " of Venice. 3

II Misogallo,

Opere, voi. iv, p. 127.

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

authority and passionate in his ardor for freedom. So great is his name in Italian history, so closely is he associated with the Italian Risorgimento, that the desire to ascribe to him a belief in one form of government or another seems natural. It may be said that the theory that Alfieri was a constitutional monarchist found its best expression in Italy after the establishment of the monarchy in 1861. The comedies have been exploited, though they constitute a relatively unimportant part of Alfieri's work. They have even been described as a course in constitutional law. 1 T h e artistic motive of Alfieri in trying to exercise his literary talent in a different medium must not be overlooked. 2 The value of the comedies as a source of political ideas is negative. The Antidote is especially obscure. A mixed government is not necessarily a constitutional monarchy. A t most, this comedy may be regarded as a sign of uncertainty, bitterness against the false democracy of France and fear of massrule. It is not a clear exposition of political faith. So little known and evaluated have these comedies been that the first systematic attempt to study them was made in 1881. 3 Alfieri did not have an organic political doctrine. He is neither a Montesquieu nor a professor of constitutional law. H e was an agitator rather than a political philosopher.4 It is useless to seek in his writings a theoretical and well reasoned disquisition on the " c o n t r a c t u a l " relation between people and government, on the origin of the state, on the division and function of various organs of government. H e had no set or well-worked out political program. 1

Faldella, loc. cit., p. 35.

* See Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 259. 3

Novati, op. cit.

See, however, the stimulating book by Gobetti, P., La filosofia politica di Vittorio Alfieri (Turin, 1923), in which, as the title indicates, he presents Alfieri as a political philosopher. 4

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OF LIBERTY

59

In the last part of his book On Tyranny, Alfieri gives us a valuable suggestion. Assuming the question, suppose tyranny were abolished in Italy, for example, what government would be best for Italy, he said that only those Italians who had studied the problems of government and the nature and passions of men, could provide for the best government ; that is, the least harmful. He recognized that nothing fixed or unalterable could be established; that a government might be adaptable to one country and not to another. 1 Thus Alfieri was not dogmatic nor should we by selecting isolated phrases attempt to deduce from his writings what form of government he preferred. Alfieri had neither the historical culture nor the attitude of mind suited to nice speculations on problems of government. His works on political subjects reflect the influence of French eighteenth-century writers, especially of Montesquieu. 2 But he goes beyond Montesquieu, the Encyclopaedists and Voltaire in his denunciation of despotism, even if benevolent. He was not of those who saw the possibility of betterment through benevolent despots. His attack was directed against arbitrary power, the potentiality for abuse. 3 This originality entitles him to distinction as the most singular and revolutionary Italian political writer of the eighteenth century. Alfieri's conception of liberty was vague and indeterminate. His condemnation of tyranny seems frequently to be an outburst of a strongly individualistic man, who could tolerate no control or restriction of his liberty—anarchical in its tendency rather than democratic. The " tyrant " is more real and definite than the " people ". While he invoked the 1

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 191-192; see also pp. 118, 119.

Too much stress, however, is laid on Montesquieu's influence on Alfieri by Scandura, S., Il pensiero politico di Vittorio Alfieri e le sue fonti (Catania, 1919). 2

s

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. x, pp. 119, 122; see also pp. 127-130.

VITTORIO

6o

ALFIERI

sovereignty of the people, while he fought in their name, it seems he was not of them. But this limitation, this want of completeness is explained partly by the times in which he lived, when the uprooting of tyranny was the major problem, and partly by the fact that he did not propose to work out a theory of civil and political liberty. H e did not foresee the future development of democracy. It is idle to discuss whether he would have approved of nineteenth-century forms of political liberty. Most noteworthy are the implications of his propaganda for liberty. Some have interpreted the exaggerated individualism of Alfieri, his yearning for liberty without limits, as anarchism. The thesis that Alfieri is a n anarchist is suggestive but extreme. 1 It is an exaggeration to say that Alfieri was a believer in no government at all. T h e freedom of the individual finds emphasis in him because in his time individual liberty was so scarce that it had to be stressed by those who opposed despotic governments. This should not be taken to mean that Alfieri conceived an ideal of liberty quite independent of any government or social organization. W i t h great moral earnestness, Alfieri emphasized the necessity of liberty, of government animated by ideals of freedom and regulated by law. 2 H e exalted the merits of liberty and its capacity to ennoble the character of man. Only with liberty is the life of a people secured, he said. It is the source of great achievements. 3 Men cannot be great unless they are free. Virtue is the creature of liberty. 4 1

Calosso, op. cit.-, Gerbi, op. cit., especially pp. 311-319.

* Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ , pp. 119, 120-123, 128. T h i s idea underlies the whole of Alfieri's Panegirico... a Traiano, Opere, vol. χ , pp. 217-246; in this w o r k see especially pp. 228-229, 230, 235. * Del principe 4

Panegirico

e delle lettere,

... o Traiano,

Opere, vol. χ , p. 104.

Opere, vol. χ , pp. 225, 234; see also p. 223.

HATRED

OF TYRANNY

AND

LOVE

OF LIBERTY

6l

Patriotic sentiments, domestic and public happiness, property, a sense of security can endure only in an atmosphere of liberty where all the citizens are protected by the laws and are not exposed to the arbitrary will of a ruler. 1 T h e greatest glory of citizens lies in the glory of the fatherland. 2 Alfieri stressed " government by laws by which he probably meant an enlightened legal system under which the best moral and economic interests of the citizens could be developed and under which the civil and political rights of the citizens could be secure and immune from arbitrary power. It would seem that his idea was the same as that expressed in the familiar English and American maxim of a " government of laws, not of men ". Liberty and patriotic feeling were discussed by Alfieri as being in intimate relationship. The advocacy of individual liberty, of the natural rights of man, together with the idea of the sovereignty of the people, was one of the great factors in the development of modern nationalism. The sense of individual autonomy and independence was one of the steps leading to a sense of national autonomy and independence. The people and the ruling classes were no longer to be separated in spirit, the former would no longer be subject to oppression by the latter. Foreign rule could no longer be tolerated. Tyranny or absolutism served only to suppress the individual and to estrange the common people from the interests of the state. A foreign government would also antagonize the national sentiment of a people. Enormous impulse to the growth of the national spirit was given by the propaganda for liberty, joined to such influences as common traditions, common language and similarities of race. The relation between the French Revolution and Italy in this 1

Panegirico

2

Ibid., p. 239; see also Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, pp. ΐ74-ΐ75> 182.

. . . α Traiano, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 221, 231, 239, 241-244·

62

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

connection is instructive. The French bore the banner of liberty. In attempting to dominate Italy, they offended the national sentiments of the Italian people. The consequence of the teaching of liberty was the desire to be free from foreign control. Italy, while temporarily a victim of domination, was in fact learning the best lessons of liberty and independence. No man in eighteenth-century Italy wrote against tyranny and in favor of liberty with more fervor and effect than Alfieri. He gave forceful expression to the need and aspiration of Italy for liberty. The germs of two important parts of the modern nationalist process, freedom from foreign control and a greater degree of self-government, occupied a conspicuous place in his writings.

C H A P T E R

II

F R E E D O M A N D T H E A D V A N C E M E N T OF L I T E R A T U R E

ANOTHER interesting aspect of Alfieri's praise of liberty and condemnation of tyranny, which throws much light on his personality and the historical significance of his work, is revealed in his long essay, Del principe e delle lettere (On Government and Literature. ) 1 It was begun in 1778 when Alfieri was twenty-nine years old and like his work On Tyranny was printed in 1789 but not published until 1800. T h e title reminds one of Machiavelli, whom Alfieri called " our political prophet " , 2 the " divine ", 3 the " immortal Machiavelli ". 4 T h e resemblance in arrangement between certain parts of Machiavelli's The Prince and Alfieri's Government and Literature is striking. Both books, it seems, complement each other in respect of the movement for the redemption of Italy. T h e one points to political means for achieving independence from the foreigner, the other to the use of literature to make it possible. T h e thesis of Alfieri's essay is that the promotion of true literature and the existence of despotism are incompatible. A prince is defined as one " who can do what he wills and 1 Opere, vol. x , pp. i - m ; it is well to read in conjunction with this essay La virtù sconosciuta. Dialogo, Opere, vol. χ , pp. 197-215· ' Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 212. • Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, voi. x , p. 18; see also Vita, voi. i, p. 153.

Opere,

Vita, Opere, voi. i, p. 66 ; see also Del principe e delle lettere,

Opere,

4

vol. χ, p. 55, and Della tirannide, Opere, voi. x , p. 192. 63

64

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

wills what is most his pleasure ", 1 In other words, he is among men what a lion is among sheep, thinking himself different from other men and superior to them, responsible to none, and desirous only of dominating all and everything under him. Force is his major weapon and as it is force, not wisdom, which governs the world, a ruler can be and usually is ignorant. T r u e literature cannot be promoted under a prince, and it is tolerated and exploited only to strengthen his power. Its true character is debased and perverted to his desire for supreme power. 2 Alfieri had a lofty conception of the function of literature and of a great writer. T h e aim of literature according to him must be not only artistic beauty but truth. " Truth is perfectly synonymous with Beauty ". 3 Literature is the art of teaching man by pleasing him, moving him, cultivating his best interests, urging him to good works and diverting him from evil, broadening his ideas and instilling in him a noble enthusiasm, a love of glory and a sense of his rights. 4 A true literary work must teach virtue, and virtue signifies the quality whereby one's greatest glory is identified with the greatest good of others. A good book, in view of these ideas, must necessarily offend unlimited authority, for this is not based on virtue. A great writer cannot laud vice, and he cannot teach virtue without demonstrating the impossibility of it where men must obey, serve, or fear the capricious rule of a tyrant. 8 There can be nothing in common between a ruler and a writer 1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, p. 6.

1

Ibid., pp. 5-9.

' Ibid., p. 40 ; see also Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 1 and La virtù Opere, vol. χ, p. 208. 4

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, voi. x, pp. 7, 21.

5

Ibid., pp. is, 16.

sconosciuta,

FREEDOM

AND

ADVANCEMENT

OF LITERATURE

65

because their ends are entirely diverse, indeed antagonistic. 1 Utility to others, expressed variously by Alfieri as utility to all, to the greatest number, to the public as a whole, must be the aim of a genuine writer. What is useful to the many cannot be useful to a ruler who desires nothing but blind obedience from all.2 Mutual fear has led to the abuse of literature. The ruler is moved by vanity and fear of being censured, unmasked, and discredited, while certain writers are moved by need, fear and vain-glory. The consequence is that the prince, by satisfying a writer's economic needs, receives in return adulation, and false poetry, history and philosophy. Pecuniary necessity cannot excuse association of a great writer with a ruler. It is preferable for those who have not the means to engage in writing to seek other means of making a living, rather than to prostitute the function of literature for the mere sake of material gain. 3 True recognition can come only in the form of praise from the people, never from a ruler who has no interest in seeing a writer dedicate himself to truth. The greatest reward for any distinguished work is glory, the feeling of having merited the esteem that the people have of him for the good he has done, the veneration and joy with which they regard him, the fear of the criminal and the rage of the powerful. 4 True glory is therefore associated with the good of others ; it does not represent the satisfaction of a mere personal desire. 5 A great writer for Alfieri is a hero, the greatest of the great, 6 who can be almost a God if he writes out of a spontan1

Del principe

2

Ibid., pp. 8, 21, 30, 32, 36, 41, 43, 60, 89-90, 49, ι ι ο - ι 11, 29.

3

Ibid., pp. 17, 18, 31, 33, 29, 20-21.

e delle lettere.

Opere,

4

Ibid., p. 61 ; see also pp. 22, 29.

5

Ibid., pp. 7, 8, 88 ; see also p. 50.

6

Ibid., p. 36.

vol. χ , pp. 8, 66, 33.

66

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

eous passion, properly expressed and independent of any material aim. 1 A great writer must possess a high estimate of himself, intelligence, integrity, courage and a sense of loyalty to truth. A high estimate of one's self presupposes a resolution never to depart from truth, never to write what is not deeply felt. One cannot communicate what one does not possess. A book must be the quintessence of the writer. 2 Literature is the greatest of callings ; it holds the primacy of the arts. No ruler, however distinguished, can approach a writer in greatness. A conqueror like Alexander leaves nothing to successive generations but the fear and wonder of his name. Those rulers known as legislators, like Cyrus of Persia, do much for their successors in power, for the few, but little for their peoples. Whatever good is done by those who, like Titus, are moderate in the exercise of their power is ephemeral, because their efforts are not devoted to preventing recurrence of abuse of power by those who follow them. While the good that any prince may do is restricted at most to his own people and is temporary, that which a great writer does is beneficial to all peoples and lives forever. 3 Alfieri wrote at length about " natural impulse " , that sublime quality possessed by all great men. This impulse is an ebullition of heart and mind for which neither peace nor place can ever be found; an insatiable thirst for well-doing and for glory; reputing as nothing what has already been done and considering what is to be done as allimportant, without, however, diverging from what is aimed at; an inflamed and strong will and feeling of necessity to be either first among the foremost or nothing at all.4 1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, p. 20.

2 Ibid., pp. 43, 46, 49. 3

Ibid., pp. 49-53·

4

Ibid., p. 88.

FREEDOM

AND ADVANCEMENT

OF LITERATURE

67

Such an impulse is a sovereign quality. Liberty cultivates it; servitude and fear stifle it. T h e ancient Greek dramatists, urged on by " natural impulse " , free and unpatronized, wrote at once to teach virtue and liberty to a free people and to please them, while such writers as Racine, moved by " artificial impulse " and patronized, wrote to please and not to offend an unfree and decadent people, inferior to the Greek model especially because of their artificial sentiment and impulse. 1 Alfieri denied that literature needs the patronage of a ruler and affirmed the superiority of works produced independently of it. T o prove this thesis he cited many examples in the history of literature. Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch, for instance, were great writers and were not dependent on a prince's support. Ariosto and Tasso who followed them and wrote when princes dominated Italy did not approach their genius or sublimity. 2 Alfieri censured Virgil for having written so much on the greatness of the empire in order to please Augustus, instead of idealizing in his works the traditions of freedom in the history of Rome. Virgil devoted nineteen verses to Marcellus, the nephew of Augustus, who died in adolescence, but only half a verse to Cato, three verses to Junius Brutus and not even a word to Marcus Brutus. How much he might have done to rekindle a sense of liberty and virtue among the Romans and consequently for the fame and glory of himself and the fatherland ! W h a t better examples could he have given to new generations than the exploits of the Bruti, the Fabii, and the Deci ? ' Horace was criticized for having written from necessity and not because he felt an ardent impulse to express sublime 1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, p. 93.

2

Ibid., pp. 72-73.

3

Ibid., pp. 42-44.

68

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

thoughts. 1 Though admitting that the patronage of a ruler might promote elegance, Alfieri denied that it could ever promote truth. 2 If literature then is to be an incentive to truth and virtue, 3 it can flourish only in an atmosphere of liberty. Alfieri tried to show how it can be promoted better under republics than under tyrannical states. Philosophy, oratory, the writing of history, high forms of poetry had developed best in republics. The greatest philosophers were Greeks—Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras. Bacon and Locke were children of liberty. Bayle abandoned France and took refuge in Holland. Demosthenes and Cicero, the greatest in oratory, were born in republics. The greatest historians were Greeks, Romans, and Englishmen—Thucydides, Polybius, Xenophon, Livy, Sallust, Tacitus, Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon, all free and unpatronized writers. Homer and Pindar were superior to Virgil and Horace. The poetry that combines thought with elegance calls for absolute freedom. 4 Fortunately the literary century of the Greeks carries the name of Athens and not of Pisistratus, Alexander, or even of Pericles. Alfieri attacked the so-called literary periods of Augustus, of the Medici, and of Louis XIV. These names symbolize patronage, and patronage nourishes false literature. What truly great writer could have allowed himself to be patronized by Augustus, the assassin of Cicero? Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch lived before the Medici. Did not the Medici neglect Machiavelli and Galileo ? 5 Alfieri was hopeful of the advancement of literature without any patronage. H e envisaged another literary period 1

Del principe

2

Ibid., pp. 26-27, 29 ; see also p. 7.

e delle lettere,

3

Ibid.,

4

Ibid., pp. 53-59·

5

Ibid.,

p. 94. pp. 99, 100.

Opere,

vol. χ, pp. 28-29.

FREEDOM

AND

ADVANCEMENT

OF LITERATURE

69

when writers would exalt the ideal of liberty, a period to be known as " the century of independence "- 1 Such a century would indeed be great because it would represent the passage from a state of servitude to one of liberty through the development of true literature. The class to whom he entrusted this task was principally the nobility. Nobles were relatively free, they enjoyed a good degree of economic independence and some culture, and a certain pride and courage derived from their ancestry and military activity. They were in a position to be more enlightened than the mass of the people. It was incumbent upon those nobles, however few, who felt a sense of independence and of truth, to free themselves of military and all other occupations that associated them with the ruler's power, and to devote themselves to literature, to become the Deci, so to speak, of a nascent republic. By expatriating themselves and seeking liberty where it was to be found, they would attack in their writings the evils of tyrannical power and sacrifice everything for the future of their fatherland. At the same time, those similarly high-minded, though not endowed with the gift of writing, would in their own country form a group one in spirit with the exiled writters. Thus a great epic poet, if he should appear, would certainly choose to sing the liberation of Rome by Brutus rather than the liberation of Jerusalem by Geoffrey; would praise Scipio, not Augustus, and all truly great heroes, not ordinary rulers. Tragedies would deal not only with love but with other passions as well. Comedies and satires would expose really dangerous vices. Orators would laud not mere power but virtue. Histories would be written only of those nations that could serve as models. They would not deal with unimportant battles, legendary matters, insipid 1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 101-103.

70

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

anecdotes, petty intrigues of court life, but rather with the efforts of free men, with high examples of patriotic virtue, courage, contempt of riches, and public morality. Poetry would not only deal with love but also with those qualities that would inspire men to create a fatherland and defend it. In short, the lofty end to be achieved through such a renovation of literature would be liberty. 1 A t this point it is important to observe that when Alfieri spoke of liberty, he spoke not only of the liberty of writers but also of the liberty of peoples. A g a i n politics, as is frequently the case, was closely intertwined with the subject he discussed. In urging the development of a new literature, Alfieri saw the possibility of the development of new peoples. H e wrote that liberty as in the case of the ancient Romans, or in that of modern Englishmen and Americans, consisted in a full understanding and consciousness of popular rights. These rights given by nature had been curtailed, corrupted, or taken away by tyrannical rulers. In Rome, the tribunes, in England, the House of Commons safeguarded these rights. In America, in the absence of a nobility and of a clergy, there would be less difficulty in attaining the desired end. N o w who else but men of letters could teach a servile people to understand and defend their rights ? T h e interest of princes is to rule, to keep the people in ignorance ; that of the people is to avail themselves of their rights for the good of every individual and of society. Hence arises the necessity for writers to attack tyrannical power. 2 Alfieri conceived of courageous and true writers as tribunes who would inspire unfree and oppressed peoples with love of truth, of liberty, of the great, of the useful, and of ι Ibid., pp. 94-99. Alfieri did not mean to exclude anyone, however humbly born, who was as well-to-do and independent as the nobles ; that is, in the same circumstances as the nobles. See ibid., p. 94. 2

Ibid., pp. 103-107.

FREEDOM

AND ADVANCEMENT

OF LITERATURE

γι

the righteous. T h e drama, history, poetry, and all branches of literature would serve as schools of virtue and of liberty. These writers should be tribunes not only of one people but of all peoples and out of a new literature would develop new governments and new peoples.1 T h e Italians, he hoped, would be the first to give Europe the new literature that he desired and the first to assume a new political aspect as a result o f it. This he wrote in a chapter of his work, On Government and Literature, entitled Exhortation to liberate Italy from the Barbarians, the same title that Machiavelli used for the last chapter of his Prince, repeated by Alfieri merely to show how the same end could be achieved in a different way. 2 Machiavelli exhorted a prince to free Italy; Alfieri exhorted writers to accomplish this purpose. F o r Alfieri, therefore, the advancement of literature and the rise of political freedom were closely allied. Liberty was not discussed in the abstract but in its relation to contemporary political problems. Alfieri fulfills his own description of a great writer. His essay On Government and Literature appears in this respect to be an appendix of his Autobiography. He himself was a nobleman, born in one of the tyrannical states of Europe, moved by " natural impulse " and love of glory, unwilling to embrace either a diplomatic or a military career but becoming an " exile " and bent on being a great writer, a great poet. 3 As with the later romantics, so with Alfieri, to be a great poet was one of the highest aspirations, one of the marks of a superior person. W h a t career could appeal more to his ambition and to his aristocratic pride ? W h a t greater glory was open to a man who had such a high conception of the place of letters? Is he not a nobleman who expatriates and disfranchises him1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol χ, pp. 103-107.

s

Ibid., pp. 108-110.

5

See Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 102, 106.

VITTORIO

72

ALFIERI

self, preaching virtue and exhorting the Italians to be free? The influence of books was in his mind far superior to that of laws. " I should rather expect ", he wrote, to succeed in inculcating in the heart of a multitude any truth whatsoever more efficaciously and briefly through a drama performed on the stage, understood and enjoyed by all, rather than through a direct harangue, and much less through a restraining law, however just and constitutional it may be.1 Alfieri accomplished, in fact, what he expected of a great writer. Parini, his older contemporary, sought through his satire to expose the vices of the nobility of his time and to reform the moral character of the Italians. The critic, Baretti, in his Frusta letteraria, railed against the lightness and flippancy of the Arcadians and insisted on a " literature of things ". In various parts of the peninsula able men discussed economic and social problems. Then came Alfieri, animated by lofty moral and patriotic aims, calling for writers with fiery enthusiasm, a " divine fury ", 2 uncontaminated by the patronage of rulers. He felt the need of a literature that would thunder with exaltation of truth and liberty. The servitude of peoples was the effect of ignorance of their rights, and in order to establish strong foundations for enduring liberty, writers had to acquaint them with a knowledge of their rights.3 If one cannot raise his sword to make freemen of slaves, then let him wield his pen, said Alfieri. 4 The cowardice, the languor, the lack of independence of the writers of his century disgusted Alfieri. He hated mediocrity and despised the spirit of compromise. He himself, " born a slave ", he wrote, invoked the aid of the noble 1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, p. 107.

2

Ibid., p. 71.

* Ibid., see p. 93. * See sonnet X V , Opere, vol. iii, p. 10.

FREEDOM

AND

ADVANCEMENT

OF LITERATURE

73

writers of ancient times to help him become free and to spur his contemporaries and succeeding generations to do likewise.1 He wanted slaves to become citizens and to fight for the creation of a fatherland. 2 Men representing the Arcadia3 dealt, on the whole, with the trivial and the frivolous, the idyllic and the grandiloquent. Concerned primarily with the literary form of their writing, the appropriate phrase and the rhythmic expression, the materials of their literary work were far removed from the practical aspects of life. They lacked deep moral conviction and they were indifferent to political problems. There was little genuineness - and spontaneity in their sentiments. The world of most of these men was exterior and artificial. Alfieri typifies best the rebellion against the dominant literary ideals of his time and the movement towards a reform in Italian literature. Such a reform was predicated on the reconstruction of the Italian character and on the elaboration of new ideals. For Alfieri, literature and practical action, poetry and politics, are not separate and mutually exclusive but closely related. Indeed literature is action. And a writer is even greater than a man of action because not only is he capable of executing a deed but also of conceiving it.'4 The writer should not consider himself apart from the practical problems of life. To say great things is to do them—was Alfieri's motto. He urged writers to deal with the lofty and the noble, to devote themselves to such ideals as liberty and patriotism, and to infuse their work with sincerity and seriousness of purpose. He wanted writers to be inspired, to be moved by a desire for truth, and to be free 1

Del principe e delle lettere,

Opere, vol. χ, pp. 67-68.

