The Giuli Tre
OUR readers would miss one of the good things that there
are in this world, or rather three of them, if they were not
made aware of the existence of our facetious friends, the
has Three Heads, so Three Giuli contain some fatal mystery
of triplicity hieroglyphical of his troubles. Had he lived
now, he would have added the three members of the Holy
Alliance.(8) On the other hand, we are rather reminded of
something triple and pleasant; of the three corners of his
Smiths(11) (who were perpetually recurring to a friend of ours),
or above all, of the three Mrs. Wigginses(12) who haunt an old
gentleman of that name in the farce. Had our author been
acquainted with those ladies, he would unquestionably have
devoted a sonnet to their memory, under the title of the Tre
Vigginise.(13)
The Giuli Tre (Three Juliuses, so called, we suppose,
from a head of one of the Popes of that name)(14) are three
pieces of money, answering to about fifteen-pence of our
coin, for which the Italian poet, Casti, says he was pestered
from day to day by an unblushing creditor. The poet
accordingly had his revenge on him, and incarcerated the
vermin in immortal amber, by devoting to the subject no
less than 200 sonnets, which he published under the above
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title. The Abate Casti(15) is known to the English public, by
means of Mr. Stewart Rose’s pleasant abridgment, as the
author of the Animali Parlanti;(16) and he is also known to
what we suppose must be called the English private, as the
writer of a set of tales in verse,(17) which an acquaintance of
ours says “every body has read, and nobody acknowledges
to have read.”(18) The Animali Parlanti is justly celebrated
throughout Europe. The tales have the undeniable merit
which a man of genius puts into whatever work he conde-
scends to perform; but they are a gross mistake in things
amatory, and furnish one of those portentous specimens of
excess on the side of indecent writing, which they who
refer every detail of the world to Providence could only
account for by supposing, that some such addition of odd
fuel was necessary to the ordinary inflammability of the
young and unthinking.
The work before us, as the Florentine editor observes, is
in every respect unexceptionable.(19) He informs us, that
it is not liable to a charge brought against the Abate’s
other works, of being too careless in point of style, and un-
idiomatic. The Giuli Tre, according to him, speak the
true Italian language; so that the recommendation they
bring with them to foreigners is complete;(20) and we really
think it would be worth the while of some bookseller to
print a London edition. It would make a neat pocket-
volume; and we would lend him our copy for the purpose,
if he could not get one at home.
We proceed to give some specimens. The fertility of
fancy and learned allusion, with which the author has
written his 200 sonnets on a man’s coming to him every
day and asking him for Tre Giuli, is inferior only to what
rence of the words becomes a good joke. Let statesmen
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say what they will of “the principle of resurrection,” the
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say what they will of “the principle of resurrection,” the
principles of imagination and continuation are the intense
things in this our mortal state. As the perpetual accompa-
niment and exaggeration of one image is the worst thing in
sorrow, so it is the merriest thing in a piece of wit. A
metaphysician once attempted to persuade us, that there
was nothing laughable in Andrew Marvell’s account of the
amphibious Dutch and their cousins-german the fishes.(23) We
answered him by an irrepressible fit of laughter at the recol-
lection. We hope nobody will go about to take our Giuli
Tre out of our pockets, or to persuade us that they are not
three of the pleasantest, readiest, and yet never-to-be-forth-
coming pieces of money extant. We are grateful to the
mere sound, to the very chink of their names. It has
amply repaid us for our attempt to translate some of it into
English metal, though the reader may lose by the exchange.
