, one of the most famous Italian poets, was born at Florence, Decembers,
, one of the most famous Italian poets,
was born at Florence, Decembers, 1431. He was of a
noble family, and was the most poetical of three brothers
who all assiduously courted the Muses. His two elder
brothers, Bernardo and Luca, appeared as poets earlier
than himself. The first production of the family is probably the Elegy of Bernardo addressed to Lorenzo de'
Jiedici, on the death of his grandfather Cosmo. He also
wrote an elegy on the untimely death of the beautiful Simonetta, mistress of Giuliano de' Medici, the brother of
Lorenzo, which was published at Florence in 1494, though
written much earlier. He produced the first Italian translation of the Eclogues of Virgil, which appears to have
been finished about 1470 and was published in 1481 and
a poem on the Passion of Christ. Luca wrote a celebrated
poem on a tournament held at Florence in which Lorenzo
was victor, in 1468, entitled “Giostra di Lorenzo de'
Medici
” as Politian celebrated the success of Giuliano,
in his “Giostra di. Giuliano de' Medici.
” It is confessed,
however, that the poem of Luca Pulci derives its merit
rather from the minute information it gives respecting the
exhibition, than from its poetical excellence. He produced also “II Ciriffo Calvaneo,
” an epic romance, probably the first that appeared in Italy, being certainly prior
to the Morgante of his brother, and the Orlando Innamorato of Bojardo and the “Driadeo d'Amore,
” a pastoral
romance in ottava rima. There are also eighteen heroic
epistles by him in terza rima, the first from LucretiaDonati to
Lorenzo de Medici, the rest on Greek and Roman subjects.
These were printed in 1481, and do credit to their author.
Luigi appeaps, from many circumstances, to have lived
on terms of the utmost friendship with Lorenzo de Medici,
who, in his poem entitled “La Caccia col Falcone,
” mentions him with great freedom and jocularity. His principal work is the “Morgante maggiore,
” an epic romance.
Whether this or the Orlando Innamorato of Bojardo was
first written, has been a subject of doubt. Certain it is that
the Morgante had the priority in publication, having been
printed at Venice in 1488, after a Florentine edition of
uncertain date whereas Bojardo' s poem did not appear till
1496, and, from some of the concluding lines, appears not
to have been finished in 1494. The Morgante may therefore be justly, as it is generally, regarded as the prototype of the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto. It has been said
without foundation that Ficinus and Politian had a share in
this composition. It was first written at the particular request of Lucretia, mother of Lorenzo de Medici, but it
was not finished till after her death, which happened in
1482. It is said by Crescimbeni that Pulci was accustomed
to recite this poem at the table of Lorenzo, in the manner
of the ancient rhapsodists. This singular offspring of the
wayward genius of Pulci has been as immoderately
commended by its admirers, as it has been unreasonably condemned and degraded by its opponents: and while some
have not scrupled to prefer it to the productions of Ariosto
and Tasso, others have decried it as vulgar, absurd, and
profane. From the solemnity and devotion with which
every canto is introduced, some have judged that the author meant to give a serious narrative, but the improbability of the relation, and the burlesque nature of the incidents, destroy all ideas of this kind. M. de la Monnoye
says that the author, whom he conceives to have been ignorant of rules, has confounded the comic and serious styles,
and made the giant, his hero, die a burlesque death, by
the bite of a sea-crab in his heel, in the twentieth book,
so that in the eight which remain he is not mentioned.
The native simplicity of the narration, he adds, covers all
faults: and the lovers of the Florentine dialect still read it
with delight, especially when they can procure the edition
of Venice, in 1546 or 1550, with the explanations of his
nephew John Pulci. These, however, are no more than
a glossary of a few words subjoined to each canto. There
are also sonnets by Luigi Pulci, published with those of
Matteo Franco, in which the two authors satirize each
other without mercy or delicacy yet it is supposed that
they were very good friends, and only took these liberties
with each other for the sake of amusing the public. They
were published about the fifteenth century, entitled “Sonetti di Misere Mattheo Franco et di Luigi Pulci jocosi et
faceti, cioe da ridere.
” No other poem of this author is
mentioned by Mr. Roscoe, who has given the best account
of him, except “La Beca di Dicomano,
” written in imitatation and emulation of “La Nencio da Barberino,
” by
Lorenzo de Medici, ajid published with it. It is a poem
in the rustic style and language, but instead of the more
chastised and delicate humour of Lorenzo, the poem of
Pulci, says Mr. Roscoe, partakes of the character of his
Morgante, and wanders into the burlesque and extravagant. It has been supposed that this poet died about 1-487,
but it was probably something later. The exact time id
not known.