2 Ibid., pp. 97, 99· 3 4

See supra, p. 18. See Del principe e delle lettere,

Opere, vol. χ, pp. 36-37.

74

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

of the artificial and facile manner of dilettantes and academicians. 1 Alfieri made of the drama, which has been a favorite pastime of the aristocratic, an instrument of popular political propaganda. His satires and epigrams, rugged and pungent, struck at the vices of the time. 2 T h e comedies dealt with social as well as political subjects. T h e sonnets, even when dealing with love, revealed deep sincerity, in striking contrast to the affectation of most poets of his century. 3 It is clear from his writings that any association or alliance between the despot and the philosopher or writer was repugnant to him. Diderot and Empress Catherine, Voltaire and Frederick the Great, Condillac and Philip of Parma, Metastasio and the Viennese court, offered examples of such a relationship. Alfieri would have none of this. H e did not appeal to prince, pope, condottiere or statesman, but to the people. Opera was the most popular form of entertainment in eighteenth-century Italy. T h e Italians were enamored of mellifluous, melodious music. Alfieri realized this and sought to divert the popular taste to tragedy. The difficulty 1 Though Alfieri was never an academician in spirit, it should be noted that in 1783 he read his Saul at a meeting of the Arcadia at Rome and was made a member with the name Filacrio Eratrastico. He did not reveal this fact in his Vita. Nor did he mention the fact that he was made an honorary member of the Academy of the Unanimi of Turin. For these facts and others showing that Alfieri was not an inveterate enemy of academies, as letters of the latter years of his life might indicate, see Vicchi, L., Nuovo saggio del libro intitolato Vincenzo Monti. Le lettere e la politica in Italia dal 1750 al 1830 (Faenza, 1883), pp. 150 et seq., Silvagni, D., La corte e la società romana nei secoli XVIII e XIX (Florence, 1881), pp. 362-365, Bertana, op. cit., pp. 192-194, Patetta, F., " Lettera di Vittorio Alfieri a Pietro Zaguri ", in Miscellanea di studi storici in onore di Antonio Manno (Turin, 1912), vol. ii, pp. 147-162. 1

The epigrams and the satires are in Opere, vol. iv, pp. 1-110.

Note particularly his comedy II divorzio, Opere, vol. viii, pp. 235-291, on domestic corruption in eighteenth-century Italy. 3

FREEDOM

AND

ADVANCEMENT

OF LITERATURE

75

of doing this prompted him to work out a genre to which he gave the rather bizarre name Tramelogedia. His only tramelogedia, L'Abele, is a combination of opera and tragedy. The moral and patriotic motives for this work are of special significance. H e expected that the tramelogedia, by combining an appeal to the ear and to the mind, would help to imbue the Italians with a love for pure tragedy. 1 Alfieri was intent on communicating ideas not sounds. He would have verses, not cantati but pensati.2 He hoped that Italy would ultimately keep the sphere of the opera distinct from that of tragedy, and that the opera would not enjoy primacy over tragedy. There is too much difference in the effects of these two spectacles. . . . Opera enervates and degrades the soul; tragedy elevates and strengthens the soul. May the tramelogedia, therefore, prepare in part this necessary and invaluable change, whereby the Italians by turning from their very effeminate opera to virile tragedy will at the same time arouse themselves from their political nullity to the dignity of a true nation.3 This man, who thought that Italian was superior to any other language, exalted the great Italian poets, Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto and Tasso, and he hoped that he might become the fifth great Italian poet.4 Alfieri deeply admired Dante and Machiavelli and he was an important figure in the revival of the fame of these men who were depreciated during the eighteenth century. To those who criticized him for his harshness and obscurity, he replied : 1

Prefazione

2

See epigram X X V I , Opere, vol. iv, p. 9.

dell'autore

all'Abele,

Opere, vol. vii, pp. 48-53.

3

Prefazione ... all'Abele, Opere, vol. vii, p. 53 ; see also sonnet L X I , Opere, vol. iii, p. 54. Of course, he has in mind the opera of Metastasio's time. 4

See sonnet C L X X X , Opere, vol. iii, p. χ 18.

76

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

They call me rough? I know I am : I make them think. Am I guilty of obscurity? Liberty, then, will make me clearer.1 Alfieri is the great tribune he himself described in his essay On Government and Literature, the greatest forerunner of Italy's national political conscience. He aimed to instill in the Italians a sense of liberty and patriotism. He wrote not as a Piedmontese but as an Italian. He addressed himself to the nation. The first great literary personality born in Piedmont, he strengthened the intellectual bonds of this kingdom with the rest of Italy. Moral and political renovation of national scope characterizes his work. No Italian writer in three centuries of Italian political decadence had so vehemently expressed enmity to the reigning order of pope and prince, of academician and courtier, and the need for absolute independence of the writer from the ruler. With him, literature became a powerful force in the interest of liberalism and nationalism. Writers might accomplish what politicians had failed to do. Alfieri is the first great representative of a modern national patriotic literature in Italy. The renovation of Italian literature, of which he was a standard bearer, was the principal manifestation of the moral and intellectual and consequently the political reawakening of a people. From his time to the completion of Italian unity, politics and literature were to be closely associated. Literature was the chief arm of propaganda for the unity of Italy and it played a dominant role in arousing the national consciousness of the Italian people. 1 F o r the original text see Appendix, p. 1 5 0 ; regarding Alfieri's defense of his style see also Note dell'autore (Alfieri) alla lettera del Cesarotti, Opere, voi. vii, pp. 222-224; Risposta dell'autore alla lettera del Calsabigi, ibid., pp. 197-204; Parere dell'autore su le presenti tragedie, ibid., pp. 282-289.

CHAPTER III RELIGION B E S I D E S fear and the militia, religion, according to Alfieri, is one of the main bulwarks of tyranny and oppression. A significant chapter of his work On Tyranny contains a discussion of this relationship.1 The Christian religion, Alfieri thought, is not in itself favorable to freedom, but the Catholic religion, he added, is practically incompatible with freedom. To prove his first assertion, he wrote that the Christian religion did not teach or encourage free living but rather blind obedience. Thus religion, which should be the principal instrument for the cultivation of a free life because of the great influence it exercises over men, is instead the handmaid of tyranny. The Pagan religion, on the other hand, was more favorable to the growth of liberty and taught love of the fatherland and of freedom. The reason given for this difiference is that the Christian, as well as the Jewish and the Mohammedan religion, is monotheistic, and this belief in one God as omnipotent could easily be associated with the idea of a single and all-powerful tyrant. The religion of the Pagans, however, was free of the monotheistic element. Hence it was natural that Christianity, born among an unfree, unenlightened, and unwarlike people, should become the religion of the barbarous peoples that controlled the world after the fall of the Roman Empire. Their leaders desired to remain tyrants, but the people, accustomed to be free in times of peace, were disposed to obey them only in 1

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 1 4 5 - 1 5 1 . 77

78

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

times of war and not to become their slaves forever. Christianity came to teach obedience to their leaders, who later became tyrants and divided their power with the clergy. Alfieri recognized, however, that a great impetus was given to liberty by those who, like the Swiss, many Germans, the Dutch and the English, had revolted against the abuses of Christianity, had divested it of its dangerous superstitions and had developed Protestantism. 1 Where men returned to the first principles of Christianity, Alfieri viewed the Christian religion as a force not incompatible with liberty or the greatness of peoples. H e mentioned as examples the Swiss, the Dutch and the English. 2 Those remaining unchanged in their faith, not as taught by Christ but as transformed by his successors, placed further obstacles in their struggle for liberty. 3 Alfieri was led to conclude that it is almost impossible for a people to be at once Catholic and free. Only with great difficulty can a Catholic people become free, and, if it does, it is with great difficulty and almost impossible for it to remain at once Catholic and free.'4 H e attacked what he regarded as the main pillars of the Catholic Church—the pope, the inquisition, purgatory, marriage as an indissoluble sacrament, and the celibacy of priests. Any people that believes a man can be the representative of God and infallible is certainly stupid and renders itself enslaved forever. 5 A people admitting such authority would be easily disposed to believe in a tyrant who would impose obedience in political matters as the Pope does in religious matters. 0 And that

•

1

Della tirannide,

2

Del principe e delle lettere,

3

Della tirannide,

1

Ibid., pp. 146-7, 148, 149.

5

Ibid., p. 147.

6

Ibid., p. ISO.

Opere, vol. χ , p. 146. Opere, vol. χ , p. 87.

Opere, vol. χ , p. 146.

RELIGION

79

iniquitous tribunal, the inquisition, whose name is sufficient to fill one with horror, is also a useful instrument of the tyrant. Where the inquisition takes root, there tyranny takes root; where Catholicism exists, there the inquisition exists or may at any moment exist. A people that believes in and practices confession cannot be free. Nor does it deserve to be free. The doctrine of purgatory has also contributed to make slaves of Catholic peoples. With the false hope of redemption, they are induced to give up their material possessions to the church, and, impoverished, they become too disheartened to make any effort to be free. The priests, enriched, ally themselves with the tyrants and desire no change in the established order. In discussing the indissolubility of marriage and the celibacy of priests, Alfieri took into account the moral and social aspects of these two traditions. Marriage, being indissoluble, produces bad husbands, worse wives, poor fathers and bad children. Priests, compelled to be celibates, do not reveal the sentiments of brothers, children, or citizens. They might feel these relationships by being husbands and fathers. 1 By observing, however, that the authority of the pope, the inquisition and confession were accepted largely through the power of the tyrant, without being believed in, Alfieri questioned the enduring value of these institutions. 2 Priests and kings are bound by common ties. They call each other sacred, but neither of them regards the natural rights of mankind as sacred. 3 To Alfieri, kings and priests were the symbols of oppression, and frequently in his epigrams and sonnets, he railed against them with all the bitterness of his pen. H e referred to priests and monks as at once the most cruel, the most free of social obligations and 1

Della

tirannide,

2

Ibid.,

see pp. 147-148, 1 5 0 - 1 5 1 .

1

Ibid.,

p. 1 5 0 ; see also p. 145.

Opere,

vol. χ, pp. 148-Q.

VITTORIO

So

ALFIERI

the most cowardly class in society. 1 written in 1 7 7 7 , is famous :

His sonnet on Rome,

Oh empty, insalubrious land, untilled arid fields, That call yourselves a state; Squallid, oppressed, emaciated faces Of a wicked, cowardly and blood-stained people : An insolent, not a free senate, Made up of base schemers, garbed in flashing crimson ; Rich patricians, and more than rich, stupid ; A prince, whom the stupidity of others makes holy : City, but not citizens ; august temples, But not religion; laws unjust, Which are changed ever so often, but for worse : Keys, which at a price of yore unlocked the gates of Heaven To the wicked, have now fallen into disuse : Oh, are you Rome, or the seat of all v i c e ? 2 1

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, p. 148.

2

For original text see Appendix, p. 150; see also Vita, Opere, vol. i, PP· 1S5-156. This sonnet called forth a semi-official, mordant answer from the celebrated poet, Vincenzo Monti, then secretary to Don Luigi Braschi, the nephew of the reigning Pope : Un cinico, un superbo, uη d'ogni stato Furente turbator, fabbro d'incolti Ispidi carmi che gli onesti volti Han d'Apollo e d'Amore insanguinato, In cattedra di peste e nel senato Siede degli empi nell'errore involti; E dardi vibra avvelenati e stolti A Cristo, a Pietro, al successor beato. Bestemmia il maledetto altari e tempi; E banditor di ree dottrine ingiuste Declina il meglio e si abbandona al peggio. Ma il ciel confonde la ragion degli empi; Ν è per novelle scosse o per vetuste Della sposa di Dio vacilla il seggio. This sonnet is in Mazzoni, G., Abati, soldati, autori, attori del settecento (Bologna, 1924?), p. 171 ; for an equally pungent sonnet by Monti against Alfieri, see ibid., p. 172. Many years later, in a letter to G. Gherardini dated August 6, 1807, Monti said that he wrote the sonnet Un cinico, etc.

RELIGION

8l

T h e f o l l o w i n g is a dialogue between M a n and the f o u r plagues : Man. Kings, confessors, doctors and lawyers, W h o created you? The Four Plagues. Debility, ignorance and wicked habits Have made us Gods. Man. Then if we cease being infants, Y o u will be nothing. T h i s description of a cardinal is characteristic: A l l red except his face, W h o might this animal be? Little salt and many lees Have sundered him from men. . . . H e is a cardinal. H e r e is an epigram directed against temporal power : The Pope is Pope and K i n g : He deserves a threefold curse. Then : Peace to the monks Provided they are unfrocked: A n d peace to the priests Provided they are few and quiet : No cardinals to rob us of knowledge: Let the high priest to the net return : L a w s but no king; Italy exists. * with " a 1928example, occasions

noose around his n e c k ' ' ; see Monti, Epistolario (Florence, ) , vol. iii, p. 187. This, however, is questionable. See, f o r Vicchi, op. cit., p. 193. It should be noted that on various Monti expressed his admiration of Alfieri as a man ; see infra,

p· 145· 1

F o r the original text see Appendix, pp. 150-151.

*Ibid.,

p. 151.

3

Ibid., p. 151.

* Ibid., p. 151.

82

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

Though Alfieri generalized rather than elaborated his thoughts on religion, we may regard as salient points his opposition to the temporal power of the popes, the necessity of the freedom of the individual in religious matters, and his aversion to the Catholic Church. The same ideal of liberty for the individual with consequent beneficent results to the people that he invoked in politics and literature, he invoked also in religion. His censure of religion is in harmony with the rationalistic and critical attitude of the French philosophes of the eighteenth century, but this harmony is limited. For, Alfieri did not, as he thought Voltaire and the Encyclopaedists did, attack religion as distinct from its dogmatic and organized expression. On the other hand, he was averse to the frigid intellectualism of the French philosophes and satirical in his denunciation of the anti-religious propaganda of his century. Few of his writings are as trenchant and vigorous as his satire, L'antireligioneria.1 Voltaire was characterized as " a disinventor, or inventor of nothing ", 2 Alfieri distinguished somewhat critically between the forms of religion and its spirit, between Catholicism and Christianity, between the depressing effect of a rigid morality and faith and the ethical and educational value of a more intimate and spontaneous religion. He lauded the founders of religious sects, saints and martyrs, as great men, as teachers of virtue and truth, which rulers sought to stifle. Moses revolted against the tyrants of Egypt in order to give religious and civil laws to his people. T o instill in his people, so long oppressed, a sense of liberty, he availed himself happily of an inspired religion. Christ, 1

Opere, vol. iv, pp. 67-72. Opere, vol. i, p. 301. s

" Disinventor,

vol. iv, p. 72.

Written in 1796; see Giornali e annali,

od, inventor del nulla ", in L'antireligioneria,

Opere,

RELIGION

83

considered as a political figure, tried to restore to his people political independence from the Romans through a better religion. Mohammed aimed to give national being to barbarous peoples who did not then possess a simple and pure religion. T h e religious leaders, prophets and saints, were bitter enemies of oppression. They were great men who deserve the admiration and veneration even of the least religious men. 1 " A modern disregard for any religion, itself a fruit (like all criminal things) of the tyrannical s t a t e " , Alfieri added, " is such that our saints are not considered and venerated by us as the great and sublime men that they were ". 2 This he attributed to the semi-philosophy of the eighteenth century, spread by men who were excellent writers but superficial thinkers. While they referred constantly to ancient saints of liberty, they derided the saints of religion. They failed to see the qualities of the great man in a saint and the qualities of the saint in a great man, and thus they could not appreciate the fact that the spirit that animated the Franceschi, the Stefani, and the Ignazi was the same as that which aniMen possessing the abilmated the Scevoli and the Regoli. ity of the French thinkers might have done more good, had they directed their attacks against tyranny and not against religion. Inexcusable cowardice explained this, for these writers had more to fear from rulers than from priests. Religions are submissive to governments. T h e governments are the real enemies. Hence once government is bettered, religion can be modified and improved so as to be adapted to the promotion of liberty and virtue. 3 Here, it seems, Alfieri saw the possibility of the reform of religion through the state. 1

Del principe

e delle lettere,

2 Ibid., p. 86. 3

Ibid., pp. 86-87.

Opere, vol. χ, pp. 84-88.

84

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

Belief in God, in short, has never harmed any people; rather it has aided many peoples. To men of robust character, it takes away nothing; to the weak, it gives comfort and help. But belief in the tyrannical state has always deprived and will continue to deprive people of every virtue and also of happiness, fame, prosperity, and knowledge; it has always deprived and will continue to deprive individuals of true love of glory, sublimity, virtue, and courage.1 It is noteworthy that Alfieri discussed religion in connection. with politics and government. H e realized how valuable religion could be in promoting or retarding the progress of liberty. T h e religion that he invoked, a " sublime enthusiasm and fanaticism " , would teach and inspire in men a sense of liberty. 2 In his observations on Christianity, he noted that where there was a return to its first principles, it was not incompatible with freedom. Judging a religion from the point of view of its political and social value, preoccupied with the question, does it promote liberty ?—it mattered not whether the religion was pagan, Christian, Mohammedan, or oriental. Though he wrote a sonnet eulogizing Catholicism, 3 he was on the whole a strong and consistent anti-Catholic. Thus he was not merely anti-clerical, like most great Italian writers since Dante, but also anti1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 86-87.

2

Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, p. 151. 3

Alto, devoto, mistico ingegnoso; Grato alla vista, all'ascoltar soave; Di puri inni celesti armonioso È il nostro Culto; amabilmente grave. Templi eccelsi, in ammanto dignitoso, Del cuor dell'uomo a posta lor la chiave Volgono; e il fanno ai mali altrui pietoso, Disferocito da un Iddio eh' ei pave. Guai, se per gli occhi e per gli orecchi al core Vaga e tremenda in un d'Iddio non scende L'immago in noi: tosto il ben far si muore.

RELIGION

85

Catholic. He doubted that the Catholic spiritual edifice could long endure independently of the force of a tyrannical secular government,1 and in speaking of the unity of Italy, he sensed the fall of the temporal power of the popes.2 Alfieri contributed greatly to the spirit of anti-clericalism, which was one of the chief elements in the movement for Italian unification. Anti-clerical sentiment formed, in the minds of most Italians, a necessary part of their nationalism. If Italy was to be united on a national basis, they thought, the temporal power of the church had to be curtailed. Carducci, the great Italian poet, wrote that in Alfieri we find the origin of the idealism which characterized the Italian Risorgimento and which from Alfieri to Mazzini distinguished it from the French Revolution.3 While Alfieri did not have the religious temperament of Mazzini, he had a strong sentiment for freedom; he exalted civic virtue and patriotism, and doubtless gave much to those who later developed the idea of a religion of the fatherland. Dell'uom gli arcani appien, sol Roma intende: Utile ai più, chi pud chiamarla Errore? Con leggi accorte, alcun suo mal si ammende. Sonnet C C L ( 1 7 9 5 ) , Opere, voi. iii, p. 161. This sonnet shows the aesthetic attractiveness of the Catholic Church, and its tone helps in understanding the transition from the cold rationalism of the eighteenth century to the Catholic symbolism so conspicuous in the development of romanticism. The political aspect of this sonnet may also be significant. Alfieri, alarmed by the progress of the French Revolution, may possibly have begun to realize how Catholicism could exercise a great moderating influence on the masses of men. 1

See supra, p. 79.

2

Del principe

5

Carducci, G., Letture

e delle lettere,

Opere, vol. χ, p. 109.

del risorgimento

italiano

(Bologna, 1920?), p. 35.

CHAPTER

IV

CLASSICISM

WHETHER one studies Alfieri primarily as a dramatist or as a political thinker, one cannot fail to note the great influence that the ancient classical writers exerted on him and the part he played in spreading the cult of classicism. To those interested in problems of nationalism, this has a peculiar significance because, for many writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the study of the ancients was closely bound up with the idealization of patriotism as a virtue. A m o n g the first writers that impressed and delighted A l fieri was Plutarch, who would cause him to weep, rave and fall into transports of fury. H e was aroused by reading of the great actions of the ancients and shed tears of mingled rage and grief at having been born in Piedmont at a period and under a government where it was impossible to execute a great design! Plutarch fired him with love of glory and of virtue. 1 Alfieri read and re-read Tacitus with the greatest pleasure 2 and believed that a careful reading of him alone would suffice to educate the mind to noble thoughts. 3 H e admired the brevity of Sallust and the loftiness and majesty of the orations in Livy. 4 A t the age of forty-six, he began to learn Greek with unusual pertinacity. So en1

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 69, 37.

2 Ibid., p. 166. 3

Del principe e delie lettere, Opere, voi. x, p. 96.

1

Vita, Opere, voi. i, p. 150. 86

CLASSICISM

87

amored was he of the ancients that he left translations and versions of Euripides, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Terence, Virgil, and Sallust. 1 Alfieri's tragedies follow strictly the three classic unities, and the subjects of many of them were taken from classical authors. His tragedy, Antigone, was suggested by the reading of a translation of Statius.2 He was deeply impressed with the character of Virginia and the speeches of Icilius in Livy, from which he conceived his Virginia.3 The idea of his Agamemnon and Orestes came to him after reading Seneca.4 Timoleon was prompted by Plutarch, and Octavia was the real offspring of Tacitus. 5 In Ovid's Metamorphoses, he read of the incestuous passion which forms the basis of his Mirra.6 Five of what he called his six tragedies of liberty, Virginia, Conspiracy of the Passi, Timoleon, Agis, the First Brutus, and the Second Brutus, have classical settings.7 He was full of the tradition that clothed the ancients with virtue, nobility and wisdom. He was an ardent admirer of ancient Rome, the Rome of the republic and of liberty. In his work, the Panegyric to Trajan/ assuming himself to be Pliny the Younger writing to Trajan, he urged Trajan to abandon the spirit and the forms of the empire, to cease to be emperor, to become a citizen of Rome and to restore the reign of those virtues that had made the Roman Republic so 1

See Opere, vols, vii [pp. 305-431], ix, xi.

2

Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 145.

* Ibid., p. 150. 1

Ibid., pp. 14s, 154.

6

Ibid., p. 166.

6

Ibid., p. 195.

' See Parere del autore (Alfieri) su le presenti tragedie, Opere, voi. vii, pp. 252, 257, 265, 271. 8

Opere, vol. χ, pp. 217-246.

88

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

great. Then there would return to an oppressed people love of the fatherland, true courage, ambition to do great things and to attain real fame. 1 The Roman people was for Alfieri the foremost that the world had ever seen.2 T h e pagan religion he regarded as favorable to liberty and love of country. Such captains as Hannibal, Fabius and Scipio were great because of their fidelity to their country. 3 T h e ancients offered the best examples of physical and moral courage, of nobility of character and of free living. In the Greek and Roman republics, philosophy and history had flourished. Alfieri idealized the ancient world, and with it he associated all the great virtues that he glorified. George Washington, whom he lauded in his Odes to Free Americais portrayed as though he were a reincarnation of the Brutus of old. T h e Third Book of his essay On Government and Literature was dedicated to the shades of the ancient free writers whom he loved and worshipped. Addressing himself to them, he wrote : " Although it has been my fate to be born in this modern age, yet as far as I have been able, I have always lived with heart and mind in your age and among you ". 5 H e pointed to them as models for the illustration of his favorite thesis that patronage is not necessary to the promotion of great literature. Shortly before his death, to 1

Opere, vol. x, pp. 217-246; see especially p. 241.

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 42, 50-51 ; Parere del autore su le presenti tragedie, Opere, voi. vii, pp. 234, 267; see also Della tirannide, Opere, voi. x, p. 186. 2

8

See Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, voi. x, p. 62.