The Giuli Tre are henceforth among our standing jokes,
Nobody that we have met with in Italy could resist the
mention of them. The priest did not pretend it. The
ladies were glad they could find something to approve in a
poet of so erroneous a reputation. The man of the world
laughed as merrily as he could. The patriot was happy to
relax his mustachios. Even the bookseller, of whom we
bought them, laughed with a real laugh, evidently not the
mercenary and meretricious grin with which he laughs at
the customer instead of the book, when he has the luck to
get rid of some heavy facetiosity by a chance sale,—not
“the bought smile,
—— Loveless, joyless, unendeared,
The Giuli Tre are one of those happy thoughts, which are
at once inimitably original and universally intelligible. At
second hand it would be comparatively nothing, however
well done. Nobody can take it up; but every body can
feel it. To poetical readers it will come with a peculiar
grace, from their sympathy with the natural unmonied facul-
ties of poets in general, and the straits to which they render
them liable. Those indeed who love pleasure pushed to a
verge of pain, will not fail to discover the kind of fascina-
tion which such a subject might well have for too many
authors. Casti himself has touched upon this point of attrac-
tion; and for our parts, we feel it so sensibly, that like him-
self we shall proceed to grasp it at once, and see how well
we can turn our fears to better purpose. We shall notice
all the principal sonnets that struck us throughout the work,
partly that we may give as much account of it as possible, and
partly because the jest is concerned in shewing to what a
length it is carried. It may be as well to mention, that the
single instead of double rhymes which the poet uses, and
which render the measure exactly similar to that of the
translation, have a ludicrous effect to an Italian ear.
In his third sonnet, the poet requests fables and dreams
to keep their distance:—
Lungi o favole, o sogni, or voi da me,
Or che la Musa mia tessendo va
Ye dreams and fables, keep aloof, I pray,
While this my Muse keeps spinning, as she goes,
The genuine history of the Giuli Tre.
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Sonnet 5.—He complains that after having an ardent
desire of renown, and of singing about arms and warriors,
he is compelled to exchange those heroic commodities for
Giuli Tre.
Son. 8.—His Creditor, he says, ought not to be astonished
at his always returning the same answer to his demand for
the Giuli Tre, because if a man who plays the organ or the
hautboy were always to touch the same notes, the same
sounds would always issue forth.
SONNET 10.
Ben cento volte ho replicato a te
Questa istessa infallibil verità,
Che a conto mio,(28) da certo tempo in quà,
La razza de’ quattrini si perdè.
Tu non ostante vieni intorno a me
Con insoffribile importunità,
E per quei maledetti Giuli Tre(29)
Mi perseguiti senza carità.
Forse in disperazion ridur mi vuo’,
Ond’io m’appichi,(30) e vuoi vedermi in giù
Pender col laccio al collo? Oh questo no.
Risolverommi a non pagarti più,
E in guisa tal te disperar farò,
I’ve said for ever, and again I say,
And it’s a truth as plain as truth can be,
That from a certain period to this day,
Pence are a family quite extinct with me.
And yet you still pursue me, and waylay,
With your insufferable importunity,
P
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And for those d——d infernal Giuli Tre
Haunt me without remorse or decency.
Perhaps you think that you’ll torment me so,
You’ll make me hang myself? You wish to say
You saw me sus. per coll.—No, Giuli, no.
The fact is, I’ll determine not to pay;
And drive you, Giuli, to a state so low,
That you shall hang yourself, and I be gay.
Son. 11.—He says, that if he is in the company of beau-
tiful girls, who delight to be talking with him, or if he
picks out some solitary and quiet spot to take his walk in,
wherever he is, in short, morning or evening, he cannot
wean his memory from the Giuli Tre. The image of his
Creditor comes before him, and haunts him worse than Asmo-
Son. 12.—Any one who wishes to meet with the Creditor,
is advised to find where the poet is, for he’ll be certain to
see him there, the Creditor having no other thought or occu-
pation than the business of the Giuli Tre.
Son. 13.—The poet does not know whether there is a
plurality of worlds, whether the moon is inhabited, &c.
He is inclined to doubt whether there can be a people who
had not Adam for their father. But if there is, he longs to
go up there and live among them. Nevertheless, he fears it
would be of no avail, as his Creditor would get Father Da-
niel(35) to show him the way, and come after him.*
* Father Daniel is author of a work entitled Travels through the World of
Des Cartes.
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SONNET 15.
Importuno il tafan così non è
Nella stagion che son più caldi i di,(36)
Importuno il moscon non è così,
Come importuno è il creditor con me.
Che se fresca dal ciel pioggia cadè,
Ogni moscone, ogni tafan sparì,
Ma non giammai varia stagion fin qui(37)
E forse come o per la gravità,(39)
Ovvero per centripeta virtù,(40)
O per attrazione,(41) o per chi sa,
Tendon di sua natura i corpi in giù,
Così per natural tua proprietà
A me tendi, o Crisofilo, anche tu.
