Page 322 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

322 from Italy to the Canary Islands

is a place of serenity and it is not rarely that atmospheres reminding para-
dise are evoked.
In his lyrics, Petrarca elevates Nature as to make us dream of docking
in that scenario on a definitive basis. If it then turns out that scenario is the
Fortunate Isles, one would have to think that serenity (who dares to speak
of happiness?) may make even more sense there.

Fuor tutt’i nostri lidi,
ne l’isole famose di Fortuna,
du fonti à: chi de l’una
bee, mor ridendo, e chi de l’altra, scampa.
Simil fortuna stampa
mia vita, che morir poria ridendo
del gran piacer ch’io prendo,
se nol temprassen dolorosi stridi.
Amor, ch’ancor mi guidi
pur a l’ombra di fama occulta e bruna,
tacerem questa fonte, ch’ogni or piena
ma con più larga vena
veggiam quando col Tauro il sol s’aduna;
così gli occhi miei piangon d’ogni tempo,
ma più nel tempo che Madonna vidi.

Everything feels suspended within an infinitely quiet and serene mood.
Neither man nor savage walks by here. Every word is embroidered with
the greatest care. So far from prose! There is only room for Love and any
threat – even of a single word that could splinter the place – cannot enter
the picture.
Thus, dreaming of a remote corner of the world does not always require
the presence of the other, that which makes possible the distinction be-
tween civilization and primitive man. The feeling does not change if from
Petrarca we move to Boiardo’s Amorum Liber, where the poet from Arezzo
evokes the “fontana del riso” (fountain of laughter).

Splendermi al viso il ciel tanto sereno,
Che nul zaffiro a quel termino ariva,
Quando io perveni a una fontana viva