Old Calabria (Paperback)

Excerpt: ...used before him. Eve's altered complexion after the eating of the forbidden fruit is noted by both poets: Torbata ne la faccia? Non sei quella Qual ti lasciai contenta . . .-SALANDRA (p. 89). Thus Eve with countenance blithe her story told; But in her cheek distemper flushing glowed. -MILTON (ix, 886). only with this difference, that the Italian Eve adds a half-lie by way of explaining the change: . . . Forse cangiata (del che non mi avveggio) Sono nel volto per la tua partenza.-(p. 89). In both poems Sin and Death reappear on the scene after the transgression. The flight of Innocence from earth; the distempered lust which dominates over Adam and Eve after the Fall; the league of Sin and Death to rule henceforward over the world; the pathetic lament of Adam regarding his misfortune and the evils in store for his progeny; his noble sentiment, that none can withdraw himself from the all-seeing eye of God-all these are images which Milton has copied from Salandra. Adam's state of mind, after the fall, is compared by Salandra to a boat tossed by impetuous winds (p. 228): Qual agitato legno d'Austro, e Noto, Instabile incostante, non hai pace, Tu vivi pur . . . which is thus paraphrased in Milton (ix, 1122): . . . High winds worse within Began to rise . . . and shook sore Their inward state of mind, calm region once And full of peace, now tossed and turbulent. Here is a still more palpable adaptation: ... So God ordains: God is thy law, thou mine. -MILTON (iv, 636) . . . . Un voler sia d' entrambi, E quel' uno di noi, di Dio sia tutto. -SALANDRA (p. 42). After the Fall, according to Salandra, vacillo la terra (i), geme (2), e pianse (3), rumoreggiano i tuoni (4), accompagnati da grandini (5), e dense nevi (6), (pp. 138, 142, 218). Milton translates this as follows: Earth trembled from her entrails (1), and nature gave a second groan (2); sky loured and, muttering thunders (4), some...