L'America libera. Odi, Opere, vol. iii, pp. 36-53 ; in his dedication of Bruto primo to George Washington, Opere, voi. vi, p. 301, Alfieri says : " t h e name of the liberator of America alone can be placed on the title page of the tragedy of the liberator of Rome ". 4

5

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. x, pp. 68-69.

89

CLASSICISM

celebrate his lately acquired Greek scholarship, he created an Homeric Order and made himself its first member. Its emblem, invented by him, was a collar on which were ingraved the names of twenty-three poets, modern as well as ancient. To the collar was appended a cameo of Homer. Probably Alfieri was creating a true Order In making himself a Knight of Homer. 1 The mainspring of the revival of intense interest in classicism is to be. found in the Renaissance and the Humanistic movement. The ancient literatures became a heritage of modern intellectual Europe. Italy, the seat of ancient civilization, had been the home of this revival, and love of the classics continued unabated. Knowledge of the classics formed the basis of education. The ancients exemplified love of glory and patriotic virtue. Who had not learned to repeat Civis romanus sum and Dulce et decorum est pro patria morì? 2 The patria of the ancients, to be sure, was not the modern patria. It consisted in a sense of devotion and loyalty to a city, not to a nation. With the development of modern national states, this sentiment was enlarged in its application. The aureola of ancient patriotic virtue enveloped the wider and modern conception of nationalism. Many French writters of the eighteenth century eulogized ancient writers and virtues as worthy of emulation. The revolutionary movement availed itself of the examples of the ancients. During the French Revolution classical heroes were invoked; classical names were the style. The word patria was given a modern content. 1

2

Forse inventava Alfieri un Orditi vero Nel farsi ei stesso Cavalier d'Omero. In Vita, Opere, voi. i, p. 264. See De Sanctis, Francesco, Saggi Critici

(Milan, 1924), vol. i, p. 306.

go

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

In Italy, the stress on the patriotic virtues of the ancients was to have extraordinary importance in the development of nationalism. Italians were familiar with ancient history, especially that of Rome, through their education, through their literature filled with classical allusions and through the enduring influence of Roman law and institutions. Roads, monuments and buildings constantly reminded them of a great civilization of the past. Their language was more closely connected with Latin than any other modern European tongue. During the Risorgimento the idea that the Italians were the descendants of the Romans was popularized by literary men, historians, and political writers. There was constructed an ideal continuity in the history of the peninsula from the days of ancient Rome—the first Italy—to the present unified national state—the " third Italy ". The glories and achievements of Rome were regarded as parts of the Italian national heritage. All of these factors are still prominent in Italian nationalist ideology. Alfieri, in his Exhortation to liberate the Italians from the Barbarians, mentioned the world dominion of Rome as though it were a part of the history of Italy. 1 H e exalted, especially in his tragedies, the sentiments of patriotism and glory as exemplified by the ancients. Before him Italian dramatists had written much on classical subjects—with little emphasis, however, on patriotism. Metastasio, for example, touched on the patriotic theme, but his references to it lacked fervor and sincerity. Alfieri, on the other hand, gave to his tragedies a moral and ethical content and sentiment so strong and ennobling that he may be regarded as one of the beginners of the neo-classical patriotic literature which was to be such a great force in the preparation of the new Italy. Indeed it may be said that the first " m o m e n t " of Italian nationalism in literature was classical. Alfieri in1

Del principe e delle' lettere,

Opere, vol. χ , p. ιο8.

CLASSICISM

vested classical forms with the vigor and ardor of his personality. A s De Sanctis, the author of a famous history of Italian literature and the precursor of Croce, has said, the classicism of Alfieri is not merely literary and rhetorical. It is more alive, more modern, more closely allied with the social conditions, the fears, the hopes of his time. Liberty, patriotism, d i g n i t y — " Alfieri probably gave the purest and most faithful expression to these sentiments." 1 There was much that was vague and abstract in these sentiments of the eighteenth century. T h e concept of the patria was susceptible of different meanings. T h e intellectual movement was permeated with cosmopolitan and humanitarian doctrines. Men were viewing themselves as citizens of the world. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was itself universal in its aim and tone. T h e trinity of 1 7 8 9 — Liberty, Equality, Fraternity—universal in its character, assumed a national significance and connotation in France and the countries she invaded, such as Italy and Germany. Under the impulse of important events of the Revolution, the patria meant emphasis on the nationalist element. New interests, economic and political, a realization of the historical traditions that differentiated or appeared to differentiate one people from another, promoted the orientation of men's minds toward nationalism. It should be noted that the classical form of Alfieri's writings does not lead us to dispense with him as a mere classicist in antithesis to a romantic. T o o much emphasis must not be given to the influence of the romantic movement in the development of modern Italian nationalism. It is necessary in respect of Italy to discard the criterion of isolating men in such categories as romanticism and classicism. Whether a writer be a " romantic " or a " classicist " requires an analysis of the substance of his works and not 1

De Sanctis, op. cit., vol. i, pp. 306-307.

VITTORIO

92

ALFIERI

merely of their form; and it depends largely on whether one considers the writer's moral character and temperament, or his literary and aesthetic qualities, or his philosophical attitude. One should be careful not to classify a literary figure as exclusively one or the other. A writer may be a " romantic " in one respect and a " classicist " in another respect.1 To appreciate the personality of Alfieri, he should be regarded as a proto-romantic, as Croce has described him, rad iating a spirit similar to that of the Sturm Und Drang movement in Germany,2 and, it may be added, to that of the romantic movement in England. His subjective spirit, his strong feelings, now melancholy, now violent, are transfused in his writings. The word " I " is always before us. He is the hero of his tragedies. The Autobiography reveals his passionate and ardent nature and his exasperated individualism. In his observations on politics, religion and literature, the problem of liberty is considered an inward, intimate problem of conscience. Alfieri is not a man who merely thinks and reasons. He is preeminently a man of strong will and feeling. " Judgment and sentiment are one," he said.3 The " natural impulse " he spoke of at length in his On Government and Literature is the enthusiasm of the later romantics.4 Poetry must express sentiment and passion, for " it is the best medium for the expression of strong feelings ",5 1

See Croce, " L e definizioni del romanticismo ", in Problemi 2d ed. rev. (Bari, 1923), pp. 289-295.

di

estetica,

s Croce, " Alfieri ", in European Literature of the Nineteenth Century, tr. by D. Ainslie ( N e w Y o r k , 1924), pp. 1-17, especially pp. 1-4. 3 II Misogallo, Opere, vol. iv, p. 127. Alfieri idealized "il forte sentire" ; see, f o r example, Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 17, 36, 46, 47· 4

See supra, pp. 66-67.

' " Del forte

sentire

più forte figlia " in sonnet beginning " Bella,

oltre

CLASSICISM

93

The eighteenth century for him was " void of poetic sense and over-rationalistic "- 1 Alfieri cherished the heroic ideal. Heroism was for him an exalted virtue. He calls to mind the superman ideal of Nietzsche rather than the ideal of the reasonable moderate man of the eighteenth century philosophes. On the other hand, Alfieri lacked many typical " romantic " characteristics : the spirit of religious restlessness and concern over problems of the infinite and of the hereafter, the appreciation of history, and interest in the humble folk and the intimate details of life. l'arti tutte, arte è ben questa ", Opere, vol. iii, p. 158. See also sonnet beginning " F o l e 0 menzogne, ai leggitor volgari", ibid., p. 76, in which he says : Le mie parole nascon di dolore Che veramente l'anima mi parte E tratte son dal profondo del core. 1 " Il nostro secolo, niente poetico e tanto ragionatore ", in his Parere on the tragedy Saul, Opere, voi. vii, p. 225. Note also a letter to Teresa Regoli-Mocenni, Opere, voi. ii, p. 251, in which he says : "Il primo pregio dell'uomo è il sentire; e le scienze insegnano a non sentire. Viva dunque l'ignoranza e la poesia, per quanto elle possono stare insieme: imaginiamo, e crediamo Immaginato per vero: l'uomo vive d'amore, l'amore lo fa Dio; che Dio chiamo io l'uomo vivissimamente sentente; e cani chiamo, 0 Francesi, che è lo stesso, i gelati filosofisti, che da null'altro son moss% fuorché dal due e due son quattro."

C H A P T E R

V

P A T R I O T I S M AND N A T I O N A L I S M

W E have dealt with Alfieri's craving for liberty and hatred of oppression, his idealization of ancient republics and virtues, his utilitarian conception of literature and religion and the relation of these elements to the development of patriotic sentiment. W e may now inquire into the contributions made by him to modern Italian patriotism and nationalism. T h e favorite theme of liberty was stressed with respect to his native Italy. In prose and verse he wrote of the servile condition of his country and the necessity for its regeneration. The most famous chapter in his work On Government and Literature is entitled Exhortation to liberate Italy from the Barbarians and was written in 1784. 1 H e discussed not only liberty in general and cultural unity but political unity as well. H e recalled the world dominion of Rome, the intellectual and artistic supremacy of Italy and the great power of the Catholic Church. T h e civilizing influence of Italy at various times in the past—when she reigned supreme over all others—proved, according to him, that among its inhabitants there had been a greater number of fiery souls, who, impelled by natural impulse, had sought glory in the highest forms of endeavor. Alfieri felt that even in his day, Italy, though at the nadir of cowardice and nullity, ' abounded more than any other part of Europe in fiery and ambitious men, to whom nothing was lacking but opportunity and means. 1

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ , pp. 108-110.

2

See also Prefazione 94

dell'autore

( A l f i e r i ) all'Abele,

Opere, vol. vii, p. 49.

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

95

Italy has therefore been under all aspects what other parts of the globe have never been. This proves that her men, considered as plants, were born of more robust fibre.1 And plants always grow unchanged in the same ground, even though for some time a malicious husbandman stunt them by force. Besides, it seems to me that Italy may, more than any other region of Europe, reap advantage from her present political condition. Divided into many and very weak principalities, one of which in the central and best part of Italy is about to fall [he must mean the temporal power of the popes], it will certainly not be long before it will at least be united under two rulers [probably the king of Sardinia and the king of Naples are in Alfieri's mind] and later either through marriage or conquest under one. Italy in the past had had many republics, and this would teach the Italians that they could go on without a king. Despite signs of lethargy, the great intellect and exceptional qualities of the Italians led him to hope that they might be the first to give a new aspect to literature, and the first to receive f r o m this the benefit of a durable political society. 2 One people culturally and politically was Alfieri's aspiration. W i t h Machiavelli, he hoped for the extinction of the temporal power of the popes. 3 And by indicating Italy as the seat of the new literature of liberty and by exalting the capacities of the Italians, he anticipated the theme of the primacy of the Italian people that f o u n d its best expression later in Gioberti. T h e durable political society which he expected should be such, we take it, as would be governed by laws; and at this point it is well to bear in 1

See also his Parere on the tragedy Ägide, ibid., p. 258, in which he says that the " plant-man " is stronger in Italy than elsewhere. 2 3

Del principe

e delle lettere,

Opere, vol. χ, pp. 108-110, especially, p. 109.

See Machiavelli, Ν., Discorsi sopra la prima Deca di Tito Livio, I, chap, xii ; Il prìncipe, chap, xi ; Delle istorie fiorentine, in his (Italia, 1 8 1 3 ) , voi. i, p. 18.

Book Opere

96

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

mind the relationship between a government of laws and Alfieri's conception of patriotism. There can be no patria, Alfieri affirmed, where there is no liberty and security. T h e militia, infamous when used as a prop to tyranny, is perfectly proper when used in defense of the patria. Under tyrannies, where the name of everything is confused, the patria is supposed to be the land where one is born, but in truth the patria is only that land where m a n exercises freely and under the security of the laws those most precious rights which nature has given him. 1 This helps to explain what Alfieri wrote to the President of the French Plebe, as he termed the French Republic, demanding the books and other property confiscated by the revolutionists : " M y name is Vittorio Alfieri : the place where I was born, Italy ; no land is my patria ". 2 I n view of this interpretation, the lines to the effect that he did not regard Asti and Piedmont as belonging to his fatherland but merely as places of birth are clear : Born and reared in the heart of wicked servitude, Yet I dared say: Serving would degrade my soul; That place where the power of One suffices against all others Is not my patria, even though it is my place of birth. 3 In another sonnet, he said : No, the soil of your birth is never your patria, Unless you are nursed there with milk of liberty, In which Virtue has such power That nothing else is comparable to it.4 1

Della tirannide, delle lettere, Opere, pp. 232, 244. 2

II Misogallo,

Opere, vol. χ, pp. 144, 155 ; see also Del principe e vol. χ, p. 62 ; Panegirico... a Traiano, Opere, vol. χ,

Opere,

voi. iv, p. 140 ; the letter containing these words

was never sent. 3

F o r the original text see Appendix, p. 152.

4

Ibid.,

p. 152.

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

97

Thus Alfieri could not consider Piedmont—under a tyranny of one—as his fatherland. N o r could Italy, itself one of the enslaved regions of Europe, 1 be regarded by him as his patria, unless liberty were first established there. While admiring and exalting great Italians of the p a s t — " O great father Alighieri ", 2 " the great Petrarch ", 3 " the sovereign thinker, Machiavelli ", 4 " divine Michelangelo " 5 — A l f i e r i thought not only of Italy's past but also of its contemporary deficiencies and its future regeneration. He scorned the despicable servility and meanness of his century. Italy was in chains ; 6 it was servile, decadent and asleep and it was impossible to live there as one could in ancient Rome, Athens or Sparta. 7 T h e pretended superior manner and learning of foreigners visiting Italy exasperated him. 8 One of the tasks he took upon himself was to censure the defects of Italians unsparingly. 9 Four hundred years have elapsed Since the second Tuscan in golden song Grieved that Italy had aged And was dead to all lofty deeds. 1

See Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, ρ. ιο8.

2

In sonnet L X I I , Opere, vol. iii, p. 55.

3 In sonnet L X V I I , ibid., p. 57 ; " divine Petrarch ", in Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, p. 73. 4

In sonnet X L I I I , Opere, vol. iii, p. 24.

5

In sonnet L I X , ibid., p. 53.

β

See part two of the first ode of the poem L'America libera, ibid., p. 37.

' See La virtù sconosciuta, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 209, 200, 210 ; Del principe e delle lettere, ibid., p. 55; Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 200; sonnet at the end of Della tirannide, Opere, vol. χ, p. 195, and sonnet C X I X , Opere, vol. iii, p. 83. 8

See sonnet X L I I , Opere, vol. iii, p. 23.

9

See sonnet C C X X V , ibid., p. 149.

98

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

What would he say were he to return, If he saw on his immortal laurels The harsh frost of ignorance Which revels in itself? And if he knew that he no longer is understood And less than elsewhere in his beflowered birthplace Which is now covered with thorns and filth ? And if he sensed our century to be faithless ? And if he felt the crushing weight of our rulers ? And if he saw those who are reputed to be famous ? 1 He exposed the vices of the Italians, their regional traits and their dissimilarities : To the Florentines the glory of fair speech; To the Romans the glory of evil doing. The Neapolitans masters in boisterousness, The Genoese masters in greediness, The Turinese enjoy uncovering the vices of others, The Venetians love to let things go, The good Milanese revel in feasting, The Lucchese take pleasure in boring their guests : Such are the outstanding people of Italy, All dismembered and of diverse natures, Agreeing only in doing nothing. Immersed in idleness and tedious pleasures Italy lies neglected and does not feel its baseness, Wholly submerged in slumber.2 Alfieri dedicated his tragedy the Second Brutus to the " future Italian people . . . to the generous and free Italians ". 3 No man before him had so directly and courageously addressed himself to the Italian people. " He is the first writer that names the Italian people ", Carducci wrote 1

For the original text see Appendix, p. 152.

2

Ibid., p. ι S3.

3

Opere, vol. vi, p. 387.

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

99

with enthusiasm. " It is the first time that the Italian people is named. Hail, O great father ", 1 Before the French Revolution, Alfieri had published his tragedies. He had written his prose works On Tyranny and On Government and Literature. Few of his tragedies relate to Italian subjects and in none of them is the Italian patriotic or nationalist motif prominent.2 Civil rather than national liberty is emphasized in the tragedies. But civil and national liberty are not mere abstractions, nor do they remain dissociated; for the dedication of the Second Brutus in January 1789 and the Exhortation to liberate Italy from the Barbarians in 1784 show that he recognized their interrelation and that he was animated by a deep feeling of Italian patriotism. It was during the progress of the French Revolution that he manifested a particularly acute sense of nationalism, extraordinary for an Italian writer of the eighteenth century. His reaction is another example of the enormous influence of the Revolution in arousing national sentiment. The most significant document that brings this out is II Misogallo ("Hater of the Gauls," or "The French-hater")— the title itself is revealing—a view of the French Revolution in the form of prose, epigrams, and sonnets.3 This work, prompted by a desire to express his antipathy to the Revolution, was written in parts at various times and was published after Alfieri's death. The date 1799 found in certain editions of II Misogallo is false.4 During the lifetime of the author only some of its sonnets and epigrams were published, 1

Carducci, Letture del risorgimento italiano, p. 41.

There is reference to the " tanti tiranni ond'è la serva Italia infetta ", in La congiura de'Pazzi, Opere, voi. vi, p. 103 (act 2, sc. 2). 2

* Opere, vol. iv, pp. 111-210. See the preface by Renier, R., of his edition of II Misogallo, le satire e gli epigrammi editi e inediti di Vittorio Alfieri (Florence, 1884), p. xxi. 4

100

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

and these, though with the consent of Alfieri, anonymously, in 1799 under the title Contravveleno poetico p,er la pestilenza corrente.1 T h e idea of writing a book with the title II Misogallo probably came to him in 1793 at Florence after his flight from Paris. 2 It was substantially completed by the middle of 1798, 8 and it includes sonnets and epigrams written in 1790, 1791 and 1792. This furious and mordant attack on the French people and institutions by a single individual was dedicated to " T h e Past, Present and Future Italy . . . the August Matron, for so long the principal seat of all human wisdom and values, and now unarmed, divided, dejected, unfree . . . to Italy, which some day will undoubtedly rise again, virtuous, magnanimous, free and one ", 4 Alfieri insisted on the unity of Italy which nature had so well separated by definite boundaries from the rest of Europe. 5 H e asserted that the sole basis of Italy's political existence — i n any form whatsoever—is to be hatred of the French.® Hatred, then, seems to be the basic element of national unity, according to Alfieri. H e wrote : The hatreds of one nation against another, having always been—for it cannot be otherwise—the necessary fruit of injuries reciprocally received or feared, cannot therefore be either unjust or base. On the contrary they are a very precious part of the paternal heritage ; only such hatreds have wrought those 1 For full title of a copy I saw at the Biblioteca Nasionale of Florence, see bibliography of this volume; see Alfieri's Giornali e annali, Opere, vol. i, pp. 303-304; letter of February 4, 1800 to Abbé Caluso, Opere, vol. ii, p. 296; Renier, op. cit., pp. xxii-xxiv. 2

See Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 231 ; Renier, op. cit., pp. xi-xii.

* Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 244 ; Renier, op. cit., p. xiv. 4

II Misogallo, Opere, vol. iv, p. 123.

* Ibid., p. 124, and note 1 on same page. * Ibid., p. 124.

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

ιοί

true political miracles that are afterwards so admired in history. 1 N o r did Alfieri leave us to guess at his meaning of " nation When I say nation, I mean a multitude of men by reason of climate, territory, customs and language not diverse; but never two small boroughs or cities of the same province, which, foolishly hating one another, because one is a dependency of Genoa, for example, and the other is a dependency of Piedmont, make their common elephantine oppressors laugh and triumph because of their small, useless and impolitic efforts. 2 According to Alfieri, although it is usual to pay a certain tribute of esteem to armies whose victories awaken fear, Italy is every day made more and more free of this obligation by the French themselves, who, despite the terror of their arms, have succeeded in inspiring the utmost contempt for themselves even in the most timid and the least discerning persons. A monstrous and incredible combination, fear and contempt ! Still, he continued, it is true, and all living Italians recognize it. H e himself would teach the Italians to abhor the French; to despise the French, the Italians would learn from the French themselves. From the happy mixture (the adjective is the poet's) of these two sentiments, hatred and contempt, Italy ought to begin to reveal more clearly her national characteristics. From his time on, Alfieri added, the word Misogallo would be synonymous with Libero Italiano (a Free Italian). 3 If Italy was to be one in hating with implacable hatred those ultramontanes who had caused and still were causing 1

II Misogallo,

!

Ibid., p. 123, n. I.

Opere, vol. iv, p. 123.

5

Ibid., p. 125.

VITTORIO

I02

ALFIERI

the most frequent and bloody harm to Italy, if her most sacred duty was to hate her natural and perennial enemies,1 it is clear that Alfieri was imbued with a strong sense of nationalism. Here Alfieri symbolizes a stage in the development of Italian nationalism. The oppression of the foreigner, at this time the French, called for their expulsion, the sine qua non of national independence. Love for Italy revealed itself in great part in hatred of the foreigner. There could not be hatred alone, however. There was need of a new orientation towards national ideals, of interior change, of a return to Italian traditions. The Italians could not afford to imitate; they had to create a new life through their own forces. Writing at a time when Italy was suffering the anguish of invasion, when the beneficent results of the Revolution were still obscure, the impulsive and contemptuous reaction of Alfieri is very significant. No man, with the possible exception of Cato and Demosthenes, has given expression to such hatred and abuse of a whole people as Alfieri. He shared the view that the French nation was superior to no other in anything but " the art of hairdressing, dancing, cooking and effeminacy " ; in war, inferior to the Germans, Swiss and Spaniards, whenever their armed forces were equal ; on the seas and in commerce, inferior to the English and the Dutch ; in science, poetry and the fine arts, inferior to the Italians ; in short, greater than any other people in nothing except numbers ; true creators of nothing except the difficult art of doing very insignificant things with very ample means. Much affectation, little sincerity ! 2 This people had been spreading corruption throughout other nations and was now disseminating anarchy, indulging in cruelties, bringing about servitude, " the depend1

II Misogallo,

2

Opere, vol. iv, p. 124.

Ibid., pp. 128-129.

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

enee, that is, of the possidenti and of the good on the nulla tenenti and the criminal." 1 While it is questionable whether Alfieri's gallophobia dated from early childhood, as he made it appear in his Autobiography, there is no doubt that he disliked the French. 2 In II Misogallo, this dislike became hatred. For the guidance of readers of Thp Anti-Gaul, he wrote : In a thousand ways, only two tenets Does this garrulous medley contain: That liberty is virtue ; And that the freedom of the French is a fib. He who already knew this Let him not waste his eyes hereon. Let him who has no faith, touch with his hand.3 This epigram has become proverbial : They do everything and know nothing; They know everything and do nothing: Turn or twist, they are Frenchmen; The more you weigh them, The less they give you.4 The French are the worst of peoples : All men into three varieties are divided, Good, bad and indifferent. But whoever has seen the French Is convinced that they all belong to one. Of the good, few there are and they are good for nothing; Of the bad, many there are but bad of no account ; Indifferent, they are all, eternal babes ; All eunuchs more or less.5 1

II Misogallo,

Opere, vol. iv, p. 130.

« See Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 34-35; Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ, pp. 24, 109; Della tirannide, ibid., p. 121, η. ι ; sonnets CLXXXIV, Opere, vol. iii, p. 120, and CXC (1787), ibid., p. 123. 3

For the original text see Appendix, p. 153.

4

Ibid., p. 153.

5

Ibid., p. 154.

