Il Giorno
Encyclopedia
Il giorno is a poem written by Giuseppe Parini
and published in 1763 (see 1763 in poetry
). It is an ironic and satirical representation of the aristocracy
of his time. His poem represents the beginning of polite literature in Italy.
It was originally divided into three parts: Il mattino, Il mezzogiorno and La sera (Morning, Midday and Evening). The last part was later divided into two separate parts, Il vespro and La notte (Evening and Night).
, to pass the day with).
The effect of the poem depends on the comic contrast between the banality and futility of the day of the young man and the exalted epic style of the writing used by the author to describe it, drawing heavily on Homer
and Vergil. The technique is somewhat similar to that of The Rape of the Lock
.
Giuseppe Parini
Giuseppe Parini was an Italian Enlightenment satirist and poet of the neoclassic period.-Biography:Parini was born in Bosisio in Brianza, Lombardy...
and published in 1763 (see 1763 in poetry
1763 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* In 1763, Charles Churchill's fellow poet and friend, Robert Lloyd was in Fleet Prison for debt...
). It is an ironic and satirical representation of the aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
of his time. His poem represents the beginning of polite literature in Italy.
It was originally divided into three parts: Il mattino, Il mezzogiorno and La sera (Morning, Midday and Evening). The last part was later divided into two separate parts, Il vespro and La notte (Evening and Night).
Il mattino
In Il mattino Parini writes about the beginning of a young man's day. It begins with his waking up and continues with the breakfast and the choice of it. The young man can choose between several drinks, from chocolate (if he needs to digest the dinner of the last night) to coffee (if he tends to become fat). It continues with some welcome and unwelcome meetings, the toeletta and the reading of some letters. Then he gets out to meet his lady (aristocratic ladies of this period of time had both a husband and a gallant, called CicisbeoCicisbeo
In 18th- and 19th-century Italy, the cicisbeo , or Cavalier Servente, was the professed gallant and lover of a married woman, who attended her at public entertainments, to church and other occasions and had privileged access to his mistress. The arrangement is comparable to the Spanish cortejo or...
, to pass the day with).
Il mezzogiorno or the Meriggio
The young man, on arriving at the lady's house, eats with her and meets the husband of the lady, who appears bored and frigid, but not in the least resentful of the presence of the lover (he probably has a mistress of his own somewhere). Lunch is followed by coffee and games.Il vespro
The young man and the lady meet friends and wander about the streets with a carriage while they speak about several things.La notte
The two lovers go to a meeting. In this phase the author describes people in the hall and makes some comments about them. Then, all the people play cards together and at the end of this, the day of the young man is concluded. He will go to sleep at the dead of night to get up late the following morning.The style
The ostensible purpose of this poem is to give instructions, in immense detail, about how to fill the "simple day" of a young aristocratic man. It clearly gives an ironic vision of this class, as Parini ostensibly exalts the aristocracy but in reality gives a critical vision of them. (When the young man visits the baths, he may feel some faint suspicion, swiftly dismissed, that he is the same type of creature as men of common clay.)The effect of the poem depends on the comic contrast between the banality and futility of the day of the young man and the exalted epic style of the writing used by the author to describe it, drawing heavily on Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
and Vergil. The technique is somewhat similar to that of The Rape of the Lock
The Rape of the Lock
The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany in May 1712 in two cantos , but then revised, expanded and reissued under Pope's name on March 2, 1714, in a much-expanded 5-canto version...
.