Giovanni Meli

Giovanni Meli (4 March 1740, in Palermo – 20 December 1815) was an Italian poet. After studying philosophy and medicine he worked as a doctor in Cinisi in the province of Palermo. It was during this early period of his life that he discovered the bucolic poets and the poetic worth of his native Sicilian which he used thereafter in all of his literary works.

Giovanni Meli

Works

His first published piece, La Bucolica (1766-1772), was inspired by Arcadia by Jacopo Sannazaro. It was written while he was still working as a doctor in Cinisi.

He returned to Palermo soon after, already widely known as a scientist and poet. He dedicated the rest of his life to both collecting works of Sicilian poetry, but most importantly, writing and publishing his own works. His Poesi siciliani in five volumes was published in 1787, and an edition in six volumes was published in 1814.

Besides La bucolica, these collections also contain examples of his satirical verse, such as: La fata galanti (The courteous fairy, 1762); Don Chisciotti e Sanciu Panza (Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, 1785-1787, a parody inspired by Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote); Favuli murali (moral fables, 1810-1814; Origini dû munnu (the origin of the world, 1768); Elegii (elegies) e Canzunetti (little songs).

Example

Don Chisciotti e Sanciu Panza (Cantu quintu)

(~1790)

Sicilian	English
Stracanciatu di notti soli jiri;	Disguised he roams at night alone;
S'ammuccia ntra purtuni e cantuneri;	Hiding in any nook and cranny;
cu vacabunni ci mustra piaciri;	he enjoys the company of vagabonds;
poi lu so sbiu sunnu li sumeri,	however, donkeys are his real diversion,
li pruteggi e li pigghia a ben vuliri,	he protects them and looks after all their needs,
li tratta pri parenti e amici veri;	treating them as real family and friends;
siccomu ancora è n'amicu viraci	since he remains a true friend
di li bizzarri, capricciusi e audaci.	of all who are bizarre, capricious and bold.

gollark: So this may not help, but I thought it was relevant.

gollark: The risk of catastrophic space-time collapse is really very insignificant.

gollark: Why?

gollark: We could probably do this. Just make the moon transparent to matter and deorbit it.

gollark: What if the moon phases through them?

References

Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Giovanni Meli" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Accessed May 17, 2007

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.