VITTORIO

104

ALFIERI

Then: Puppets have the French always been : Puppets of yore when they were fragrant with powder ; Puppets they are now, when they stink with blood.1 If one were to believe the French, Athens, Sparta and Rome would seem nothing at all : Liberty, which they do not possess, has still Been spread by them all over Europe. Every little Frenchman is an Achilles ; And Athens, Rome and Sparta are of course nothing at all.2 And this ridicule on the mental and physical characteristics of the French: The French have false ears and a demi-nose, An empty head, defective sight, and soft hands. What is there in such a Pandora's box That from it should come a people so vain? Two things they have and both Constitute their whole being—their tongue and their legs.8 Furthermore : The head and brains, whether they be one or two things, Certainly are nothing among the French. Of their brains, they make no use, Of their heads, the axe makes abuse.4 H e attacked the fashion of imitating the French : 1

For the original text see Appendix, p. 154.

2

Ibid., p. 154. 3 Ibid., p. 154· Alfieri added the following note to this epigram : " Alluding to the first battles of Lille and Valenciennes toward the end of April in which the French though greater in number fled after having been routed by a few Austrians ; a strategy which all the other countries learned from them during the progress of the war." * Ibid., p. 155.

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

Laugh I must, when I hear say That a fool or rogue thinks in the French way. To dress, to chatter, to curl his hair, To dance, to steal and to boast, Such are the things he may have learned from that country fair: But as for thinking and feeling, So much may be learned from those apes A s fire from wells may be drawn. 1 H e called the woman who served as the emblem of the Revolution a donnaccia—a strumpet. 2 H e denounced Thomas Paine as a factious plebeian who wrote several ignorant and seditious books, and was therefore elected a For lawyers he had the utmost condeputy by the French. 3 tempt. Alfieri himself, however, was fearful of the Revolution, and he could not conceal such fear under guise of appearing to laugh at the French. Observe the tone of fear in the following sonnet on Marie Antoinette : A horrid, filthy prison, which is a fitting abode For the most heinous criminal of the Gauls, Opens its harshly creaking iron bolt, And within appears a Lady of noble mien. The noble boldness of innocence Makes her scoff at the impious servile plots ; Queen forever, her throne is a bed of filthy straw, Lying on which she outstrips the bravest of men. I see the pale guards tremble, And the hangmen shudder, as they await The signal from the trembling Herods. Widowed and tortured mother, Your heart overwhelmed with Death, you delight in your dying : O woman, whose least loss is your stolen kingdom.4 1

For the original text see Appendix, p. 155.

1

In sonnet X X I , in II Misogallo, Opere, vol. iv, p. 157.

3

Ibid., p. 166, n. I.

* For the original text see Appendix, p. 155.

ιο6

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

Not only was Alfieri's contempt for the French deepened as a result of the Revolution, but his dislike of foreign languages and his praise for the Italian language were accentuated. 1 H e was unsparing particularly in his criticism of the French language. H e described it as the most uncouth language of a most uncouth people and reproved those Italians who learned and spoke French and likewise those Italians who continued to speak their provincial dialects and remained ignorant of Italian. 2 H e urged his countrymen to take a forward step toward unity by forgetting their jargons and their French : There, in northern Italy, was I born; in that Italy, which, drawn back to barbarism by her Gallic neighbors, strikes aghast with its ú, eú án and ón every ear nurtured on Tuscan sounds. And it grieves me much, and I am reminded of it by my tongue made numb to fair speech and by the impure and obsolete diction, void of all grace and of all bold elegance. Alas, flabby Italy, abode of indolence, to whom limbs in excess and divided deny a body, stay you deaf and dumb, unmoved by beauty? Forget your jargons and your French. Let that be your first step to becoming one. Soon true and lofty arts will follow. 3 Italian, he thought, was more concise and vigorous than any other language. H e would rather compose in a language which might be termed almost dead and for a people almost extinct than write in the harsh and unharmonious French and English, though their cannon had rendered these languages fashionable. H e would rather write verse in Italian, even if it be despised and neglected, than in English, French or any similar jargon, even though assured that he 1 Before the Revolution, see sonnets C X I V , Opere, vol. iii, p. 81, C L X X X I I , ibid., p. 119; also epigram L V I , Opere, vol. iv, p. 18. 1II 3

Miso gallo, Opere, vol. iv, p. 173, n. 1.

For the original text see Appendix, p. 156.

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

107

would be read, admired and applauded by all. There is a great difference, Alfieri continued, to one's ear between sounding a fine-tuned lyre, even when no one is present to listen, and blowing a detestable bagpipe, however much an ignorant audience may applaud. 1 It is preposterous to think that the languages and literatures that developed after Greek, Latin and Tuscan were worthy of the name : Attica, Latium and then Etruria, In their various flexible tongues, Gave thousands of proofs that they possessed Power, Grace, Majesty and Truth. Later then, under a crude rough cloak, Rose the other European peoples Shrieking in rhymes harsh to the defenceless ear, And fettered in a speech that was boorish and nothing else. They termed such language song; and who so believed it was worthy of them. Nor did that alone suffice, but boldly inept, These dared even to mock Italian genius. I come, filled with laudable wrath, avenger Of such barbarisms of theirs called beautiful, Certain of my conviction from having read them.2 Alfieri maintained that Italian is superior to every other language : If there is any merit, for which one people Ought to have the palm of genius over another, Surely supreme is the merit of that people Whose speech surpasses that of other peoples in wealth of diction and in harmony of sound.

1

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 182, 207.

2

For the original text see Appendix, p. 156.

VITTORIO

ιο8

ALFIERI

Italians, what I say is not obscure to you ; Ours is the palm given to us by Nature And she wills only that her sacred flame be fed by us.1 With all the extravagant abuse heaped on the French by Alfieri, it must not be supposed that his attitude was inspired by petty motives. He himself said that he was moved to write II Misogallo by his love of liberty and his indignation against the abuses of the French Revolution. 2 II Misogallo is more than the expression of a mere personal grudge. Doubtless the loss of his property, his irritability, his pride, his aristocratic temper are important factors; but predominant, it would seem, is his sense of rebellion against the moral and intellectual influence of France and against all forms of tyranny. Alfieri was not, as might be easily imagined, a conservative or reactionary opponent of the French Revolution. The author of the Odes to Free America, of tragedies and prose works ardent with sentiments of liberty and filled with precepts of revolt and violence, continued during the Revolution to speak in the name of liberty and truth.3 On Tyranny and On Government and Literature were printed in 1789. They were not published, however, until 1800, and then against Alfieri's wishes. He was pained and indignant on seeing them published, not because he had disowned his views, but rather because he did not want to appear in any way identified or associated with the revolutionists in France.4 1

For the original text see Appendix, p. 157.

2

See II Misogallo,

Opere, vol. iv, p. 126 and notes on the same page.

See Invocation, ibid., p. 125 ; sonnet X X X , ibid., pp. 174-175 ; also ibid., p. 139; also sonnets C C L I and C C L I I , Opere, vol. iii, p. I6¡2, sonnet C C L X X I , ibid., p. 172, letter of March 20, 1793 to Albergati, Opere, vol. il, p. 217. 3

4 See Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 211, 213, 253-254; Ultime volontà di Vittorio Alfieri, ibid., p. 310; letters to Albergati of December 7, 24, 1793,

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

A view of his attitude towards the events before and during the early part of the Revolution shows that his antagonism to it did not come abruptly. Like many foreign poets and statesmen, Klopstock, Goethe, Burns, Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, F o x and Stanhope, he was at first sympathetic towards the revolutionary movement. It will be recalled that he spent the greater part of his time between 1786 and 1792 in Paris. 1 Though occupied primarily with the publication of a complete edition of his works, he occasionally made observations on political events. In two letters of 1788 to his mother, he noted that everybody talked about the future convocation of the States General ; that the financial and political situation was bad and the whole country was in a state of ferment ; that the king's ministers were incompetent and that in the end things would take a turn for the worse. 2 Alfieri praised the convocation of the States General in a canto to André Chénier written in April 1789. 3 In a letter intended for Louis X V I , dated March 14, 1789, but not sent, he exhorted the king " . . . to seize the occasion that is o f fered to gain the truest and most lasting glory which any man can attain, by anticipating everything that the people may ask of you by destroying you, first of all, the odious despotism that is being practiced in your name ". 4 The storming of the Bastille elated him. His secretary said he Opere, vol. ii, pp. 224-226; letter to Abbé Caluso, undated, though probably written in January, 1802, Opere, vol. ii, pp. 328-330, and the reply of Caluso in Teza's edition of Vita, giornali, lettere di Vittorio Alfieri, pp. 548-552. 1

See supra, pp. 34-35·

2

See letter of February 20, 1788, Opere, vol. ii, p. 149, and letter of July 19, 1788, ibid., pp. 152-153. ' Capitolo ad Andrea Chénier a Londra, Opere, vol. iii, pp. 139-141. 4 Opere, vol. ii, pp. 162-163 ; see also Lumbroso, Α., Deux lettres historiques. V. Alfieri à Louis XVI. O. Feuillet à Napoléon III (Rome, 1898).

VITTORIO

no

ALFIERI

saw him " leaping with joy over the ruins of the Bastille " ; 1 and it is related that together with the Italian poet, Ippolito Pindemonte, he went to the Bastille and gathered some of its stones as a memento of the great event. 2 A few days after this event, Alfieri wrote his Ode on the Destruction of the Bastille, published in 1789: Oh Memorable day Cruel 'tis true but marking an end to all misery. This day, radiant with liberty, Will be the day when the true France is born.3 O f course he failed to perceive that the Revolution had not ended but had merely begun. For several months after the razing of the Bastille, there is nothing to indicate what A l fieri's views were. In a letter of November 7, 1789 to Pindemonte, he used unusually denunciatory language about the course of events in France. H e expressed a hope that he might see his friend at London in March 1790, " g r a n t e d that we are able to escape with our heads on our shoulders from this liberty of inquisitors, hangmen and robbers, etc. etc." 4 A n d later, on November 20, writing to Count Savioli about the future sale of his books in Italy, he referred to his constant preoccupation with the printing of his writings because of the " turbulent events " that had occurred since the spring of 1789, and he added: now that we have escaped or can at least expect civil war, starvation and bankruptcy (which are the three precipices 1 His secretary, Gaetano Polidori, quoted in D'Ancona, Α., storiche e letterarie (Milan, 1883), p. 171.

Varietà

2 Montanari, Β., Della vita e delle opere d'Ippolito Pindemonte (Venice, 1834), cited in Franchetti, Α., Storia d'Italia del 178g al 1799 (Milan, 1881?), pp. 68-69. 3

For the original text see Appendix, p. 157.

* Opere, vol. ii, p. 167.

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m

around which everyone who lives in Paris sees himself circling) a little further off than we thought, I can certainly hope to see the edition of my works completed by next December.1 It is a matter of conjecture as to what influenced the poet to make such strong statements against the Revolution. Probably the weightiest consideration was that Alfieri, who was far more interested in his literary production than in contemporary political problems, feared that the troubles in France might delay or prevent the printing of his works. There is ample evidence in his letters to show that, during the years 1788-1789, he was chiefly concerned with revising his writings for the press. 2 Furthermore, the agrarian agitation of July, the momentous and far-reaching events of August, the tumult accompanying the march of the Parisians to Versailles in October, and the emigration of aristocrats may have given Alfieri the impression of disruption bordering on anarchy. In any case, within a few months after July 14, he had lost his enthusiasm for the Revolution, although considerable time passed before he took a definite position against it. B y December, that " most disagreeable task " of printing his works, which had been absorbing all his attention, was completed, and perhaps the situation in France seemed to him more stable, for on the 22nd of that month, he wrote to his mother : Do not worry about my being here in France; the danger, if there has been any, is now passed and no credence need be given to the exaggerated reports of those Frenchmen who have fled to Italy. I am far from believing that all that has been done up to now is good ; perhaps, out of the transitory troubles that have occurred there, lasting good may come.3 1

Opere, vol. ii, p. 169.

See ibid., pp. 149, 152, 153, 154-155, 158, 159-160, 164; see also Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 212. 2

Dated December 22, 1789, ibid., p. 171.

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H e gradually realized that the agitation in France was not merely transient, and on February 10, 1790, he said, Some good is being done amid so much that is bad, and it is hoped that much good will result in the future. Human things are such that there is always more evil than good; but in this country the wrongs and abuses of the past government had reached such a point that, from necessity, what we have seen, and even worse, had to happen.1 T h e first definite expression of Alfieri against the Revolution is in a letter to his mother, dated August 22, 1790, in which he tells her of preparing a trip to England : . . . . I shall be happy to leave this country . . . . and I am convinced that they [the French] will not have lawful and true liberty, a rare gift which God bestows rarely, and on few peoples, and never to many peoples at the same time, and which, in truth, few men merit.2 Between April and October 1791 he visited England, Holland and Flanders with the Countess of Albany. This trip apparently was not very pleasant and a few months after his return to Paris, he wrote a letter on January 4, 1792 that combines contempt for the French and other foreign peoples with praise for the Italians : All these countries are great in the eyes of ordinary people but they are of small importance and displeasing to a good observer and most displeasing to a man of feeling. The reason is that there is nothing else here that is great but the number of people; they are a great mass, but of small f r y ; these are countries which could hold men, but they haven't 1

Letter to his mother, ibid., p. 172.

Ibid., 183. He had contemplated a trip to England since 1789 but it was delayed until 1791 ; see letter of November 7, 1789 to Pindemonte, ibid., p. 167 and letter of November 20, 1789 to Count Savioli, ibid., p. 170 ; also letter of the year 1790, ibid., pp. 177, 182, 183. 2

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any : the contrary is true in Italy, even with its minute divisions, where there are men everywhere, without a country, however, to hold them. . . . It takes a keen observer to discern truly that these are nations in appearance, whereas the Italian nation is one which has been and which can be once more. . . . I do not stay in any of these northern regions willingly. . . . I always sigh for Italy. 1 This passage is a striking illustration of how some begin to appreciate consciously their own country after staying in foreign countries. T h e first clear perception of Italy came to Alfieri in just this way. A s he himself observed, he had to go away from Italy for a long time in order to appreciate and love the Italians. 2 T h e presence of English, French, German, Polish, Russian and other foreign students at the Academy which he attended as a boy had strengthened his impulse to travel. 3 Italy then seemed insignificant to him, and he was ashamed to be in any way associated with it. But, after seeing other countries and comparing them with his own, he discovered that after all he was an Italian. In the course of years, this reaction ripened into a strong sense of nationalism. H e " degallicized " himself, studied and wrote Italian, and with characteristic Olympian pride developed such a feeling of attachment to Italy's past greatness and various periods of splendor that he aspired to be considered one of the great Italian poets together with Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto and Tasso, 4 and the seer of the future regeneration of his country. 5 N o w , if Paris was so insufferable to him, why did he remain? Force of circumstances was Alfieri's explanation, 1 2

Letter to Teresa Regoli-Mocenni, ibid., p. 193. See supra, pp. 23-24.

® See Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 44-45. 4

See supra, p. 75.

5

See infra, p. 124.

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and the chief circumstance was that he and the Countess had two thirds of their income in France. 1 Both took a house for three years 2 in the hope that the " turbid events " would come to an end. Instead, the situation became worse. A l fieri had already begun to write sonnets and epigrams condemning and ridiculing the revolutionists. O n June 16, 1792, he asserted in forceful and unequivocal language his opposition to the Revolution: I have not absolutely given up the idea of returning to Italy, and it is not out of choice that I remain here, where I am losing my time and patience every day in seeing tyranny being borne by a stupid people under the name of liberty. A s soon as circumstances permit, I shall return to Italy without fail. . . . I hope that if ever the day comes when the Italians will wake up and rise, they will comport themselves as men, as they have done at other times, and not as mean little children or rather baboons, like those among whom I find myself and with whom I can never get along. . . . N o w he felt " a just and unrestrained bile " against the Revolution. W h a t made him write such biting sonnets ? It is not I who create them ; in this case Juvenal's saying Facit indignatio versum is true. The reasons for my bile are to be found in facts that are known to all; although certainly they appear less offensive to those who hear of them from afar. Suffice it to say that I, who have extolled liberty ever since I was born, find myself opposed not to the principles, no, never, but to the execution of the principles by a monstrous government that combines the bad elements of all governments. Thus either there is no liberty at all here or else I have become a perfect blockhead.3 1 See Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 222; also letter of October 29, 1791 to his mother, Opere, vol. ii, p. 189, and letter of January 4, 1792 to RegoliMocenni, ibid., p. 193.

2 See letter of January 4, 1792 to Regoli-Mocenni, Opere, vol. ii, p. 193. 8

Letter probably sent to Marquis Francesco Albergati, ibid., p. 198.

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O n August 14, 1792, Alfieri wrote his last letter from France, in which he described the famous events of August i o . 1 Four days later, he and the Countess of Albany fled from France, and thenceforth he was an uncompromising and bitter enemy of the French people and Revolution. He was convinced that the holy and sublime cause of liberty had been betrayed and discredited by the revolutionists. 2 In II Misogallo, he recognized that the principles of the Revolution—certainly not invented by the French, he noted—were true and sacrosanct but the means adopted, he said, without even following the principles in appearance, turned out to be iniquitous. 3 A t first he believed that it might have been better for all that the king's power should be based on a more legitimate authority rather than on unlimited authority; he placed trust in the universal will of the people manifested through instructions to its representatives. But he had to acknowledge that he was deceived and had dishonored his pen, because the French, by their violence to every divine and human law, to justice and rights of property, proved themselves slaves, not free men. 4 T h e French Revolution was not worthy of being called a revolution, a word to be applied, according to Alfieri, only in cases where there had been a passage from slavery to liberty, as with the Dutch, the Swiss, and the Americans, and not where there had been a passage from one state of servitude to another. T h e word, he said, was being used boldly by " the most presumptuous and the most obtuse of all peoples from the creation of the world to our day, without excepting even the Hebrews." 5 1 Letter to Abbé Caluso, ibid., pp. 199-201 ; for parts of this letter omitted in editions of Alfieri's letters, see Patetta, Lettera di Vittorio Alfieri a Pietro Zaguri, pp. 160-161.

* See Vita, Opere, voi. i, p. 212. 8

II Misogallo, Opere, voi. iv, p. 140.

* Ibid., pp. 136-137. 6

Ibid., p. 190, η. ι.

II 6

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T h e Revolution had substituted the tyranny of many for the tyranny of one. T h e rule of plebeians was as repulsive to Alfieri as the rule of a single tyrant. 1 B y both he saw his ideal of liberty trampled upon. Hatred, he insisted, is a different form of love. H e who loves virtue cannot but hate that which is criminal and unjust. 2 " I hate the French as much as I love liberty ", he wrote. 3 L o v e of liberty and love of the French are irreconcilable. One cannot love liberty without abhorring the French. 4 Alfieri contended that the populace had arisen, not the real people.5 Violence, anarchy and license, but not liberty, had been established.® H e asked himself, how could he, an implacable and bitter enemy of tyranny, praise the worst tyranny that the world had ever seen ? 7 From the time I drew my first breath of life, From the time I first gave vent to my feelings and thoughts, By penning words with language modest yet bold, I put my every art to the praise of liberty. Now I hear France, rotting in slavery, Desiring damage to others, without benefiting herself, And made the seat for freedmen, inviting Whole peoples to destroy themselves ; And using the revered name of Liberty, A name which she does not know And which she soils with her foul lips and her fouler doings. So truth goes astray in darkness more and more every hour And as a result of it the hour is postponed When it would be possible to decide who is the swan and who is the crow. 8 1

See sonnet X X V I I I , ibid., pp. 173-174, and sonnet V, ibid·, pp. 145-146.

1

Ibid., pp. 127-128.

' Ibid., p. 128. b

4

Ibid., p. 130.

Sonnet VIII, ibid., p. 147.

* Ibid., see sonnet III, pp. 144-145. 7

Sonnet VIII, ibid., p. 147 ; see also sonnet X X V I , ibid., p. 168.

8

For the original text see Appendix, p. 157.

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His conception of a republic was far different from that of the French: That land is a republic, where divine Laws are the bases of human laws and their shield, Where no man can with impunity be cruel to other men, And where there is a limit placed on any man's excesses : Where there is no one to threaten me or to kneel before me, Where I may open full my mind and my heart, Where I am not shorn of my riches, Where the good of all is the goal of every man. That land is a republic, where stainless Customs hold sway and the just alone lead, Where the wretched do not glory in the sorrows of others. Are you a republic, herds of Frenchmen, Who now in awe are obeying wretched beggars in arms Whose base lees float over yours. 1 Such a monstrous state of servitude, an insult to true and sublime liberty, was the fruit of pseudo-intellectuals. 2 He who had so strongly attacked tyranny saw nothing but slaves and tyrants in France : T o scorn slaves, to abhor tyrants, Such has been always my only lofty art; 'Tis slaves in France and tyrants and nothing else I see ; May none therefore condemn me, Should I beg of the Gods scourge and thunderbolt Against the wretched impious abortions of freedom. 3 It is not f o r the French to teach liberty. D o they pretend to teach liberty to the fervid Italian minds who have taught all lofty things to others, Alfieri asked? 1

For original text see Appendix, p. 158.

2

Sonnet X X , in II Misogallo, Opere, vol. iv, p. 155.

3

For original text see Appendix, p. 158.

ιι8

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The French, teachers of liberty, and to whom? To us fervid Italian minds, to us, Teachers of others in all lofty things? Slaves we are now, but rebellious at least, Not such slaves as you were and still are, O Frenchmen, Slaves applauding power whatever it be.1 He predicted in 1795 that out of the anarchy in France would rise a man who would be more than a king. Truly marvellous and new are The deeds of the French. They have widowed the throne of their king, And they have discarded the Salic law, Which they had from bearded Jove's time. Now France is no longer governed by a king But forsooth by a queen, Lady Guillotine by name, Promoted to the sacred honor. But of such a wicked strumpet, Who has betrothed herself to Terror, One will be born who will be more than king ? 2 More important than Alfieri's hatred of tyranny in all its forms is his sense of rebellion against the moral and cultural hegemony of France. II Miso gallo should be regarded as an expression of revolt against this situation, and its roots are a sense of national jealousy and a desire to give to Italian culture the spirit of independence and autonomy. Foreign cultural influence was the most dangerous foe. Alfieri in fact spoke against the supremacy of French culture as he never had spoken against Austria, for so many years the actual political despot of the Italian peninsula.3 1

For original text see Appendix, p. 158.

2

Ibid., p. 159.

' Note, however, that in censuring the Hapsburg Duke Leopold of Tuscany for suppressing the Academy of the Crusca in 1783, he wrote : Italia, a guai ti mena infami strette Il non esser dai Goti appien disgombra! Ti son le ignude voci anco interdette. In sonnet C L X X X I I , Opere, voi. iii, p. 119, probably written in 1786.

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In the latter part of the seventeenth century there had developed in France a new thought and philosophy, founded on the doctrines of Descartes, and destined to enjoy a tremendous ascendancy in Europe. A t that time, when French literature was flourishing and Italian literature was in a state of decadence, the influence of French culture began to penetrate into Italy. By the middle of the eighteenth century the French had come to be intellectually dominant not only in Italy but all over Europe. Goldoni truly said of the French : " ce sont eux qui donnent le ton à l'Europe entière "-1 The French theatre, philosophy, customs and language were the style of the day. But from the beginning of the invasion of French culture in Italy, many Italians felt it as a danger and saw a need of giving new life to Italian literary traditions. A n illustration had been offered by the polemic started over the relative values of the Italian and French languages after the publication in 1687 of a work of Bouhours, La manière de bien penser dans les ouvrages d'esprit,2 A s Boileau and Rapin had done before, Bouhours, a Jesuit father, attacked the Italian language and Italian writers. This elicited indignation and many distinguished Italians came to the defense of Italian genius. Voltaire remarked that a sort of quarrel among two nations had taken place. " Ce petit litre de la Manière de bien penser " he said, " blessa les Italiens et devint mie querelle de nation ".3 1 Quoted in Graf, L'anglomania e l'influsso inglese in Italia nel secolo XVIII, p. 2. 2 See Boeri, Α., Una contesa letteraria franco-italiana nel secolo XVIII (Palermo, 1900) ; Foffano, F., " Una polemica letteraria nel settecento," in his Ricerche letterarie (Livorno, 1897), pp. 313-332; Galletti, Α., Le teorie drammatiche e la tragedia in Italia nel secolo XVIII (Cremona, 1901), especially pp. 1-31; Maugain, G., L'évolution intellectuelle de l'Italie de 1657 à 1750 environ (Paris, 1909), especially pp. 253-282; Roberston, J. G., Studies in the Genesis of Romantic Theory in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge, 1923), especially pp. 1-16; also Croce, " I l R a g u e t " (of Scipione Maffei), in La Critica (Naples, January, 1929).