Never did beetle hum so teazingly
About one’s ears, in walking, when it’s hot;
Never did fly return so to one spot,
As comes my teazing Creditor on me.
Let it but rain, for instance, and you’ll see
The flies and beetles vanish like a shot;
But never comes the time,—the day is not,—
In which this vermin here will let me be.
Perhaps as bodies tend invariably
Tow’rds other bodies by some force divine,—
Attraction, gravity, or centripathy,
(God knows; I’m little vers’d in your right line)
So by some natural horrid property
This pretty satellite tends tow’rds me and mine.
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Son. 16.—Tormented by the Tre Giuli as Orestes(42) was by
the Furies, he speculates, like him, upon seeking repose in
some other country.
Son. 17.—The poet, while he is bidding adieu to his dear
friends, brought to that bitter pass by the “fatal debit of the
Giuli Tre,” is accosted by his Creditor, who says he’ll go
with him. He therefore gives up his project in despair.
Son. 19.—The poet is suddenly intoxicated with joy.
His Creditor is going out of town. Now he sees him put
his boots and spurs on!—Now he mounts on horseback!—
Now his horse is in motion!—He has gone, and the poet
feels like a mariner when the storm has cleared away.
Son. 20.—Since the Creditor has gone, the poet says he
walks about with delight all over the city; just as the
mouse, when the cat’s gone, passes from place to place with
a certain ardent daring. He hopes that he has gone towards
the coast, and that the Turks will carry him into slavery. Not
that he wishes him ill: on the contrary, he wishes to God
never see him again.
Son. 21.—An apostrophe to the elements, entreating
them to behave in their kindest manner, in order to facili-
tate the Creditor’s voyage. On the other hand, the voyage
being finished, he trusts they will be extremely furious, so as
to hinder him, like Noah’s crow,(45) from ever returning.
Son. 22.—He feels like a city no longer besieged.
Son. 23.—A letter by the post! It is from the Creditor,
who tells him to get ready the Giuli Tre, as he shall be in
town by Sunday, or by Monday at farthest. “Poffareddio!”
exclaims the poet,—“the fellow has found out a way of
tormenting me at a distance; and though I do not give
him the Tre Giuli, squeezes the amount out of me in this
way!”
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Son. 24.—He compares a letter demanding payment, to
a mode there is said to be of poisoning by paper.
Son. 25.—He is like a little boy who plays and dances
when his father is away, but slinks quietly into a corner when
he sees him return.
Son. 28.—Like a wheel which goes silently when it goes
well, he vented no poetry while he was happy; but like the
same wheel which begins creaking and making a noise
when something is amiss with it, he was set crying out in
verse by the Giuli Tre.
Son. 29.—The unalterable stoicism he once boasted is all
overturned by this little debt. Like the lion, who con-
quered bears and tigers, but was overcome by a gad-fly in
his ear.
Son. 31.—When an act has been very often repeated, he
says that the organs perform it of their own accord, without
any attention on the part of the will. Thus mules go home
to the stable, and parrots bid one good morning; and thus,
he says, the Creditor has a habit of asking him for the Giuli
Tre, and he has a habit of answering “I haven’t got ’em.”
SONNET 35.
Mai l’uom felice in vita sua non fu.(46)
Fanciullo un guardo sol tremar lo fa;(47)
Quindi trapassa la più(48) fresca età
Intento alle bell’arti e alle virtù.
Poi nel fiero bollor di gioventù
Or d’amore or di sdegno ardendo va;(49)
Di quà malanni, e cancheri di là,
E guai cogli anni crescon sempre più.
Alfin vengono i debiti;(50) e allor sì
Che più speme di ben allor non v’è,
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E anch’io la vita mia trassi così:(51)
E il debito fatal de’ Giuli Tre(52)
Ora ai malanni che passai fin quì
No: none are happy in this best of spheres.
Lo! when a child, we tremble at a look:
Our freshest age is wither’d o’er a book;
The fine arts bite us, and great characters.
Then we go boiling with our youthful peers
In love and hate, in riot and rebuke;
By hook misfortune has us, or by crook,
And griefs and gouts come thick’ning with one’s years.
In fine, we’ve debts:—and when we’ve debts, no ray
Of hope remains to warm us to repose.
