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Article CHARACTER OF POLITIAN, Page 1 of 2 →
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Character Of Politian,
CHARACTER OF POLITIAN ,
TKS CONFIDENTIAL FRIEND OF TIIE MAGNIFICENT LORENZO . FROM MR . TEKBOVK ' S MEMOIRS Or Till ; H 011 SK OF MEDICI .
A NOELO POLITIANO was the greatest friend ofthe scholars who ¦ * ¦ *¦ distinguished themselves at the restoration of letters .. He was the first amongst the moderns that professed the Greek language ; and Erasmus , whose judgment was acknowledged , and whose admiration was never violent , has not hesitated to reckon him a literary miracle . We meet with the sweetness and the beauties of the
ancients in most of his works , and the attic honey appears to have lost very little of its flavour . His fertile genius extended to every subject , and in his Latin translation of Herodian he has excelled , in the opinion of many scholars , the original . Whilst the Plistory of the Pazzi Conspiracy warms the reader by its interesting relation , he is delighted with the elegance of language ; and in the whole composition Politiano will bear a comparison with St . Real , Sarrazin , or Sallust . Every figure starts out of the canvas , and astonishes us with
its uncommon animation . In his miscellanies a great depth of critical judgment is every where discernable , with exquisite learning ; and his letters afford a rich fund of instruction and amusement . Ofhis Latin poetry it is but just to say it has a relish of the Augustan age . In the problems of Alexander of Aphrodisum we are the least concerned , and from the impertinent answers to useless questions little improvement is to be derived . Yet this version proves that Politiano
had not neglected philosophy . His capacity embraced indeed the whole superficies of ideas , and there was scarcely a literary topic on which he had not exercised it . The Italian Muses , that had been in a deep sleep or lethargy for near a century , were rouzed from their disgraceful slumbers at his soft and powerful voice . His stanzas , 'Delia famosa Giostra , ' resemble Virgil for the brilliancy of expression , and in his Vintage Dithyrambics the harmony of numbers and lhe force of wine are happily united . Those kinds of drama which were called ' Favole
Boscarreccie , ' or Pastoral Fables , were supposed to have been invented by him , and his Orfeo is a produdtion of this species , on which Tasso and Guarini have improved . The stanza of eight rhimes he adopted after the example of the Theseid of Boccacio ; but where Boccacio only made an effort , Politiano succeeded . Too great a conviction of the superiority ofhis own talents rendered him petulant , captious , and unpleasant to his learned friends . The weaknesses and foiblesfrom
, which men of the brightest talent are not entirely free , reduced them to the standard of their cotemporaries , and the balance of human advantages is by these means preserved . Politiano was lavish in his commendations of ancient Greece ; from the moderns he withheld even justice . His colleague , Demetrius Chalcondylas , of some eru-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Character Of Politian,
CHARACTER OF POLITIAN ,
TKS CONFIDENTIAL FRIEND OF TIIE MAGNIFICENT LORENZO . FROM MR . TEKBOVK ' S MEMOIRS Or Till ; H 011 SK OF MEDICI .
A NOELO POLITIANO was the greatest friend ofthe scholars who ¦ * ¦ *¦ distinguished themselves at the restoration of letters .. He was the first amongst the moderns that professed the Greek language ; and Erasmus , whose judgment was acknowledged , and whose admiration was never violent , has not hesitated to reckon him a literary miracle . We meet with the sweetness and the beauties of the
ancients in most of his works , and the attic honey appears to have lost very little of its flavour . His fertile genius extended to every subject , and in his Latin translation of Herodian he has excelled , in the opinion of many scholars , the original . Whilst the Plistory of the Pazzi Conspiracy warms the reader by its interesting relation , he is delighted with the elegance of language ; and in the whole composition Politiano will bear a comparison with St . Real , Sarrazin , or Sallust . Every figure starts out of the canvas , and astonishes us with
its uncommon animation . In his miscellanies a great depth of critical judgment is every where discernable , with exquisite learning ; and his letters afford a rich fund of instruction and amusement . Ofhis Latin poetry it is but just to say it has a relish of the Augustan age . In the problems of Alexander of Aphrodisum we are the least concerned , and from the impertinent answers to useless questions little improvement is to be derived . Yet this version proves that Politiano
had not neglected philosophy . His capacity embraced indeed the whole superficies of ideas , and there was scarcely a literary topic on which he had not exercised it . The Italian Muses , that had been in a deep sleep or lethargy for near a century , were rouzed from their disgraceful slumbers at his soft and powerful voice . His stanzas , 'Delia famosa Giostra , ' resemble Virgil for the brilliancy of expression , and in his Vintage Dithyrambics the harmony of numbers and lhe force of wine are happily united . Those kinds of drama which were called ' Favole
Boscarreccie , ' or Pastoral Fables , were supposed to have been invented by him , and his Orfeo is a produdtion of this species , on which Tasso and Guarini have improved . The stanza of eight rhimes he adopted after the example of the Theseid of Boccacio ; but where Boccacio only made an effort , Politiano succeeded . Too great a conviction of the superiority ofhis own talents rendered him petulant , captious , and unpleasant to his learned friends . The weaknesses and foiblesfrom
, which men of the brightest talent are not entirely free , reduced them to the standard of their cotemporaries , and the balance of human advantages is by these means preserved . Politiano was lavish in his commendations of ancient Greece ; from the moderns he withheld even justice . His colleague , Demetrius Chalcondylas , of some eru-