' Quoted in Boeri, op. cit., p. 9.

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There is indeed significant evidence of a feeling of national sentiment and honor, of pride in the primacy of Italian poetry, among a people that once dominated the intellectual life of the western world, and that was gradually becoming conscious of the advance of other countries and fearful of its own decadence. The most systematic reply to Bouhours was made by Orsi in 1703 in his Considerazioni sopra . . . la maniera di ben pensare. Other Italians in the early part of the eighteenth century had occasion to express themselves on this theme. Vico felt that the French language was not as well adapted to poetry as Italian ; 1 Muratori said that Italian poetry was the most glorious among the modern langguages, 2 and Scipione Maffei wrote of poetry, " this is our art ", 3 The problem of the diffusion of French culture in Italy and the reaction of Italians to it may be well understood by taking the theatre as an example. Since the last decades of the seventeenth century, translations from the French had become increasingly frequent, and in the eighteenth century the salient fact in the history of the Italian theatre was the preponderance of French influence.4 The French conquest, so to speak, of the Italian stage was not effectuated without opposition. In the first half of the eighteenth century, there was a feeling that the creation of an Italian tragic theatre was a matter of national honor,6 and this patriotic motive was one of the principal ones that led a few distinguished men to devote themselves to the writing of tragedy. Italy 1

See Croce, The Philosophy of G. B. Vico, p. 233.

* Muratori, Della perfetta poesia italiana (Milan, 1821), vol. i, p. 45. 3

Quoted in Galletti, op. cit., p. 181.

See Ferrari, L., Le traduzioni italiane del teatro tragico francese nei secoli XVII e XVIII. Saggio bibliografico (Paris, 1925) ; Bertana, E., La tragedia (Milan, 190?), pp. 229, 231. 4

* See Bertana, op. cit., p. 231.

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had attained glory in poetry, lyrical and epic, in the art of painting, sculpture and architecture, but an Italian theatre was lacking. Pier Iacopo Martelli, Gravina and Maffei were among those who undertook to fill this lacuna. 1 Only Maffei succeeded in writing a notable tragedy, the wellknown M erope. But the excellence of French tragedy was still not approached, and so great was its preponderance after 1750 that the Italians seemed resigned to the fact that they could not create tragedy. 2 In 1770 the Duke of Parma offered a prize to whoever should write the best tragedy. This elicited much enthusiasm, but it did not produce important results. 3 In the decade that followed came Alfieri, bent on becoming a tragic poet. It is undeniable that he was moved in part by the prospect of giving to the literature of Italy what it had lacked. 4 H e counted " among the many wants of Italy that of drama ", 5 H e asked : " W h a t just reproach do all foreigners make to us ? " " That of lacking drama ", he replied.8 Once, on reading the Merope of Maffei, he suddenly felt seized with a paroxysm of indignation and rage 1

See Galletti, op. cit., especially pp. 62-202; Bertana, op. cit., pp. 231-274.

2

See Bertana, op. cit., p. 270.

® Ibid., pp. 271-274. * Note the following lines of encouragement to Alfieri by the poet Parini in a sonnet probably written in 1783, the year in which Alfieri published his first tragedies : Osa, contendi; e di tua man vedrassi Cinger l'Italia ornai quella corona Che al suo crin glorioso unica manca. In sonnet beginning " Tanta già di coturni, altero ingegno ", in Parini, Tutte le opere, p. 385. * Risposta dell'autore (Alfieri) alla lettera del Calsabigi, Opere, voi. vii, pp. 196, 200; Prefazione dell'autore all'Abele, ibid., pp. 48-53; Parere dell'autore sull'arte comica in Italia, ibid., pp. 151-154. * Risposta dell'autore alla lettera del Calsabigi, Opere, voi. vii, p. 201.

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on beholding our Italy with its drama in such a wretched condition that the Merope is made to appear as the best tragedy, not only among those that have been written (and as to this, I would agree), but also among those that might be written in Italy in the future. Immediately, he proceeded to write his Merope,1 Alfieri also related how the Countess of Albany, in one of her frequent letters to him, alluded to a performance of the Brutus of Voltaire which she liked exceedingly. H e had seen it played perhaps ten years before, but had thought no more about it. But as in a flash, fired with a rabid sense of emulation, he exclaimed to himself : What Bruti? The Bruti of a Voltaire? I will write about the Bruti, both of them, and time will show whether such subjects of tragedy are better adapted for me or for a plebeian-born Frenchman, who, for the space of seventy years and more, signs himself Voltaire, gentleman in ordinary to the king? W h e n the French Revolution came, French arms, as well as French culture, threatened to sweep over Europe. At first in Italy there was a certain air of hope, but the invasions of the French, the fear of their arms, called forth a spirit of reaction. A n anti-French literature, of which II Misogallo is the most striking example, grew up and flourished.3 Implicit in Alfieri's bitterness was the idea that, if Italy were to be one, it had to purify and free itself of the intellectual domination of France. II Misogallo was written at a time when along with this idea there began to develop those practical forces that were to lead to Italian unity. T o the revolt of the literary men was to be joined the sentiment of 1

Vita, Opere, vol. i, pp. 170-171.

* Ibid., pp. 201-202. See Hazard, P., Le revolution française et les lettres italiennes 178g1815 (Paris, 1910). 3

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the people antagonized by the foreign invaders. The French who had come to conquer Italy aroused the Italian people to a sense of national consciousness. They who had preached liberty could not long dominate other countries. They provoked the desire among other peoples to be free. Alfieri condemned the French primarily. But he also lampooned other nations and peoples for their infamy and weakness in the face of French arms 1 —satire derived in great part from Alfieri's desire to belittle and mock the French by detracting from their opponents. Few epigrams against the French are as contemptuous as the following one is of Italy: Italy is not invaded by the French—I should say not— Bread of one paste, Now one sewer drains into another.2 He stigmatized the fall of Venice in 1 7 9 7 — " infamous on a par with the conquerors are the conquered." 3 He was as frank and direct in the censure of his countrymen as he was in wanting to see them " reborn He desired to focus the national sentiment of the Italians against the French. 4 In the proem to II Misogallo, he wrote : Brave Hannibal on the altar swore Eternal and bitter hatred against his rival Rome : Nor in vain came such a threat, For it became a lofty pedestal of his glory. I, though born in the dullest winter of Italy, 1

See epigrams X X V I , in II Misogallo, Opere, vol. iv, p. 182 ; X X V I I , ibid., pp. 182-183 ; X L V I I , ibid., p. 197 ; X L I X , ibid., pp. 199-201 ; L I I I , ibid., p. 202; sonnet X X X I X , ibid., p. 193. 2

For the original text see Appendix, p. 159; see also epigrams X X I I , ibid., 180 ; X X I I I , ibid., p. 181 ; L H , ibid., p. 202 ; L V I , ibid., p. 203 ; sonnet X L , ibid., p. 206. 5

Sonnet X L I I , ibid., p. 207.

4

See Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 234.

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Italy, torn asunder and ignorant of arms, Yet did I swear hatred for the French : Nor shall this ire be less renowned some day, if I too discern the future. Perhaps it shall happen That my oath will have sublime effect on other Italian hearts In stirring disdain and valor and force. In the meantime, may the putridity of those haughty insects be revealed This putridity which extols virtue and stifles it in all its manifestations. 1 In a prophetic sonnet that serves as the conclusion of II Misogallo, he envisaged himself as the seer of a future Italy : The day will come, the day will return, In which Italians, alive again at last, Will fight bravely in the battlefield, and not with others' arms In cowardly defence, but attacking the Gauls. At their side, two ardent spurs They will have, one, their pristine courage, the other, my songs. So that recalling what they were, and what I was, They will burn with an irresistible fire. And armed then with that heavenly fire Breathed into me by the works of their fathers, They will make my rhymes deadly to the Gauls. Already I hear them say : O our Seer, born in wretched times, Albeit you have created these Sublime years—as you were wont to prophesy.2 National sentiment was strongly felt by Alfieri. Il Misogallo, be it born of personal rancor, of individualistic con1

For the original text see Appendix, p. 159.

2

Ibid., p. 160.

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ceit or of intellectual jealousy, is one of the most important nationalist documents in modern history. Much of its significance lies in its presuppositions. It exemplifies an effort for something new and national. N o t only cultural but also political nationalism underlies it. It demonstrates how national sentiment can become positive and assertive when an individual or a people sees its country invaded by another. It is a conspicuous example of change, wrought under the impulse of the Revolution, from humanitarian, universal conceptions, current during the eighteenth century, to ideas and sentiments emphasizing the national element. T h e principle of liberty, for instance, does not remain abstract, but becomes identified with national liberty and later with national independence. O f course Alfieri had many limitations. H e failed to appreciate the profound and far-reaching consequences of the Revolution. Once his opinion was fixed, he remained obdurate. T o exaggerate was one of his main characteristics, and he exaggerated in his denunciation of the French. T h e ridicule and abuse he heaped on the French are extravagant, though it seems he was actuated by fear and envy rather than by a spirit of laughter. He was incapable of a detached and dispassionate view. Y e t there is a suggestion of tragedy about this man, l'alma sdegnosa, as Croce has described him, 1 who hoped that his country might create a new literature, and saw instead that it was weak, invaded, cowardly, incapable of initiative, of unity and resistance. A n d the ridicule, that may appear fatuous to some, may be interpreted as a form of expressing his refusal to follow the vogue of praising the conqueror. Alfieri was neither an historian, nor a political philosopher nor a statesman. H o w soon and in what way he expected 1

Croce, La letteratura della nuova Italia, 2d ed. rev. (Barí, 1921-1922),

vol. ii, p. SO.

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Italy to be free and united, whether the form of government was to be federal or unitary, whether Italy was to be a monarchy or a republic, and if a monarchy, whether the K i n g of Piedmont was to be the monarch, and other problems of a practical nature confronting Italy during the nineteenth century were far from Alfieri's mind. So absorbed was he with immediate opposition to the French that he frequently had a good word f o r Austria, which was to be the chief obstacle to Italian unity; whereas, by the irony of history, France was to be the chief external instrument and auxiliary. Commenting on the evacuation of Florence by the French in 1799, he wrote: A t times I go from my villa to Florence, especially whenever Austrian soldiers arrive, in order to see the transport of joy and the jubilation of the entire public for its liberators, although the Aretini did most of the fighting. All Tuscany is now evacuated and the sun shines once more.1 Expressions such as these are not to be taken to mean a desire to have the Austrians rule Italy but as further illustrations of his unlimited hatred f o r the French. Anything to get rid of the French! Scornful as Alfieri was of the Italians of his day, distant as a united Italy might appear to him, nevertheless he had great faith in the exceptional potential qualities of the Italians, and he cherished a fervent hope that the Italians of the future would be those fiery and enthusiastic freemen whom he so frequently idealized. His voice was not one of melancholy hope, it was not a mere wail and lamentation ; it was a voice of courage. Instead of merely bemoaning the fact that the Italians were not what they once had been, he insisted 1 In a letter to Abbé Caluso dated July 27, 1799, Opere, vol. ii, p. 284; for similar expressions, see Vita, pp. 250, 253. He called the Austrians " oneste zucche ", in his satire, I viaggi, Opere, vol. iv, p. 83.

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127

that their capacities were still great and that their future could be a great one. If the Italians were to become free and united, they must have the will to be so. They must will to be great. The trouble with the French, according to Alfieri, lay in the excess of self-confidence, and with the Italians in the lack of it.1 In the words of Alfieri, concluding his Exhortation to liberate the Italicms from the Barbarians: To think or to say that what has already been done by men cannot be done again by other men, especially in the same territory, is an absurd and demoralizing axiom; it is the usual and obtuse defense of timid and base minds, who affirm as impossible everything they themselves cannot do; and their warped vision does not permit them to see any further than one or two generations ahead of them. His own axiom is this : " Virtue is the thing which more than any other is created by being praised, taught, loved, hoped and willed; nothing renders it more impossible than the infamous belief that it is impossible." 2 In addition to recognizing the geographical unity of Italy and the racial and linguistic similarities among Italians, Alfieri contributed to the growth of the Italian national spirit the ideas of sentiment, of will and of a mission. It is immaterial that the Italians did not become the leaders of a new European literature, as he had hoped. What is material is that he thought them capable of it and urged them to take a place of leadership in the world. It is immaterial that the basis of Italian nationalism was not hatred for the French. What is material is that the preaching of hatred implied a desire to see Italy free of foreign political and intellectual domination and dependent on its own initiative. 1

See sonnet X X X V I , in II Misogallo,

2

Del principe e delle lettere, Opere, vol. χ , p. n o .

Opere, vol. iv, p. 178.

128

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

A b o v e all, the Italians had to possess a will, a feeling, a sentiment to become spiritually and politically one in the future. W e have already referred to various manifestations of cultural nationalism and patriotic feeling in Italy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 1

D u r i n g this period

there were also many expressions on the part of Italian poets and prose writers deploring the relative decadence and weakness of Italy and often revealing a desire f o r a more v i g o r ous national life and f o r the independence of Italy f r o m foreign rule. 2

Notable among them were those of Giannone

( 1 6 7 6 - 1 7 4 8 ) , the historian, w h o wanted to see Italy's ancient military vigor restored and its various parts ruled b y native princes, 3 and of Genovesi ( 1 7 1 2 - 1 7 6 9 ) , the economist, w h o urged the regions of Italy to submerge their jealousies and to organize in some f o r m of federal union. 4 F r o m these predecessors and others, Alfieri m a y be distinguished in several ways.

T h e need of a strong patriotic

sentiment is emphasized and given a prominent place in his works, and it does not have an isolated or relatively unimportant place in his writings as in the case of the others. W i t h Alfieri, national regeneration is not an aspiration, but a demand.

H e infused this demand with more sincerity,

clarity, energy and passion than a n y one b e f o r e him.

He

stressed not only cultural nationalism, but also political na1

See supra, pp. 18-19, 119-121. ' See especially Rua, G., Per ¡a libertà d'Italia, Pagine di letteratura politica del seicento (Turin, 1905) ; Di Tocco, V., Ideali d'indipendensa in Italia durante la preponderanza spagnuola (Messina, 1926) ; Salza, Α., L'idea della patria nella letteratura del 700 avanti la rivoluzione (Campobasso, 1918) ; Bertana, Vittorio Alfieri, etc., chap, xv ; and works by Del Lungo, Franchetti, Bouvy, Gardner and Pivano, cited in the bibliography of this volume. * In his Discorsi storici e politici sopra gli Annali di Tito Livio, quoted in Carducci, Letture del risorgimento italiano, pp. 1-8. 4

In his Del commercio marittimo, quoted in Carducci, op. cit., pp. 8-10.

PATRIOTISM

AND

NATIONALISM

tionalism. He was as confident of Italy's future as he was proud of its past. Clearly understanding that the basis for a risorgimento must be not only political reorganization but also a moral and literary reformation, 1 he sought and succeeded by his writings and by his life in exemplifying a new type of man and a new type of writer. His works were in harmony with the will and determination of the Italians, stirred by the French Revolutionists and Napoleon, to free themselves from the foreign yoke and to become united—a will which in the course of a half century found its realization. Alfieri spoke in terms of ethical and political ideals, which were fundamental in the development of nationalism —natural rights, popular sovereignty, overthrow of tyrannical governments and freedom from clerical control. The nation for him is not a physical thing, a geographical entity. Thus he could not recognize Italy as his patria, unless liberty were first established there ; this meant the end of religious and political absolutism.2 Geography, like race and language, together with social and historical traditions, was the substratum of a nation. What was necessary was that these elements be fused and revivified by political sentiment. 1

See his Prefazione

2

See supra, pp. 95-97.

all'Abele, Opere, vol. vii, p. 49.

C H A P T E R

VI

NATIONALIST INFLUENCE AND

CONCLUSION

THE influence exercised by Alfieri on Italy's literary, moral and political development was immense. Recognition of his greatness as a writer or as a man was immediate and widespread. He commanded the attention of Madame de Staël, 1 D e Maistre, 2 Stendhal, 3 Goethe,'4 Platen, 5 Byron and many others. Translations of his various works were numerous and frequent. T h e performance of his tragedies accompanied not only the Italian nationalist movement but even the Rumanian struggle for independence.® Byron, who was Alfieri's most conspicuous foreign admirer, spoke of him as the " great name of this age " , and noted the enthusiasm of the Italians for him : " the Italians, without waiting for the hundred years, consider him as a ' poet good in lawi ' — H i s memory is the more dear to them because he is the bard of freedom, and because, as such, his tragedies can receive no countenance from any of their sovereigns ". 7 1

See her Corinne ou l'Italie

(Paris, 1833), vol. i, pp. 250 et seq.

See Croce, Β., " V i s i t e a Vittorio A l f i e r i " , in La Critica September 20, 1928). 2

* See his Rome, Naples et Florence

(Naples,

(Paris, 1919), vol. ii, passim.

See Farinelli, Α., " Vittorio Alfieri nell'arte e nella vita ", in Rivista d'Italia (Rome, October, 1903) ; Croce, Una famiglia di patrioti, 2d ed. rev. (Bari, 1927), p. 48. 1

6 See Croce, " V i s i t e a Vittorio A l f i e r i " , in La Critica 1928).

(September,

6 See Ortiz, R., " P e r la fortuna del teatro Alfieriano in Rumania ", in Giornale storico della letteratura italiana (Turin, 1 9 1 1 ) , vol. lvii, pp. 277-302 ; vol. lviii, pp. 49-95· 1

N. 28 to stanza L I V of canto I V of Childe Harold's 130

Pilgrimage,

re-

NATIONALIST

INFLUENCE

AND

CONCLUSION

131

Alfieri appeared to symbolize more than any other man the beginnings of a strong national sentiment, which, it is to be noted, was not merely the result of literary influences but of the social and political transformation associated with the great French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. His works assumed great importance because they were written at a time when new interests, moral, political and economic, began to agitate Italians. They gave expression to ideals and needs of succeeding generations. Alfieri gave a strong impulse to fundamental factors of the Italian Risorgimento—a deeper moral feeling, the renovation of Italian literature as well as of the Italian character, the revival of Italian literary traditions by taking as examples the great writers of Italy rather than foreign writers, the anti-clerical and anti-regionalist spirit, civil and political liberty, spiritual as well as political and linguistic unity. All of these elements were indeed not worked out in detail by Alfieri. Whether he was a constitutional monarchist, a republican, or an anarchist, has been debated by students of his writings. The literary value of his works has been variously appraised. His reputed will-power and his faith in a future Italy have been questioned. But all must recognize that his nationalist influence was tremendous. Alfieri was the symbol of ideals that fired the imagination and aroused the energies of the Italians of the nineteenth century. It ferring to the men buried in the church of Santa Croce at Florence, in his Works (Hartford, 1853), p. 67. Interesting is the judgment passed on Alfieri in an article of the Quarterly Review (London, January, 1816), attributed to Southey. " V i t t o r i o Alfieri is the most successful and in many respects the most extraordinary of the late Italian poets. Indeed no man, since Voltaire, has established so extensive a reputation. . . . No poet of Alfieri's time produced so great an effect in his own country, or obtained so wide a reputation abroad ; and this was not done by flattering the humor, or in any way conforming to the taste or fashion of his age ; on the contrary, his dramatic system seems to have originated in a feeling of indignant contempt for the effeminacy of the Italian theatre ".

132

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

was for them to develop programs and forms that these ideals were to take. Alfieri gave life and movement to forces that were to serve as bases of the Italian unitary movement. Alfieri was not the apostle of any particular political party aiming to unify the Italian peninsula. As is frequently the case with great poets, their thoughts and sentiments are appropriated and even misinterpreted and transformed by later generations, with a view not toward scientific truth but toward practical propagandist utility. Adherents of the main political groups of the Italian Risorgimento—the unitary and federalist republicans, the liberal constitutionalists and the neo-guelphs—appreciated the importance of Alfieri in stimulating Italian national sentiment and found in his life and works a source of inspiration. They faced situations and problems very different from those obtaining in Alfieri's time and they emphasized those elements in Alfieri which fitted in with their own ideals and aims. The idea of tyrannicide running through his writings was spiritually consonant with the aims of the Italian secret societies seeking to liberate Italy. The conspirator saw in Alfieri's works the bitter sectarian spirit, the uncompromising hatred of tyranny and the violent passion for liberty. The republicans saw in Alfieri the enemy of monarchs. The liberal constitutionalists were impressed with Alfieri's opposition to arbitrary power. The neo-guelphs, despite the irreligious temper of Alfieri, realized that he was a great animator of patriotism. There were the unitary republicans with Mazzini, 1 the federalist republicans with Ferrari, 2 the liberal constitutionalists with D'Azeglio, 3 and the neo-guelphs with 1

See his Scritti (Imola, 1906), vol. i, pp. 58, 231-232, 258-262, 320; see also Brofferio, Α., I miei tempi, vol. i, pp. 300-309, 367-376; vol. ». PP· 33-41, 458-478; vol. ν, pp. 369-370. ' See his Storia delle rivoluzioni d'Italia (Milan, 1870-1872), vol. iii, pp. 595-598 ; see also Cattaneo, C, " II Don Carlos di Schiller e II Filippo d'Alfieri", in his Opere (Florence, 1881), vol. i, pp. 11-59. 3

See infra, p. 137.

NATIONALIST

INFLUENCE

AND

CONCLUSION

Gioberti.1 It may be said that Alfieri wanted the unity of Italy insisted upon by Mazzini, without, however, the patriotic mysticism of Mazzini, that he exalted the greatness of the Italians dwelt upon by Gioberti in his Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians, without, however, the Catholic feeling of Gioberti, and that he foreshadowed the liberalism of Cavour, without, however, the practical political sense of Cavour. From the viewpoint of aesthetics and literary criticism, Alfieri's conception of art was limited. But his idea that literature should serve moral and patriotic ends was very fruitful, and, as illustrated in his On Government and Litercl·iure, was a program of action for future Italian writers. The rise of a patriotic literature was the first manifestation of a strong national feeling in Italy. In this literary movement, which preceded and accompanied the Italian Risorgimento, he was the first great figure. The sort of literary conspiracy he advocated in favor of liberty actually took place in Italy after him. Indeed the Italian " romantics " employed literary forms and methods far different from those of Alfieri. But in the heat of the controversy between the Italian " romantics " and " classicists ", the nationalist influence of Alfieri was fully appreciated.2 Manzoni as a youth admired Alfieri.3 Foscolo, Pellico, and Leopardi expressed their enthusiasm for him.4 This self-exiled nobleman came from a region that had little in common with the rest of Italy. Piedmont had given 1

See supra, p. 95 ; and infra, pp. 137-138.