Thus has my own life pass’d from day to day;
And now, by way of climax though not close,
The fatal debit of the Giuli Tre
Fills up the solemn measure of my woes.
Son. 36.—He congratulates a happy infant on his igno-
rance of the miseries of human life, particularly the Giuli
Tre.
Son. 41.—He says, that as the sun with his genial energy
strikes into the heart of the mountains of Golconda(54) and Peru,
and hardens substances there into gold and gems, so the hot
activity of his Creditor has hardened the poet’s heart, till at
length it has produced that hard, golden, and adamantine
No! which has rendered the Giuli Tre precious.
Son. 44.—He says, that he was never yet bound to the
conjugal yoke,—a yoke which is as pleasant to those who have
it not, as it is disagreeable to those who have: but that if he
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were married, his children would certainly resemble the
proprietor of the Giuli Tre, and that he should see Creditor-
kins, or little Creditors, all about him;—Creditorelli.
Son. 50. 51.—When he thinks to get into a quiet place,
the Echo of his words pursues him, and demands the Giuli
Tre.
Son. 53.—He says that the day on which his Creditor
lent him the Giuli Tre, was to him his Grand Climacteric.
Son. 55.—An invocation to Sleep, requesting the god not
to bring Morpheus the god of dreams with him; but that if
he must, not to come even himself, lest the Giuli Tre should
be worse to him sleeping than waking.
Son. 72.—If a man has a little tumour or scratch on his
leg or arm, and is always impatiently touching it, the little
wound will become a great one. So, he says, it is with his
debt of the Giuli Tre. The debt, he allows, is in itself no
very great thing, but the intolerable importunity of his Cre-
ditor,—
Considerabilissimo lo fa,—(55)
Makes it a very considerable one.
Son. 78.—As various climates and countries give rise to
a variety of characters among mankind,—as the Assyrian
and Persian has been accounted luxurious, the Thracian
fierce, and the Roman was once upon a time bold and mag-
nanimous, so he suspects that the climate in which he lives
must be eminent for producing hard Creditors.
Son. 79.—He wishes that some logician, who understands
the art of persuading people, would be charitable enough to
suggest to him some syllogism or other form of argument,
which may enable him to prove to his Creditor the impossi-
bility of paying money when a man has not got it.
Son. 89.—Philosophers maintain, he says, that if two
bodies stand apart from each other, and are distinct, it is
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impossible they can both stand in the same place. Other-
wise one body also might be in several places at once. He
therefore wonders how the devil it is, that his Creditor is to
be found here and there and every where.
Son. 96.—He tells us, that his Creditor is fond of accost-
ing him on physical subjects, and wants to know the nature
of lightning, of the winds, colours, &c. and whether the system
answers him, that it is impossible to get at the secrets of
Nature; and that all that he knows upon earth is, that a
man is perpetually asking him for Tre Giuli, and he has not
got them.
SONNET 98.
Non poche volte ho inteso dir da chi
E Galeno ed Ippocrate studiò(58)
Che vi sono fra l’anno alcuni dì,
Ne’ quali cavar sangue non si può.
Se ragione vi sia di far così,
Sel vedano i Dottori, io non lo so;(59)
E luogo non mi par questo ch’è qui
Di dire il mio parer sopra di ciò.
So ben che il Creditor de’ Giuli Tre(60)
Tanti riguardi e scrupoli non ha,
Nè osserva queste regole con me;
Ch’angi(61) ogni giorno procurando va
Da me trarre il denar, ch’è un non so che
Ch’ha col sangue una qualche affinità.
Often and often have I understood
That there are certain seasons in diseases
In which the patient oughtn’t to lose blood.
Whether the reason that they give be good,
Or doctors square their practice to the thesis,
I know not; nor is this the best of places
For arguing on that matter, as I could.
All that I know is this,—that Giuli Tre
Has no such scruple or regard with me,
Nor holds the rule himself: for every day
He does his best, and that most horribly,
To make me lose my cash; which, I must say,
Has with one’s blood some strange affinity.
Son. 101.—The poet alludes to the account of words
freezing at the pole; and says, that if he were there with
his Creditor, and a thaw were to take place, nothing would
be heard around them but a voice calling for the Giuli Tre.
Son. 104.—He believes that if he were to take to Dæda-
his Creditor after him, to ask him in the air for his Giuli Tre.