2

See Borges^ G., Storia della critica romantica in Italia (Milan, 1920) ; Nulli, S., " L'Alfieri tra i classicisti e i romantici ", in Rivista d'Italia (Rome, November 1, 1917). 3

See letter to Pagani (1806), in his Carteggio ΡΡ· 37-39· 4 See infra, pp. 136-137, 144-146.

(Milan, 1912), vol. i,

VITTORIO

134

ALFIERI

no great names to Italian literature and art. The Italian language—the one general national tie in Italy—penetrated very late among the cultured classes of Piedmont. Alfieri himself said that " to speak Italian was contraband in Turin." 1 Cavour, it may be recalled, knew French better than Italian. Piedmont was a militaristic and paternalistic state. There was comparatively little intellectual ferment. It was not considered by the greater number of its inhabitants as an Italian province. There was a road with its starting point at Turin called the Strada d'Italia because it led to points outside of Piedmont. And the Piedmontese traveler who went to Florence, Rome, or Venice, used to say that he was going to Italy.2 The fact that Alfieri wrote at first in French and had to make an earnest effort to learn Italian is very significant. In a letter to a poetess from Piedmont, Diodata Saluzzo, he complimented her for the verses she sent him and added that he read them with a certain feeling of wonder, both because they are better than could be expected of one of your age and sex, and because, through your good example, I looked forward to the conversion of our countrymen [the Piedmontese], who, despite the Alps, and the claims of truth and beauty, show themselves more often inclined to write French than Italian. In you, then, in your already delicately written poetry and in the many other elegant works that you may write in the future, I cherish the hope that a province as fertile in talent and as cultured as Piedmont will be once and for all taken away from France and restored in glory to literary Italy. And in truth, methinks it a greater glory, or, if you will, a lesser shame, to profess oneself and to be, of a nation that once knew greatness, than of another which stupidly believes or wishes to have it believed that it 1

Vita,

Opere,

vol. i, p. 24.

' See Graf, op. cit., pp. 5-6.

NATIONALIST

INFLUENCE

AND

CONCLUSION

135

exists. In this respect your writings give me the greatest joy, which joy I manifest to you with emotion as one who is much enamored of the honor of Italy and who, feeling deeply the dignity of the name of Italy, declares himself an admirer and friend of those who wish to restore it.1 In 1798, writing to his sister about some of his works, he said: . . . . If I had known that you read Italian books, I would have sent them to you when I published them, but considering that Turinese readers prefer French books, I refrained. As to other things, Piedmont must by this time be largely cured of the French disease ; and perhaps it will again become something when it convinces itself that it is the most important part of Italy.2 Alfieri denounced in bitter terms the use of French by the academicians organized in Piedmont when it was made a part of revolutionary France. 3 With him, Piedmont ceased to be spiritually isolated from the rest of the peninsula. It was destined to become the " most important part of Italy ", to use Alfieri's words, by assuming the leadership of the movement towards Italian independence. Distinguished men of the generation of Piedmontese that prepared the revolution of 1821 in Piedmont were brought up in the cult of Alfieri. 4 He was an inspiring force in the youthful Academy of the Concordi, organized by Luigi Ornato, Luigi Provana and Cesare Balbo.5 They revered Al1

Dated October 26, 17Φ, Opere, vol. ii, pp. 246-247.

* In Bertana, Vittorio Alfieri etc., p. 549 η. s

Letter to Abbé Caluso, probably written in 1803, Opere,

vol. ii,

PP. 338-339· 4 See (Turin, 1881) ; pecially

Ottolenghi, L., Vita, studii e lettere inedite di Luigi Ornato 1878), La vita e i tempi dt Luigi Provana del Sabbione (Turin, Gentile, G., L'eredità di Vittorio Alfieri (Venice, 1926), espp. 1-83.

See Ottolenghi, Ornato, pp. 8-13 ; Provana, pp. 8-9.

!

3

6

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

fieri as their spiritual father, as an example of civic virtue and nobility of character. One of them characteristically said: " I swear by our Alfieri that the honor of Italy will always be my aim." 1 He was referred to as " father Alfieri ", 2 as one who, along with Parini and Foscolo, first proclaimed to the Italians the names of fatherland, independence and the liberty of Italy.3 The leading spirit of the liberal movement of 1821, Santorre Santarosa, himself one " of the younger generation brought up on the writings of Alfieri ", 4 and an intimate friend of Provana, Ornato and Balbo, relates that when the constitutionalists passed Asti, they recalled Alfieri and felt in their enthusiasm that the new Italy invoked by Alfieri was near.5 In 1818, another Piedmontese, Silvio Pellico, who was to suffer long imprisonment in the Austrian prison of Spielberg, defended Alfieri in the famous paper II Conciliatore against literary attacks. He wrote that instead of judging literary work abstractly or making odious comparisons between different writers, it should be judged by the effect it produces on the nation for which it was intended. If Alfieri in Italy has powerfully moved the minds of his compatriots with his tragedies, if many of them, whenever they are seen in our theatres, inevitably convey the author's vehement passions to the minds of the spectators, if he has touched exactly upon those subjects which were most completely in accord with the aims of his century, and which were most apt to re1

Letter of Provana to Ornato, in Ottolenghi, Provana,

2

Letter of Provana to Ornato, in Ottolenghi, Ornato,

ibid., p. 193, η. ι ; Ottolenghi, Provana, 3

p. 15.

Provana, quoted in Gentile, op. cit., p. 28.

* Santarosa, La rivoluzione 6

pp. 20-21. p. 193 ; see also

Ibid., pp. 125-126.

1909-1912)

piemontese

nel 1821

(Turin, 1920?), p. 96.

Vol. I of Del Lungo, I., Patria

italiana

(Bologna,

is dedicated to the " sante memorie dei quattro Alfieriani

Piemontesi—Santarosa, Provana, Ornato, Balbo . . . ".

NATIONALIST

INFLUENCE

AND

CONCLUSION

i^J

ennoble a nation, accused by the rest of Europe of a long and shameful lassitude, there is no doubt that Alfieri was a very great writer, and his glory is not obliterated by comparing his productions with those of any one else. Such comparisons are absurd.1 T w o eminent Piedmontese of the middle of the nineteenth century, when Italy was on the eve of its unification, Gioberti and D'Azeglio, esteemed him highly. D ' A z e g l i o said that one of the merits of Alfieri " was to have found Italy Metastasian and to have left it Alfierian. Moreover his first and greatest merit was, in my opinion, that he discovered Italy as Christopher Columbus discovered America and that he initiated the idea of a national Italy." 2 Between Gioberti and Alfieri the affinities are striking. 3 Gioberti felt the need of a rejuvenescence of literature and of independence from foreign intellectual influence as antecedent to national development and greatness.* There are many echoes of Alfieri's anti-French feeling in Gioberti's writings. 5 Gioberti's esteem of Alfieri approached idolatry. H e wrote that Alfieri was the " restorer of the national character of the Italians." 6 Then, that Alfieri did in particular for Piedmont what Dante had done univer1 In his review of a book, entitled Vera idea della tragedia di Vittorio Alfieri ossia la dissertazione critica dell'avvocato Giovanni Carmignani confutata dall'avv. Gaetano Marre, in II Conciliatore (Milan, September 6, ι8ι8) ; see also II Conciliatore of September 27, i8i8, February i l , March i l , April i, and No. C X V I , 1819 for other references to Alfieri; also Pellico, Le mie Prigioni (Turin, 1924?), additional chapter, No. 12, p. 189.

' I miei ricordi (Florence, 1873), vol. i, p. 88. 3

See supra, pp. 95, 133.

* See the collection of Gioberti's Pensieri e giudizi sulla letteratura italiana e straniera, ed. by F. Ugolini (Florence, 1856), pp. 88-90. 5

Ibid., see pp. 91-106.

e

Ibid., p. 209.

J 38

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

sally for the whole peninsula.1 . . . The feeling of nationality and the use of the language were almost dead at the time of Vittorio Alfieri, who was the first to call the attention of his compatriots to the dogmas of the old Italian school and to the study of the glorious century.2 . . . As Alighieri created the poetry and noble language of Italy, so did Alfieri, five centuries later, restore the one and the other with his tragic theatre, bringing them back to their ancestral and Dantesque greatness.3 . . . To affirm that Italians are to be nothing but Italians required a quick and profound conception of that civil personality and identity which make up the life of nations. That conception was a moral discovery, which contained the seed of national redemption. . . . If this seed should become a plant, as we may hope, those among the descendants who will enjoy the fruits of the great redemption should raise not a statue but I might almost say a temple to Vittorio Alfieri.4 One must never forget that Alfieri was a nobleman. He was proud, he said, of his noble birth because it enabled him, without incurring the charge of envy or meanness, to criticize the nobles and to expose their follies, their abuses, and their vices, while at the same time its influence was sufficiently powerful to prevent him from sullying the dignity of his art.5 In the midst of a feudal-minded aristocracy appeared this révolté, who was to serve as an example to aristocrats of succeeding generations. The élite that effected the Risorgimento drew strength from aristocrats with a new mentality, devoted to political and social problems rather than to lazy court pursuits. Ironically enough, during the later years of Alfieri's life, while he nourished hatred for the French Revolution, his 1

Ugolini, op. cit., p. 388.

3

Ibid., p. 183.

' Ibid., pp. 146-147. 4

Ibid., p. 309.

5

Vita, Opere, vol. i, p. 5.

NATIONALIST

INFLUENCE

AND

CONCLUSION

139

tragedies were employed as an instrument of propaganda by the Italian Jacobins.1 The gallophobe Count Alfieri looms up as one of the most conspicuous figures in the development of the Jacobin theatre in Italy. Much prominence was given to the revolutionary spirit in his tragedies. His Virginia and his First Brutus were favorite tragedies for holidays, patriotic commemorations and solemn occasions organized and promoted by the partisans of the new ideas.2 The patriotic society of Milan inaugurated its theatre on September 22, 1796 with the playing of Virginia. The occasion was the anniversary of the founding of the French Republic. Bonaparte and Josephine were present.3 The performance of Brutus and Virginia formed part of the celebration at Turin of the sixth anniversary of the execution of Louis X V I . 4 Virginia was produced at Rome in 1798 under the auspices of the democrats.5 Venice celebrated the advent of its liberty by performing Alfieri's Brutus.0 The Jacobin theatre of Bologna began with the same tragedy. 7 1 See especially Masi, E., " Il teatro giacobino in Italia ", in his St udii sulla storia del teatro italiano nel secolo XVIII (Florence, 1891), pp. 355-422; Paglicci-Brozzi, Α., Sul teatro giacobino ed antigiacobino in Italia, 1796-1805 (Milan, 1887). !

See Paglicci-Brozzi, op. cit., p. 4 ; also Masi, op. cit., p. 385.

' S e e Mazzoni, G., L'ottocento (Milan, 1913), vol. i, p. 160; also Paglicci-Brozzi, op. cit., p. 47; Masi, op. cit., pp. 357-358; Cusani, F., Storia di Milano (Milan, 1861-1884), vol. ν, p. 54. * Masi, op. cit., pp. 416-417. 6 See Del Pinto, G., " Rappresentazioni Alfieriane in Roma ", in Nuova Antologia (Rome, January ι, 1909) ; also Sala, G., Diario romano degli anni 1798-99 (Rome, 1882), voi. i, p. 92; Paglicci-Brozzi, op. cit., pp. 195-196.

' S e e Paglicci-Brozzi, op. cit., pp. 152-153; also Masi, op. cit., pp. 41141a. ' Masi, op. cit., p. 394 ; for other representations of Alferi's tragedies at Bologna, see Monitore Bolognese (Bologna, January 21, November 28, 1797).

I4-0

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

Timoleon was played at the opening of the patriotic theatre at Modena. 1 Observe an advertisement of the tragedy, Timoleon, at Naples during the republican revolution of 1799. A t the top in the center was the emblem of the republican fasces of Rome. O n one side was the word liberty, on the other, the word equality. In part, the advertisement read as follows : TIMOLEON

A great mirror of exemplary living, of moral and republican virtues was this ancient champion of the rights of man. His modesty was indeed worthy of a philanthropic heart, even amidst the splendor of his actions and of the acclamation of an entire people, a people familiar with his lofty democratic sentiments which led him (oh object of envy!) to repress for the sake of heroism the tender est voices of nature; worthy indeed to be admired, to be followed, and to serve as an example to an entire world regenerated. 0 patriots of Naples, hasten together to strengthen your hearts, to grow in energy. To facilitate the way thereto, the management will present the play to all free of charge, and those who wish to pay anything at the door will perform an act of kindness in favor of their needy brothers, among whom the proceeds will be distributed. O citizens and patriots, bring . . . your relatives, your friends. Such action would be worthy of you. 2 Note the observations made in the publication of the First Brutus at Venice in 1797 : . . . . Among the fruits which the Italian revolution can bear to the field of letters, we esteem as one of the best that good which it offers to the theatre, where one may freely present 1

Masi, op. cit., p. 406.

In Croce, Β., / teatri di Napoli, 3d ed. rev. (Bari, 1926), pp. 268-269; Carlo Botta also wrote of Alfieri's tragedies in Naples in his Storia d'Italia dal 178g al 1814 (Italia, 1834), p. 392. 2

NATIONALIST

INFLUENCE

AND

CONCLUSION

Ι4χ

productions of genius designed, like the present one, to make us admire the great deeds of heroes, and to abhor the execrable misdeeds of that class of men (if they can so be termed) that have usurped every social right. . . . In this respect does the author of Brutus present to us a twofold wonder of literature— first, given the scarcity and, one might say, virtual absence of good Italian tragic compositions, he arose to demonstrate and to sustain all the dignity of the stage, equalling and sometimes even surpassing the most classic authors, ancient and modern. Secondly, despite the most violent laws against freedom in the writing of drama, he, with eminent republican courage, exposed before the eyes of the enslaved world the horrid atrocities of the powerful and the loftiest virtues of democracy. . . . Had he given us no production but this, it alone would have sufficed to render his name immortal.1 The Revolution deprecated by Alfieri helped to make him famous; during the Napoleonic period he was popular. Simonde de Sismondi wrote in 1813 that, in a few years, " the tragedies, which Alfieri considered to be so little adapted to common performers, became so popular that I myself have seen them performed by artisans, bakers and tailors, the greater part of whom were unable to read, and yet had succeeded in committing them entirely to memory." 2 In September 1805, a bust of Alfieri was placed in the patriotic theatre of Milan. The following month a celebration was held at the theatre in his honor. The Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Eugène Beauharnais, presided, and on this occasion Monti wrote a poem, La licensa, in praise of Alfieri. 3 1 In Bruto primo, L'anno MDCCXCVII,

tragedia del Conte Vittorio Alfieri. primo della libertà italiana, p. 51.

In

Venezia.

De la littérature du midi de l'Europe (Paris, 1813), vol. ii, pp. 459-460; see also Villemain, M., Cours de littérature française. Tableau de la littérature au XVIII siècle (Paris, 1859), vol. iii, p. 145; for the influence of Alfieri up to about 1820, see Fabbris, G., Studi Alfieriani ''Florence, 1895), PP· 166. 222-225; Luchaire, J., Essai sur l'évolution intellectuelle de l'Italie de 1815 à 1830 (Paris, 1906), p. 99. * See Fabbris, op. cit., pp. 223-224. 5

142

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

In 1806, at Turin, French actors played scenes from Alflen Aux Champs Élisêes, a work by M. Amedée Julien, anecien capitain des dragons. Among the characters were the shades of Voltaire and Alfieri. Voltaire is made to declare the Merope of Alfieri superior to his own, and Alfieri is represented as a francophile, blaspheming the English ! 1 II Misogallo was virtually forgotten and Alfieri was remembered as the poet of liberty.2 As Manzoni justly remarked : " Le Misogallo . . . n'a point eu d'éclat en Italie." 3 The immediate recognition of Alfieri was so great, editions and imitations of his writings were so numerous, that there arose, especially after his death, a phenomenon that might be called " Alfierism." Alfieri's tragedies were very popular and well known. Declamations in the " Alfierian " manner were common. T o " Alfierize " was the style of the day. By 1820 Alfieri had come to be considered a classic. Indeed there was an appreciation of the literary qualities of his tragedies ; but their political implications were not missed by the rising generations anxious for liberty and independence. Thus the tragedies were regarded, not merely as works of art, but also as exhortations to get rid of tyranny and to fight for liberty. The theatre in the absence of parliaments and newspapers was well adapted to political propaganda. The views of the Austrian police and censors in Lombardy-Venetia illustrate the attitude of the restored governments towards Alfieri's tragedies. In 1825 they permitted the republication of an edition of these works in Venice, apparently on the ground that, since they were considered clas1 See Neri, Α., " L'apoteosi di Vittorio Alfieri al Teatro Carignano ", in Gazzetta Letteraria, Artistica E Scientifica (Turin, April 11, 1885).

* See Fabbris, op. cit., pp. 166, 222-225. * In letter to M. C. [Chauvet] sur l'unité de temps et de lieu dans la tragédie, in Manzoni, Α., Tutte le opere (Florence, 1923), p. 279.

NATIONALIST

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AND

CONCLUSION

143

sics and their subject matter was remote from contemporary problems, the reading of them should not be prohibited. It was recognized, however, by one of the police agents, that the performance of the tragedies on the stage might be dangerous. 1 A year later, the Austrian authorities, after a closer examination of the tragedies, changed their attitude and concluded that all of them contained doctrines and sentiments irreconcilable with the interests of the Hapsburg government. The dramas especially censured were Agis, the First Brutus, the Second, Brutus and Timoleon. These could not be republished, and the editions published abroad could be sold only to those who had received the special permission of the authorities.2 Naturally the Catholic Church has regarded Alfieri as an enemy. Alfieri's Satires, On Tyranny and Autobiography were placed on the Index in 1823, and his Panegyric to Trajan and On Government and Literature were formally condemned in 1827. Undoubtedly the most widely read work of Alfieri has been and still is his Autobiography. The ideal of the independent man portrayed in it, whether truthful or not, served to enhance in the minds of Italians the glory of Alfieri as a paladin of freedom. The case of Alfieri brings out well how the stress on individual liberty can promote the desire for national liberty. One of the most notable facts of the nineteenth century was the intimate relationship between personal liberty and national liberty. In Italy, during the Risorgimento, the individualism of Alfieri was interpreted in a nationalist sense. Alfieri's independent attitude expressed the yearning of numberless other Italians for indiSee documents dated February 5, 1825 and September 12, 1825, in Carte segrete e atti ufficiali della polizia austriaca in Italia dal 4 giugno al 22 marzo 1848 (Capolago, 1851), vol. ii, pp. 319-321. 1

' See document dated August 29, 1826, ibid., pp. 321-322.

144

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vidual freedom, a yearning that formed part of a collective desire to be politically united. The importance of Alfieri in the Risorgimento was fully appreciated and his fame was spread by great Italian poets as well as by Italian political thinkers and historians, both literary and political, of the nineteenth century. 1 His influence on the great Italian poet, U g o Foscolo, is typical. Foscolo's first tragedy, Tieste, was filled with traces of Alfieri's manner and a copy was sent by him to " the tragic poet of Italy ". " Y o u have ", Foscolo wrote, " rights over all those who write for the Italians, even though Italy, old, lazy, and slow, cannot and perhaps would not listen." 2 In 1802 he addressed Alfieri as the first Italian. . . . Your glory is for me a source of continual incitement to noble undertakings and to frank and open writings, and your example has always filled a large place in my thoughts and emotions; and if this little book (his famous Iacopo Ortis) is not satisfactory, ascribe it rather to the times and to my purpose to talk virginibus puerisque. But if the heavens grant me life, I hope to demonstrate, with loftier productions, to the Italians of the future, that I, inferior to you in the powers of the mind, was still in spiritual elevation worthy of being your contemporary and friend.8 1 See De Sanctis, Storia della letteratura italiana (Bari, 1925), vol. ii, pp. 364-376, Saggi critici, vol. i, pp. 143-171, 288-312; Settembrini, L., Lezioni di letteratura italiana, i6th ed. (Naples, 1894), vol. ili, p. 205222 ; Botta, C., Storia d'Italia continuata da quella del Guicciardini sino al 1789 (Capolago, 1835), pp. 1283-1285; Cesare Balbo, Sommario della storia d'Italia (Bari, 1913-1914), vol. ii, pp. 166-167.

' Foscolo, Opere (Florence, 1923), voi. vi, pp. 4-5. This letter is dated April 22, 1797. On September 22, of the same year, Foscolo spoke in derogatory terms of Alfieri's political views on the French Revolution and of his patriotism at a meeting of the Società di Pubblica Istruzione of Venice. See Michieli, Α., " U. Foscolo contro V . Alfieri in Rivista d'Italia (Rome, December, 1902), " U g o Foscolo a Venezia", in Nuovo Archivio Veneto (Venice, 1904), vol. vii, especially pp. 41-44. * Foscolo, Opere, vol. vi, p. 24.

NATIONALIST

INFLUENCE

AND

CONCLUSION

In his poem Dei Sepolcri, Foscolo has given us the best portrait of Alfieri: . . . . And to these monuments Did Vittorio often come for inspiration. Angry with his fatherland's deities, He roamed speechless, there where the Arno is most desolate, Gazing longingly at the fields and the sky; And since no living aspect soothed his anxiety, Here among the dead would the stern one stay. And his face bore the pallor of death and of hope. Now he himself has come to dwell among them forever, And his bones still speak love of the fatherland.1 Monti, another celebrated Italian poet, was also inspired by a spirit of emulation to write tragedy, and though of a different temper and often harsh in his criticism of Alfieri, he was moved after the death of Alfieri to say that Alfieri sufficed to give a name to his century and to create by himself the glory of a nation.2 Alfieri exercised considerable influence on the literary and political conversion of Leopardi. Leopardi, in his Canzone ad, Angelo Mai, eulogized him as the greatest Italian literary figure since Tasso : Since your time, till now O unhappy mind [Tasso], No man has appeared worthy of that Italian name But one, one alone unworthy of his cowardly age, The relentless Savoyard, to whose breast Virile worth was sent from heaven, Not from this weary and arid country of mine. 1

In Opere, vol. ix, p. 182, lines 188-197. * In Dell'obbligo di onorare i primi scopritori del vero in fatto di sciensa. Prolusione agli studi dell'Università di Pavia recitata il giorno XXVI Novembre MDCCCIII, Opere (Milan, 1839-1842), vol. ν, p. 221.

146

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

He, a private citizen, unarmed, had the courage (what memorable courage) To make war on tyrants on the stage ; But paltry though such a war may be and futile its battlefield, Let it, at least, be waged on the unhealthy rages of the world. He, first and alone, descended into the arena, And no one has followed him; For sloth and unseemly silence now prevail with us before everything else. Scornful and wrathful he spent his whole unblemished life. And death spared him from seeing worse conditions. Oh, my Vittorio, this was not the age or land for you, Other times and other abodes befit lofty genius. Now we live contented with repose and guided by mediocrities. The wise have descended, And the throng has ascended to one common level Which equalizes all. O famous discoverer, continue your work, awaken the dead, Since the living slumber. Arm the hushed voices of the ancient heroes Until this shameful century Might either long for life and rise to illustrious Deeds or feel ashamed.1 Carducci, the greatest poet of the Third Italy, praised Alfieri in verse and prose. H e wrote famous prefaces to new editions of some of Alfieri's minor works. 2 According to him Alfieri was the " most Italian of the Italians after Alighieri and Machiavelli ". 3 Carducci wrote in his poem 1

Leopardi, Opere, vol. i, pp. 49-50. See also his sonnet, Letta la Vita di Vittorio Alfieri scritta da esso, Opere, voi. xv, p. 17. * Preface to Satire e poesie minori di Vittorio Alfieri (Florericei, 1S58) ; preface to Del principe e delle lettere e altre prose di Vittorio Alfieri (Florence, 1859). ' In preface to Satire, etc., p. 3.

NATIONALIST

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147

To Liberty : With your sacred image in his heart The dauntless Astigian swept over Italy And handled his verse as though it were a steel weapon, The haughty bard : 'Twas you he called 'mid the tombs 'Neath the Roman sky; and the name Echoed back to him from the Vatican's summit through the dense air. 1 The following lines are in Carducci's poem on Piedmont : That great one came, like an eagle (Whence he received his name), a threatening, restless spirit ; And as he soared over this dejected country He cried : Italy, Italy ! To ears unattuned to such cries, to sluggish hearts, to prostrate spirits: And the tombs of Arquà and Ravenna Echoed back : Italy, Italy ! 2 Today Alfieri is universally remembered for the great part he played in arousing a strong national consciousness in Italy. In him we find not a doctrine of nationalism but the materials of nationalism; not formulas or syllogisms but national feeling and sentiment. H e was an emotional nationalist par excellence. France was destined to be the ally of Italy, not her enemy, in the movement for the unification of the peninsula. W h e n anti-French sentiment recurs in such spirits as Foscolo, Monti, Leopardi and Gioberti, its motives are the desire f o r the intellectual and moral autonomy of Italy, rather than for the destruction of France, and the need of 1

Poesie,

12th ed. (Bologna, n. d.), p. 82; see also his poem A

Alfieri, ibid., p. 92. ' Poesie, p. 953.

Vittorio

148

VITTORIO

ALFIERI

interior spiritual reformation, rather than of aggression and dominion. Alfieri's hatred of tyranny may often appear stronger than his love of liberty; his hatred of the French, stronger than his love of Italy; but it is from such sentiments that the spirit of nationalism began to develop. In Alfieri we find a development of ideas which historically prepared the way for modern Italian nationalism: hatred of tyranny, lay and religious; love of freedom, individual and national ; and the praise of the ancients. In respect of his native Italy, Alfieri's hope was a united and independent country, founded on liberty, free of foreign intellectual influence, one, culturally and politically. This vision was complete in him and justifies the appraisal of him as the greatest forerunner of Italy's national political conscience.

A P P E N D I X O R I G I N A L T E X T S OF A L F I E R I ' S

POEMS

TRANSLATED

IN THIS V O L U M E

( T o pages

37-38

of text)

Sublime specchio di veraci detti, Mostrami in corpo e in anima qual sono : Capelli, or radi in fronte, e rossi pretti; Lunga statura, e capo a terra prono; Sottil persona in su due stinchi schietti; Bianca pelle, occhi azzurri, aspetto buono; Giusto naso, bel labro, e denti eletti; Pallido in volto, più che un re sul trono; Or duro, acerbo, ora pieghevol, mite ; Irato sempre, e non maligno mai ; La mente e il cor meco in perpetua lite; Per lo più mesto, et talor lieto assai, O r stimandomi Achille, ed or Tersite: Uom se' tu grande, o vil ? Muori, e il saprai. [Opere, III, 120.] (To page 55 of text) . . . . già già secura Torna del re la maestade a patto Meglio adequato ornai : Già espulsi ha gli empi e richiamato ha il giusto : Ν è a re lo errar più mai Concede il Nazional Consesso augusto. [In Parigi sbastigliaio.

Ode, Opere, III, 139.] 149

APPENDIX

( T o page 76 of text) Mi trovan duro ? Anch'io lo so: Pensar li fo. Taccia ho d'oscuro? Mi schiarirà Poi libertà. [Opere, IV, 6.] ( T o page 80 of text) Vuota insalubre region, che stato T i vai nomando, aridi campi incolti; Squallidi oppressi estenüati volti Di popol rio codardo e insanguinato: Prepotente, e non libero senato Di vili astuti in lucid'ostro involti ; Ricchi patrizj, e più che ricchi, stolti; Prence, cui fa sciocchezza altrui beato : Città, non cittadini ; augusti tempi, Religion non già; leggi, che ingiuste Ogni lustro cangiar vede, ma in peggio : Chiavi, che compre un dì schiudeano agli empj Del ciel le porte, or per età vetuste : Oh ! se'tu Roma, o d'ogni vizio il seggio ? [Opere, III, 12.] ( T o page 81 of text) Dialogo fra l'uomo e le quattro pesti. L'UOMO.

Re, confessori, medici, avvocati, Chi vi ha creati? LE QUATTRO

PESTI.

Debolezza, ignoranza, e rei costumi Ci han fatti Numi.

APPENDIX L'UOMO.

Dunque il cessar noi d'essere fanciulli V i farà nulli. [Opere, I V , 35.] ( T o page 81 of text) Tutto rosso fuor che il viso, Chi sarà quest'animale? Molta feccia e poco sale L'han dagli uomini diviso. . . . Ê un cardinale. [Opere, I V , 6.] ( T o page 81 of text) Il Papa è papa e re: Dèssi abborrir per tre. [Opere, IV, 8.] ( T o page 81 of text) Sia pace ai frati, Purché sfratati: E pace ai preti, Ma pochi e queti: Cardinalume Non tolga lume: Il maggior prete Torni alla rete: Leggi, e non re; L'Italia c'è. [Opere, I V , 12.]

j 51

;2

APPENDIX

(To page 96 of text) Nato e cresciuto a rio servaggio in seno, Pur dire osai: Servir, l'alma mi guasta; Loco, ove solo U N contra tutti basta, Patria non m'è, benché natio terreno. [Opere, III, 22.]

(To page 96 of text) Non t'è mai Patria, no, il tuo suol paterno, S'ivi aggiunta non bevi al latte primo Libertà vera, in cui Virtude ha il perno Tal, ch'io null'altro al paragon n'estimo. [Opere, III, 174.] (To pages 97-98 of text) Quattrocent'anni, et più, rivolto ha il cielo, Da che il Tosco secondo, in carmi d'oro Si dolse aver canuto Italia il pelo, E morta essere ad ogni alto lavoro. Che direbbe or, s'ei del corporeo velo Ripreso il carco, all'immortal suo alloro Star sì presso mirasse il crudo gelo D'ignoranza, che fa di sè tesoro? E se sapesse, ch'ei non è più inteso ; E, men che altrove, in suo fiorito nido, Ch'ora è di spini e di gran lezzo offeso? E s'ei provasse il secol nostro infido ? E s'ei sentisse or dei re nostri il peso? E s'ei vedesse chi di fama ha grido ? [Opere, III, 94.]

APPENDIX (To page 98 of t e x t ) A i Fiorentini il pregio del bel dire ; A i Romaneschi quel di male oprare; Napoletani mastri in schiamazzare; E i Genovesi di fame patire. I Torinesi ai v i z j altrui scoprire, I Veneziani han gusto a lasciar f a r e ; I buoni Milanesi a banchettare; L o r ospiti i Lucchesi a infastidire. T a l e d'Italia è la primaria g e n t e ; Smembrata tutta, e d'indole diversa; Sol concordando appieno in non f a r niente. Nell'ozio e ne'piacer nojosi immersa, Negletta giace, e sua viltà non sente; F i n sopra il capo entro a Lete sommersa. [Opere,

I I I , 110.]

( T o page 103 of t e x t ) In mille guise, due sentenze sole Questo miscuglio garrulo racchiude: Che libertà è virtude ; E che i Galli esser liberi, son fole. Chi già il sapea, non logori qui gli occhi; Chi non vuol creder, tocchi. [Il Misogallo,

Opere,

I V , 121.]

( T o page 103 of t e x t ) T u t t o fanno, e nulla sanno; Tutto sanno, e nulla f a n n o : Gira, volta, e'son F r a n c e s i ; P i ù li pesi, M e n ti danno. [Il Misogallo,

Opere,

I V , 164.]

APPENDIX

154 ( T o page 103 of text)

Ogni gente in tre specie si divide, Buoni, mezzani, e tristi. M a chi i Francesi ha visti In dirli tutti d'una coincide. Buoni, son pochi, e son buoni da nulla; Tristi, assai, ma dappoco; Mezzani dunque, in sempiterna culla, Tutti son; tutti eunuchi, a molto o poco. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 152.] ( T o page 104 of text) Fantoccini son sempre i Galli stati: Fantoccini eran dianzi incipriati; Fantoccini or fetenti insanguinati. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 178.] ( T o page 104 of text) Libertà ch'ei non hanno, han pur già sparta Per tutta Europa; ogni Galluzzo è Achille; E sono un nulla e Atene, e Roma, e Sparta. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 145-146.] ( T o page 104 of text) Falso orecchio hanno i Galli, e semi-naso, Scema testa, corti occhi, e molle mano. Che resta dunque in fondo di un tal vaso, Onde abbia uscirne un popolo sì vano? Due gran cose ; ed entrambe Fan tutto l'esser loro, lingua, e gambe. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 148.]

APPENDIX page 104 of text) L a testa e il capo, o sien due cose od una, Certo in fra' Galli son cosa nessuna. Del capo non fan uso; Delle lor teste, fa la scure abuso. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 181.] page 105 of text) Mi vien da rider, quand'io sento dire Che un birbo o sciocco pensa alla francese. Il vestire, il ciarlare, l'arricciarsi, Il ballare, il rubare, ed il vantarsi, Son cose queste ch'ei può avere apprese Da quel gentil paese : Ma il pensare e il sentire, Tanto prender si può da que' scimiozzi Quanto attinger si può fuoco dai pozzi. [Opere, I V , 22.] page 105 of text) Orrido carcer fetido, che stanza Degna è fra' Galli al malfattor più infame, Schiude il ferreo stridente aspro serrarne, E Donna entro vi appar d'alta sembianza. D'innocenza la nobile baldanza Schernir le fa l'empie servili trame; Regina sempre ; è trono a lei lo strame, Su cui giacente ogni uom più forte avanza. Tremar veggio ivi i pallidi custodi; E tremare i carnefici, che il segno Stanno aspettando dai tremanti Erodi. Vedova, e Madre straziata, pregno Di morte il cor, del tuo morir tu godi, Donna, il cui minor danno è il tolto Regno. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 166.]

APPENDIX ( T o page i o 6 of t e x t ) L à , dove Italia boreal diventa, E dai prossimi Galli imbarbarita, Coll'w, coll'eú, coll'à«, coll'ón, spaventa O g n i orecchia di Tosche aure nutrita, L à nacqui, e duolmen forte ; e a me il rammenta L a mia lingua al bel dire intirizzita, L'illegittima frase scarsa, e spenta D ' o g n i lepor, d'ogni eleganza ardita. A h i fiacca Italia, d'indolenza ostello, Cui niegan corpo i membri troppi, e sparti, Sorda e muta ti stai ritrosa al bello? D a ' tuoi gerghi, e dal Gallico, ti parti; A l tornar U n a , il primo vol fia quello ; Seguirán tosto vere alte bell'arti. [Il Misogatto,

Opere,

I V , 173.]

( T o page 107 of t e x t ) L ' A t t i c a , il Lazio, indi l'Etruria, diero In lor varie flessibili favelle P r o v e a migliaia, ch'ogni cosa è in elle, E il forte, e il dolce, e il maestoso, e il vero. T a r d e poi, sotto ammanto ispido fero, Sorser l'altre Europee genti novelle, Stridendo in rime a inerme orecchio felle, E inceppate in pedestre sermon mero. Ciò disser, carmi ; e chi Ί credea, n'è degno. N è bastò; ch'essi, audacemente inetti, O s a r o anco schernir l'Italo ingegno. D i tai loro barbarici bei detti Vendicator, d'ira laudevol pregno, Giungo, securo dall'averli io letti. [Il Misogallo,

Opere,

I V , 176.]

APPENDIX ( T o pages 107-108 of t e x t ) Se pregio v'ha, per cui l'un Popol deggia Palma d'ingegno sovra l'altro aversi, P r e g i o al certo sovrano egli è il valersi D i favella che in copia e in suon primeggia. N o n v'è questo mio dire, Itali, oscuro, Nostra è la palma or da Natura, e chere Sol che si nutra in noi sua sacra vampa. [Opere,

I I I , 148.]

( T o page 110 of t e x t ) A h i memorabil giorno ! A t r o c e , è ver, ma fin di tutte ambasce: D i libertade adorno F i a questo il dì che vera Francia nasce. [In Parigi sbastiglìato,

Opere,

I I I , 137.]

( T o page 1 1 6 of t e x t ) D a ch'io bevvi le prime aure di vita, D a ch'io l'alma sfogai vergando carte, C o n lingua a un tempo vereconda, e ardita, Posi in laudar la libertade ogn'arte. O d o or la Gallia, in servitù marcita, Che il danno altrui senza il suo pro sol chere; E fatta sede di liberti, invita A se stesse disfar, le genti intere; E il nome stesso venerando adopra D i Libertà, cui non conosce, e macchia Col sozzo labbro, e la sozzissim'opra. Quindi ognor più nel buio il ver s'immacchia ; E vien, ch'etade ognor più tarda scopra Q u a l fosse il Cigno, e qual la ria Cornacchia. [Il Misogallo,

Opere,

I V , 153-154.]

APPENDIX

(To page 117 of text) È Repubblica il suolo, ove divine Leggi son base a umane leggi, e scudo ; Ove null'uomo impunemente crudo All'uom può farsi, e ognuno ha il suo confine : Ove non è chi mi sgomenti, 0 inchine; Ov'io Ί cuore, e la mente appien dischiudo; Ov'io di ricco non son fatto ignudo; Ove a ciascuno il ben di tutti è fine. È Repubblica il suolo, ove illibati Costumi han forza, e il giusto sol primeggia, Nè i tristi van del pianto altrui beati.— Sei Repubblica tu, Gallica greggia, Che muta or servi a rei pezzenti armati, La cui vii feccia su la tua galleggia? [Il Misogallo, Opere, IV, 153.] (To page 117 of text) Schiavi spregiare, ed abborrir Tiranni, Tal fu ognor la mia sola alta scienza; Schiavi in Gallia, e Tiranni, altro non veggio ; Nessun me dunque or danni, Se ai Numi io sferza a un tempo, e fulmin chieggio Contro i vili empj aborti di licenza. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 165.] ( T o page 118 of text) Di Libertà maestri i Galli? E a cui? A noi fervide ardite Itale menti, D'ogni alta cosa insegnatori altrui?— Schiavi or siam, sì; ma schiavi almen frementi; Non quali, o Galli, e il foste, e il siete vui; Schiavi, al poter qual ch'ei pur sia, plaudenti. [7/ Misogallo, Opere, IV, 154.]

APPENDIX

page 118 of text) Maravigliose veramente e nuove L'opre dei Galli or sono.— Fatto già del lor Re vedovo il Trono ; E la Salica Legge, Che avean dai tempi del barbato Giove, Scartata anch'essa; ornai Gallia si regge Non più a Re, come pria, bensì a Regina, Promossa al sacro onor la Guigliotina : Ma di sì ria pedina, Che in isposa al Terror promessa s'è, Rinascerà ben tosto un Più-che-Re. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 181-182.] page 123 of text) Non è dai Galli, oibò, l'Italia invasa: Gli è tutto pan di casa, L'una fogna nell'altra or si travasa. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 201.] pages 123-124 of text) Odio all'emula Roma acerbo eterno Giurava il forte Annibale su l'ara : Nè a vuoto usciva la minaccia amara, Che gli era anzi di Gloria eccelso perno. Io, benché nato nel più inerte verno Dell'Italia spezzata, e d'armi ignara, Odio a'Galli giurai, nè fia men chiara Quest'ira un dì, s'io l'avvenir pur scerno. Forse verrà, che in altri Itali petti Sdegno e valore ribollendo, e forza, Farà mio giuro aver sublimi effetti. Svelato intanto in sua bugiarda scorza Sia'l putridume dei superbi insetti, Che virtù grida, e ogni virtude ammorza. [Il Misogallo, Opere, I V , 142-143.]

APPENDIX

ι6ο ( T o page 124 of text)

Giorno verrà, tornerà il giorno, in cui Redivivi ornai gl'Itali, staranno In campo audaci, e non col ferro altrui In vii difesa, ma dei Galli a danno. A l forte fianco sproni ardenti dui, L o r virtù prisca, ed i miei carmi, avranno : Onde, in membrar ch'essi già fur, ch'io fui, D'irresistibil fiamma avvamperanno. E armati allor di quel furor celeste Spirato in me dall'opre dei lor A v i , Faran mie rime a Gallia esser funeste. Gli odo già dirmi: O Vate nostro, in pravi Secoli nato, eppur create hai queste Sublimi età, che profetando andavi. [Il Mìsogatlo, Opere, I V , 209. Probably written on February 12, 1795 ; see Renier's edition of 11 Misogallo, 170, n. 1. For earlier manuscript traces of this sonnet, see Vaccalluzzo, N., Saggi e documenti di letteratura e storia (Catania, 1924), 345-346.]

BIBLIOGRAPHY The literature on Alfieri is very extensive and the following bibliography makes no pretense to completeness. Those interested in the various editions of his works and in a list of books dealing with him should consult G. Bustico's bibliography on Alfieri with its nineteen hundred and fifteen entries (3d ed., Florence, 1927). Virtually all the material in Bustico's bibliography which bears on the subject of this volume has been consulted. It has been deemed advisable to omit many books listed by Bustico and many books relating to the theory of nationalism. The list below is made up for the most part of books cited in the text. Books are also given which may be helpful in studying the development of nationalism in Italy. The more important critical works useful for the study of nationalism in Alfieri are marked with an asterisk. I U S E F U L EDITIONS OF THE W O R K S OF A L F I E R I A.

COMPLETE W O R K S

Opere, ristampate nel primo centenario della sua morte (Turin, 1903), i l vols. Opere (Pisa, 1805-1815), 22 vols. Opere (Florence, 1925). This edition, under the very careful supervision of Francesco Maggini, promises to be the best edition of the complete works of Alfieri. Thus far only five volumes have been published. The Tragedie are in the first two, the Commedie in the third, the Vita scritta de esso, giornali e annali in the fourth, and the Rime in the fifth. Β.

SEPARATE W O R K S

Bruto primo. Tragedia del Conte Vittorio Alfieri. In Venezia, l'anno MDCCXCVII, primo della libertà italiana. Contravveleno poetico per la pestilenza corrente. Scriviam per tutto in cartelloni appesi. È libertà, dove non è francesi. Piovan Arlotto, face2. 105 (Florence, 1799). Selections from II Misogallo of Alfieri published anonymously. Della tirannide, Del principe e delle lettere, Panegirico di Plinio a Traiano, La virtù sconosciuta, ed. by A . Donati (Bari, 1927). A n excellent edition of these works with a very good bibliographical note. 161

BIBLIOGRAPHY

IÓ2

Del principe e delle lettere, con altre prose (Florence, 1859). With a preface by Giosuè Carducci. Il Misogallo, le satire e gli epigrammi edite e inedite, ed. by R. Renier (Florence, 1884). The best edition of these works. Indispensable. Lettere edite e inedite, ed. by G. Mazzatinti (Turin, 1890). Life, with an essay by William D. Howells (Boston, 1877). Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Victor Alfieri, written by himself. Tr. from the Italian (London, 18x0), 2 vols. Satire e poesie minori (Florence, 1858). With a preface by Giosuè Carducci. Scritti giovanili inediti o rari, ed. by A . Pellizzari (Naples, 19x6). The Tragedies. Tr. from the Italian by Charles Lloyd (London, 1815), 3 vols. The Tragedies complete, including his posthumous works. Tr. from the Italian. Ed. by E. A . Bowring (London, 1876). Tragedie di Vittorio Alfieri da Asti con una notizia intorno agli avito-, grafi delle tragedie conservati nella Mediceo-Laurenziana ed alle prime e principali edizioni di esse per Carlo Milanesi (Florence, 1866), 2 vols. Vita, giornali, lettere, ed. by E. Teza (Florence, 1861). II BOOKS CITED I N THE T E X T , BOOKS ON T H E POLITICAL INTELLECTUAL

HISTORY OF I T A L Y

V A R I O U S ASPECTS OF I T A L I A N

AND BOOKS

AND

ON

NATIONALISM

Antonini, G., and Cognetti De Martiis, L., Vittorio Alfieri, studi psicopatologici (Turin, 1898). Arullani, V . Α., L'opera di Vittorio Alfieri e la sua importanza laica nazionale e civile (Turin, 1907). Balbo, C., Della storia d'Italia dalle origini fino ai giorni nostri. Sommario, ed. by F. Nicolini (Bari, 1913-1914), 2 vols. Barzellotti, G., Dal rinascimento al risorgimento, 2d ed. (Palermo, 1909Î). Battaglia, F., L'opera di Vincenzo Cuoco e la formazione dello spirito nazionale in Italia (Florence, 1925). Beccaria, C., Dei delitti e delle pene (Livorno, 1764). •Bertana, E., Vittorio Alfieri studiato nella vita, nel pensiero e nell'arte, 2d ed. (Turin, 1904). , La tragedia (Milan, 190 ?). Berti, D., Scritti vari (Turin, 1892), 2 vols. Boncompagni, C., La tradizione liberale piemontese. Lezioni preliminari al corso di diritto costituzionale (Turin, 1867). Borgese, G. Α., Storia della critica romantica in Italia, con una nuova Prefazione (Milan, 1920).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

163

Botta, G, Storia d'Italia continuata da quella del Guicciardini sino al 1789 (Capolago, 1835). , Storia d'Italia dal 1789 al 1814 (Italia, 1834). Bouhours, D., La manière de bien penser dans les ouvrages d'esprit. Dialogues, 3d ed. (Paris, 1695). Bouvy, E., " De Dante à Alfieri. L'idée de patrie dans la poésie italienne du X I V au X V I I I siècle ", in Bulletin italien, i. e. Annales de la Faculté des Lettres de Bourdeaux et des Universités du midi (Bourdeaux, October-December, 1914). , " Alfieri, Monti, Foscolo. La poésie patriotique en Italie de 1789 à 1815", in Bulletin italien (Bourdeaux, January-March, 1917, April-June, July-December, 1918). Brofferio, Α., I miei tempi (Turin, 1902-1905), 8 vols. Bulle, O., Die italienische Einheitsidee in ihrer litterarischen Entwicklung von Parini bis Manzoni (Berlin, 1893). Bustico, G., Bibliografia di Vittorio Alfieri, 3d ed. (Florence, 1927). Byron, Lord, Works in verse and prose including his letters, journals etc., with a sketch of his life (Hartford, 1853). *Calosso, U., L'anarchia di Vittorio Alfieri. Discorso critico sulla tragedia Alfieriana (Bari, 1924). Cantù, G, Storia degli italiani, 4th ed. (Turin, 1893-1896), 6 vols. , Storia della letteratura italiana (Florence, 1865). Carducci, G., Letture del risorgimento italiano, scelte e ordinate (17481870) (Bologna, 1920?). , Poesie MDCCCL-MCM, 12th ed. (Bologna, n. d.). Carli, G. R., Opere (Milan, 1784-1794), 19 vols. Carte segrete e atti ufficiali della polizia austriaca in Italia dal 4 Giugno 1814 al 22 Marzo 1848 (Capolago, 1851-52), 3 vols. Cattaneo, G, Opere edite e inedite, ed. by A. Bertani (Florence, 18811892), 7 vols. Centofanti, S., Tragedie e vita di Vittorio Alfieri. Volume unico preceduto da un ragionamento storico-critico (Florence, 1842). Cian, V., "Vittorio Alfieri", in Fanfulla della Domenica (Rome, January I, 18, 25, February ι, 1903). Ciasca, R., L'origine del "Programma per l'opinione nazionale italiana" del 1847-48 (Milan, 1916). Concari, T., Il settecento (Milan, η. d.). Conciliatore, II, foglio scientifico-letterario (Milan, 1818-1819). Croce, B., Conversazioni critiche, second series, 2d ed. rev. (Bari, 1924). * , European Literature in the Nineteenth Century. Tr. from the Italian with an introduction by Douglas Ainslie (New York, 1924). A translation of Croce's Poesia e non-poesia (Bari, 1923). , I teatri di Napoli dal rinascimento alla fine del secolo decimottavo, 3d ed. rev. (Bari, 1926).

164

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, I primi scritti in prosa di Vittorio Alfieri (Florence, 1899). Faldella, G., Piemonte ed Italia. Rapsodia di storia patriottica (Turin, 1910-1911), 12 vols. Farinelli, Α., "Vittorio Alfieri nell'arte e nella vita', in Rivista d'Italia (Rome, October, 1903). Ferrari, Α., La preparazione intellettuale del risorgimento italiano 17481789 (Milan, 1923). Ferrari, G., Storia delle rivoluzioni d'Italia (Milan, 1870-1872), 3 vols. Ferrari, L., Le traduzioni italiane del teatro tragico francese nei secoli XVII e XVIII. Saggio bibliografico (Paris, 1925). Ferrari, L., Del Caffè, periodico milanese del secolo XVIII (Pisa, 1899). Filangieri, G., La scienza della legislazione (Naples, 17801785), 8 vols. Foffano, F., Ricerche letterarie (Livorno, 1897). Foscolo, U., Opere edite e postume (Florence, 1923), 12 vols. Franchetti, Α., Storia d'Italia dal 1789 al 179Q, 2d ed. rev. and enl. by F. Lemmi (Milan, 1907). See also original ed. (Milan, 1881?). , " Della rivoluzione francese e della coscienza politica nazionale in Italia", in Nuova Antologia (Rome, Aprii 1, June 16, 1889). Galiani, F., Della moneta (Naples, 1750). Galletti, Α., Le teorie drammatiche e la tragedia in Italia nel secolo XVIII. Parte I. 1700-1750 (Cremona, 1901). Gardner, E. G., The national idea in Italian literature (Manchester, 1921). Genovesi, Α., Delle lezioni di commercio o sia di economia civile (Naples, 1765)· •Gentile, G., L'eredità di Vittorio Alfieri (Venice, 1926). , Dal Genovesi al Galuppi. Ricerche storiche (Naples, 1903). Gerbi, Α., La politica del settecento. Storia di un'idea (Bari, 1928). Giannone, P., Dell'istoria civile del regno di Napoli (Naples, 1723), 4 vols. Gioberti, V., Pensieri e giudizi sulla letteratura italiana e straniera, ed. by F. Ugolini (Florence, 1856). ^Gobetti, P., La filosofia politica di Vittorio Alfieri (Turin, 1923). Graf, Α., L'anglomania e l'influsso inglese in Italia nel secolo XVIII (Turin, 1911). Hayes, C. J . H., Essays on Nationalism (New York, 1926). Hazard, P., La revolution française et les lettres italiennes 1789-1815 (Paris, 1910). Julien, Α., Alfieri aux Champs Êlisées, représenté pour la première fois le 14 février 1806 et jours suivons par les artistes français du théâtre Carignan, dédié à Mr. le général Memon, par Mr. Amédée Julien, ancien capitain des Dragons (Turin, 1806). Landau, M., Geschichte der italienischen Litteratur im achtzehnten Jahrhundert (Berlin, 1899).

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Lee, Vernon (pseud, of Violet Paget), The Countess of Albany (London, 1884). , Studies of the Eighteenth Century in Italy (London, 1880). Leli, M., Il risorgimento dello spirito italiano, 1725-1861 (Milan, 1928). Lemmi, F., Le origini del risorgimento italiano {1748-1815), 2d ed. (Milan, 1924). , Il risorgimento (Rome, 1926). A bibliography. Leopardi, G., Opere (Florence, 1924), 15 vols. Lombroso, C , Genio e degenerazione. Nuovi studi e nuove battaglie (Palermo, 1897). Luchaire, J., Essai sur l'évolution intellectuelle de l'Italie de 1815 à 1830 (Paris, 1906). Lumbroso, Α., Deux lettres historiques. V. Alfieri à Louis XVI. O. Feuillet à Napoléon III. MDCCLXXXIX-MDCCCLXIX (Rome, 1898). Machiavelli, Ν., Opere (Italia, 1813), 8 vols. Manzoni, Α., Tutte le opere, ed. by G. Lesea (Florence, 1923). , Carteggio. Parte Prima. 1803-1821, ed. by G. Sforza and G. Gallavresi (Milan, 1912). Martini, F., " Il Misogallo ", in Fanfulla della Domenica (Rome, May 22, 1881). *Masi, E., Asti e gli Alfieri nei ricordi della Villa di San Martino (Florence, 1903). , Il pensiero politico di Vittorio Alfieri. Conferenza (Florence, 1896). , Il risorgimento italiano (Florence, 1917), 2 vols. , Studi sulla storia del teatro italiano nel secolo XVIII (Florence, 1891) Maugain, G., L'évolution intellectuelle de l'Italie de 1657 à 1750 environ (Paris, 1909). Mazzatinti, G., Inventario dei manoscritti italiani delle biblioteche di Francia, in Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione. Indici e cataloghi V (Rome, n. d.), 3 vols. , " Le carte Alfieriane di Montpellier ", in Giornale storico della letteratura italiana (Turin, 1884), III, 27-61, 337-385, IV, 129-161; and under title " Ancora delle carte Alfieriane di Montpellier " (1887), IX, 49-80. Mazzini, G., Scritti editi e inediti. National edition (Imola, 1906). 55 vols, thus far. Mazzoni, G., L'ottocento (Milan, 1913), 2 vols. , Abati, soldati, autori, attori del settecento (Bologna, 1924?). Menotti, Α., Ricordi biografici con lettere e scritti, ed. by L. Salimbeni (Modena, 1880). Menzio, Ρ. Α., Alfieri, Gioberti, Mazzini-e il risorgimento italiano. Voi. I, Alfieri (Casalbordino, 1912).

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Messeri, Α., La rivoluzione francese e Vittorio Alfieri (Pistoia, 1893). Mestica, G., Prose e poesie scelte di Vittorio Alfieri per cura di G. Mestica con un discorso sulla politica nell'opera letteraria dell'autore (Milan, 1898). Michel, I. R., Le misogallisme d'Alfieri (Chambéry, 1902). Michieli, Α., " U. Foscolo contro V. Alfieri ", in Rivista d'Italia (Rome, December, 1902). , "Ugo Foscolo a Venezia", in Nuovo Archivio Veneto. New Series. V, 367-394, VI, 181-245, 432-474 (Venice, 1903), VII, 32-65 (Venice, 1904). Mondami, G., Giovanni Fabbroni (1752-1822) : contributo critico alla storia dell' economia politica in Toscana (Florence, 1897). Monitore Bolognese, Il (Bologna, January 21, November 28, 1797). Montanari, Β., Della vita e delle opere d'Ippolito Pindemonte (Venice, 1834). Monti, V., Epistolario, ed. by A. Bartoldi (Florence, 1928), 5 vols, thus far. , Opere (Milan, 1839-1842), 6 vols. Muratori, L., Della perfetta poesia italiana, ed. by A. M. Salvini (Milan, 1821), 4 vols. , Antiquitates italicae medìi aevi (Milan, 1738-1742), 6 vols. , Annali d'Italia dal principio dell'era volgare sino all'anno 174Ç (Milan, 1744-1749), 12 vols. , Rerum, italicarum scriptores (Milan, 1723-1751), 28 vols. , Delle antichità Estensi ed italiane (Modena, 1717, 1740). Natali, G., Idee costumi uomini del settecento. Studi e saggi letterarii, 2d ed. (Turin, 1926). , Il settecento (Milan, 1929), 2 vols. Neri, Α., " L'apoteosi di Vittorio Alfieri al Teatro Carignano," in Gazzetta Letteraria, Artistica e Scientifica (Turin, April 11, 1885). Novati, F., " L'Alfieri poeta comico ", in Nuova Antologia (Rome, September 15, October ι, 1881). Nulli, S. Α., " L'Alfieri tra i classicisti e i romantici ", in Rivista d'Italia (Rome, November 1, 1917). Orsi, G., Considerazioni del Marchese Giovan-Gioseffo Orsi, Bolognese, sopra la maniera di ben pensare ne' componimenti, già publicata dal Padre Domenico Bouhours della Compagnia di Gesù. S'aggiungono tutte le scritture che in occasione di questa letteraria contesa uscirono a favore e contro al detto Marchese Orsi. Colla di lui vita e colle sue rime in fine (Modena, 1735), 2 vols. Ortiz, R., " Per la fortuna del teatro Alfieriano in Rumania ", in Giornale storico della letteratura italiana (Turin, 1911), LVII, 277-302, LVIII, 49-95Ottolenghi, L., Vita, studii e lettere inedite di Luigi Ornato (Turin, 1878).

ι68

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INDEX Aeschylus, 87 Agamennone (Alfieri's), 44, 87 Ägide (Alfieri's), 45, 87, 143 Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 13 Albany, Countess oí, 32, 33, 35, 39, 112, 114, 115, 122 Alexander, 66, 68 Alfieri, Life, early years, education, travels over Europe, love affairs, " literary conversion ", literary production, political experiences, character sketch, in Introduction, 20-40 Hatred of tyranny and love of liberty: his theatre and patriotic ends; conception of tyrannical governments, of people, of nobility, of forms of government, of liberty; relation of political ideas to nationalism, in Chap. I Freedom and Advancement of Literature: opposition to patrona g e ; function of literature and of the writer; demand for literature advocating liberty ; function of nobility in this; redemption of Italy through writers ; as a great tribune of Italian liberty and patriotism, in Chap. II Religion: relation of pagan and Christian religions to liberty; censure of Catholicism ; differs from French philosophes; destinction b e t w e e n religious dogma and religious sentiment; deism ; anti-clerical and antiCatholic; opposition to temporal power of the popes; religion of the fatherland, Chap. I l l Classicism: Idealization of patriotism as a virtue; inspiration of ancient writers; idealization of ancients; importance in Italy ; a proto-romantic, Chap. IV

Patriotism and Nationalism: his Exhortation to Liberate Italy from the Barbarians ; conception of patria and government of laws: exaltation of great Italians. Il Misogallo: hatred of French Revolution, people and language ; its motives ; its nationalist importance. The will to make Italy independent and one; Chap. V Nationalist Influence and Conclusion: reputation in Italy and abroad ; influence on various groups of Risorgimento; influence on Piedmontese, on nobility, on Jacobin theatre in Italy; attitude of Austrian government and of Catholic Church; influence on Italian poets. Chap. V I Amadée, Julien, 142 America, 14, 33, 41, 55, 61, 70, 88, 108, 115 Anarchism and Alfieri, 53-60 Antigone (Alfieri's), 43, 87 Antonini, 38η. Antony and Cleopatra (Alfieri's), 29 Arcadia, 18, 40, 72, 73 Ariosto, 22, 28, 31, 67, 75, 113 Aristophanes, 87 Asti, 21, 23, 96 Athens, 68, 97, 104 Augustus, 67, 68, 69 Austria, 13, 25, 118, 126 Autobiography of Alfieri, 20-40, 41, 71, 92, 103, 143-144 Bacon, 68 Balbo, 135-136, 144η. Baretti, 72 Bastille, 34, 55, 109, n o Bayle, 68 Beauharnais, 141 Beccaria, 18

171

172

INDEX

Benevolent despotism, in Italy, 15 ; and Alfieri, 26, 46, 59 Bertana, 21η., 39η., 74«-, Ι20η., Ι2ΐη., 128η., 135η. Boccaccio, 28, 67, 68 Boeri, 119η. Boileau, 119 Bonaparte, 139 Borgese, 133η. Botta, 140η., 144η. Bouhours, 119-120 Bourgeoisie in 18th century Italy, 15-16 Brofferio, 53η., 132η. Bruto primo, 44, 50, 87, 139, 140141, 143 Bruto secondo, 44, 50, 87, 98, 99, 143 Brutus, 67, 69, 88, 122 Burns, 109 Bustico, 161 Byron, 130 Caffè, II, 18 Calosso, 53η., 6on. Caluso, Abbé, 28, 109η. Canova, 37 Carducci, 85, 98, 128η., 146-147 Carli, 18 Cartesians, 16-17 Catherine the Great, 26, 33, 74 Catholic Church, 13-14, 17; see Chap. I I I ; 94, 143 Cato, 67, 102 Cattaneo, 132η. Cavour, so, 133 Cellini, 20 Emmanuel, King Charles, 39 Chénier, André, 109 Christ, 82 Ciasca, i8rL Cicero, 68 Coleridge, 109 Conciliatore, II, 136-137 Concordi, Academy of, 135 Condillac, 74 Congiura de' Passi (Conspiracy of the Pazzi of Alfieri), 45, 87, 99η. Constitutional monarchy and Alfieri, 53-62

Contravveleno poetico per la pestilenza corrente (Alfieri's), 100 Croce, 16, 17η., gì, 92, 119η., i2on., 125, 130η., I40n.

Crusca, Academy of the, Ii8n. Curtius, 31 Cusani, 139η. Cyrus, 66 D'Ancona, non. Dante, 28, 31, 67, 68, 75, 84, 97, 113, 137-138, 146, 147 D'Azeglio, 132, 137 Deism and Alfieri, 82-84 Della Tirannide (On Tyranny of Alfieri), see especially Chap. I ; 63, 77, 99, 108, 143 Del Principe e Delle Lettere (On Government and Literature of Alfieri), see especially Chap. II ; 41, 45, 88, 92, 94, 99, 108, 133, 143 Descartes, 16, 119 Deci, 67, 69 Del Lungo, 136η. Del Pinto, 139η. De Maistre, 130 Demosthenes, 56, 68, 102 Denina, 33 Denmark, 25 Deism and Alfieri, 82-84 De Ruggiero, 17η., 55 π · De Sanctis, 89η., 9ΐ, 144"· De Sismondi, 141 Diderot, 73 Di Tocco, 128η. Donati, Α., i6i Don Garsia (Alfieri's), 44 Dutch, 46, 55, 78, 102, 115 Elia, 29 Encyclopaedists, 42, 59, 82 England, 13, 15, 19, 22, 23, 25, 46, 51, 52, 54-55, 61, 70, 78, 92, 102, 106, 112, 113 L'Etruria vendicata (The Revenge of Etruria of Alfieri), 47 Euripides, 87 Exhortation to Liberate Italy from the Barbarians (Alfieri's), 71, 90, 94-95, 99, 127-128 Fabbris, 141η., 142η. Fabbroni, 18 Fabii, 67 Fabius, 88 Faldella, 53η., 55η., 58η. Farinelli, 130η. Ferrari, Giuseppe, 132

m

INDEX Ferrari, L., i8n. Ferrari, L., I20n. Filangieri, 17 Filippo (Alfieri's), 43 Flanders, 112 Florence, 23, 27, 35, 100, 126 ; Florentines, 19, 98 Forms of government and Alfieri : as a republican, constitutional monarchist and anarchist, 53-62 Foscolo, 133, 136, 144-145. 147 Fox, Charles James, 109 France, hatred of (II Misogallo), Chap. V ; 34-37, 147-148 Franceschi, 83 Franchetti, 14η., n o n . Frederick the Great, 15, 25, 26, 32, 74 French language, Alfieri's attitude towards, 106-108 French people, Alfieri's attitude towards, see Chap. V French Revolution, 13, 17, 20, 3437, 49, 61, 85, 89, 91 ; s e e 99-120

for Alfieri's opposition to it; 138 French thinkers and Alfieri, 27-28, 41-42, 5 1 , 59, 82-84, 89

Galiani, 17 Galileo, 68 Galletti, 119η., I20n., 121η. Genoa, 14, 28, 57, 101 ; Genoese, 98 Genovesi, 17, 128 Gentile, 135η., 136η. Goeffrey, 69 Gerbi, 53η., 6on. Germany, 25, 46, 78, 91, 92, 102, 113

Giannone, 17, 128 Gibbon, 68 Gioberti, 95, 133, 137-138, 147 Gladstone, 50 Gobetti, 58η. Goethe, 21, 109, 130 Goldoni, 18, 22, 119 Government of laws and Alfieri, 45-46, 48, 57, 62, 95-97

Gracchi, 56 Graf, 25η., n ç n . , 134η. Gravina, 121 Greek dramatists, 67 Greek republics, 68, 88 Guidi, 28 Hannibal, 88, Hazard, 122 η,

123-124

Hebrews, 115 Helvetius, 27 Holland, 25, 26, 68, 112 Homer, 68, 89 Horace, 67, 68 Howells, William D., 38η. Humanistic movement, 89 Hume, 68 Ignazi, 83 II Misoqallo (Alfieri's), see especially Chap. V ; 34, 35, 142 I Pochi (Alfieri's), 56 Italy, during the eighteenth century : political and intellectual conditions, 13-20 I Troppi (Alfieri's), 56 I Viaggi (Alfieri's), 24 Jacobin theatre in Italy and Alfieri, 139-141 Jefferson, Thomas, 51 Joseph II, 15 Josephine, 139 Juvenal, 113 Klopstock, 109 L'Abele (Alfieri's), 75 La Grange, 33, 36 L'antidoto (Alfieri's), 56, 58 L'antireligioneria (Alfieri's), 82 La Sesqui-Plebe, (Alfieri's), 50 La Virtu Sconosciuta (Alfieri's), 38, 63η.

Lee, Vernon, 32η. Lemmi, 14η. Leopardi, 42, 133, 145-146, I47 Livy, 68, 86, 87 Locke, 68 Lombardy, 15, 17, 18, 1 4 2 - 1 4 3 Lombroso, 38 Louis XIV, 68 Louis XV, 24, 25 Louis XVI, 55, 109, 139 Lucca, 14, 24; Lucchese, 98 L'Uno (Alfieri's), 56 Luchaire, 141η. Machiavelli, 28, 37, 63, 68, 71, 75. 95, 97, 146 Maffei, Scipione, 120, 1 2 1 - 1 2 2 Maggini, 56η., i6i Magna Carta, 56, 57 Manzoni, 133, 142 Marcellus, 67

INDEX

174

Maria Stuarda (Alfieri's), 45η. Maria Theresa, 25 Marie Antoinette, 105 Martelli, Pier Iacopo, 121 Masi, 14η., 2in., 53η., 139η., 140η. Maugain, 119η. Mazzatinti, 36η. Mazzini, 85, 132, 133

Papal States, 13-14 Parini, 18, 72, 42η., I2in., 136 Parma, 15, 31 ; Philip of, 74 Patetta, 74η., 115η. Pellico, 133, 136-137 Pellizzari, 28η. People, Alfieri's conception o f ,

Medici, 68 Merope (Alfieri's), 45; Maffei's,

Pericles, 68 Petrarch, 23, 28, 31, 67, 68, 75, 97, "3 Piedmont, 14, 21, 22, 30, 39, 40, 76,

Mazzoni, 42η., 8οη., Ι39 η · 121-122

Mestica, 53η. Metastasio, 18, 22, 25, 74, 90, 137 Michelangelo, 37, 97 Michieli, 144η. Milanesi, 51η. Miollis, General, 36 Mirra (Alfieri's), 43, 87 Misogallo, II, see II Mìsogallo Mohammed, 83 Mondaini, i8n. Montanari, n o n . Montesquieu, 27, 42, Si, 58, 59 Monti, 8on., 81, 141, 145, 147 Moses, 82 Muratori, 17, 19, 120 Naples, 15, 17, 95, 140 Napoleon and Napoleonic era, 20, 129, 131, 141

Natural rights and Alfieri, 48 Neapolitans, 19, 98 Nepos, Cornelius, 21 Neri, 142η. Nietzsche, 93 Nobility, Alfieri's views on, 52-53, 68-70, 138

Novati, 53η., 56η., 58η. Nulli, 133η. Odes to Free America 41, 88, 108

(Alfieri's),

Opera, 74-75 Orestes (Alfieri's), 44, 87 Ornato, 135-136 Orsi, 120 Ortiz, 130η. Ottavia (Alfieri's), 45η., 87 Ottolenghi, 135η., 136η. Paine, Thomas, 105 Paglicci-Brozzi, 139η., 140η. Panegirico di Plinio a Traiano (Panegyric of Pliny to Trajan, Alfieri's), 41, 45, 87, 143

48-52

86, 95, 96, 97, 101, 126

Pindar, 68 Pindemonte, Ippolito, n o Pisa, 24, 31 Pisistratus, 68 Pitt, Penelope, 26-27 Pius VI, Pope, 39 Platen, 130 Plato, 68 Pliny the Younger, 87 Plutarch, 28, 32, 86, 87 Poets, The (Alfieri's), 29 Polidori, Gaetano, n o n . Polinice (Alfieri's), 31, 43 Polybius, 68 Portugal, 13, 14, 25 Prato, 14η. Protestantism, 14; see Chap. I l l Provana, 135-136 Prussia, 25, 26 Pythagoras, 68 Racine, 67 Rapin, 119 Regoli, 83 Renaissance, 19, 89 Renier, 99η., ιοοη., 162 Republican, Alfieri as a, 53-62 Reumont, 32η. Risorgimento, origins o f , 13-20; influence of Alfieri on, 130-145 Robertson, J . G., 119η. Robertson, 68 Romans, 98 Romanticism : Alfieri as a protoromantic, 91-93 Rome, ancient, and Alfieri, 46-47, 53-55. 67-70; see Chap. I V ; 94, 97, 1 0 4 Rome, Alfieri's sonnet on, 81 Rosi, 1411. Rosmunda (Alfieri's), 45η. Roumania and Alfieri's theatre, 130

175

INDEX Rousseau, 20, 27, 42, Sx Rua, 128η. Russia, 25, 113 Sala, 139η. S allusi, 68, 86, 87 Saluzzo, Diodata, 134-135 Salza, 128η. Santa Croce, Church of, 37, 145 Santarosa, 136 Satires (Alfieri's), 143 Saul (Alfieri's), 39, 43 Savioli, Count, n o Scandura, 59η. Scevoli, 83 Scipio, 69, 88 Scott, Walter, Waverley, 32 Seneca, 87 Settembrini, 144η. Siena, 24, 31 Sieyès, 51 Silvagni, 74η. Socrates, 68 Sofonisba (Alfieri's), 45η. Sophocles, 36, 87 Southey, 109, 131η. Spain, 13, 14, 19, 25, 28, 55, 102 Sparta, 97, 104 Staël, Madame de, 130 Stanhope, 109 Statius, 87 Stefani, 83 Stendhal, 130 Stuart, Charles Edward, 32 Sturm und Drang, 92 Sweden, 25 Swiss, 46, 78, 102, 115 Switzerland, 25

Tacitus, 68, 86, 87 Tasso, 22, 28, 3i, 67, 75, " 3 , i45 Temporal power of Popes, Alfieri's opposition to, see Chap. I l l ; 95 Terence, 87 Teza, 48η., iogn. Thucydides, 68 Timoleone (Alfieri's), 44, 87, 139140, 143

Tiraboschi, 19 Titus, 66 Tivaroni, 13 η. Tramelogedia and Alfieri, 75 Turin, 30, 134 Tuscany, 15, 17, 18, 29, 36 Ugolini, 137η., 138η.

Vaccalluzzo, ι6οη. Venice, 14, 19, 23, 57, 98, 123, 142143 Verri, Pietro and Alessandro, 18 Vico, 16, 120 Vicchi, 74η., 8ιη. Villemain, 141η. Virgil, 67, 68, 87 Virginia (Alfieri's), 44, 50, 87, 139 Voltaire, 22, 27, 30η., ξι, 59, 74, 82, 119, 142

Washington, George, 41, 88 Wordsworth, 109 Xenophon, 68 York, Cardinal, 39