Son. 110.—He says that a comet with it’s(66) terrible splen-
dour does not so frighten the superstitious people, as the
sudden sight of his Creditor shakes him. Besides, Comets
have a certain regularity of recurrence, for which a man may
be prepared; but “he of the Giuli Tre” has no day set down
for his appearance in the calendar.
SONNET 113.
Si mostra il Creditor spesso con me
Piacevole ed affabile così,
Come fra amici suol farsi ogni dì,
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E par che più non pensi a’ Giuli Tre.(67)
Esolo(68) vuol saper, se il Prusso Re
Liberò Praga, e di Boemia uscì;(69)
Se l’armata naval da Brest partì;(70)
E poiche(72) da lontano la pigliò,
A poco a poco al quia calando va,
Così talor col sorcio il gatto fa,
Ci ruzza, e scherza,(76) e l’intrattiene un po’,
E la fatal graffiata alfin gli dà.
My Creditor seems often in a way
Extremely pleasant with me, and polite;
Just like a friend:—you’d fancy, at first sight,
He thought no longer of the Giuli Tre.
All that he wants to know is, what they say
Of Frederick(77) now; whether his guess was right
About the sailing of the French that night;
But start from whence he may, he comes as truly,
By little and little, to his ancient pass,
And says, “Well—when am I to have the Giuli?”
’Tis the cat’s way. She takes her mouse, alas!
And having purred, and eyed, and tapp’d him duly,
Gives him at length the fatal coup de grace.
SONNET 122.
Oh quanto Scioccamente(79) vaneggiò,
E lavorò nascosto e notte e di,(81)
Ed i metalli trasformar pensò:
E intorno ad un crocciuol folle sudo,(82)
In cui mercurii,(83) e solfi, e sali unì,
Coll’arte oprar ciò che natura oprò.
Perchè all’uom d’imitar vietato fu
I bei lavori(89) che natura fe!
Studiar vorrei la chimica virtù,
E fatto il capital de’ Giuli Tre,(90)
Oh, with what folly did they toil in vain,
And night and day labour’d with earnest eyes
To turn their metals into golden grain!
How did their pots and they perspire again
Over their sulphurs, salts, and mercuries,
And never, after all, could see their prize,
Or do what Nature does, and with no pain:
Yet oh, good heavens! why, why, dear Nature say,
This lovely art—why must it be despis’d?
Why mayn’t we follow this thy noblest way?
I’d work myself; and having realiz’d,
Good God! a capital of Giuli Tre,
Break up my tools, content and aggrandiz’d.
Son. 123.—The poet compares himself to a pipkin, which
after boiling and fretting on the fire, can no longer contain
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itself, but boils over. So, he says, the heat his Creditor puts
him in, and the bubble which the Giuli Tre are always
making in his head, work his fancy at last in such a manner,
that it runs over in an effusion of poetry.
Son. 124.—He supposes that there was no such Creditor
as his in the time of David,(96) because in the imprecations that
are accumulated in the hundred and eighteenth psalm,(97) there
is no mention of such a person.
Son. 125.—He relates a horrid dream, in which he fan-
cied, that after death he was sentenced for his sins to the
place from which there is no return, and that his Creditor
was allotted to him for a tormenting devil.
Son. 127.—His Creditor, he tells us, disputed with him
one day, for argument’s sake, on the immortality of the soul;
and that the great difficulty he started was, how anything
that had a beginning could be without an end. Upon
which the poet asks him, whether he did not begin one day
asking him for the Giuli Tre, and whether he has left off
ever since.
Son. 128.—He says that as Languedoc(98) is still so called
from the use of the affirmative particle oc in that quarter, as
writers in other parts of France used to be called writers of
oui, and as Italy is denominated the lovely land of si,(99) so his
own language, from his constant habit of using the negative
particle to the Creditor of the Giuli Tre, ought to be called
the language of no.
Son. 134.—He informs us, that his Creditor has lately
taken to learning French; and conjectures, that finding he
has hitherto asked him for the Giuli Tre to no purpose in his
own language, he wishes to try the efficacy of the French
way of dunning.
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SONNET 140.
Armato tutto il Creditor non già
Di quell’armi che Achille o Enea vestì,
Onde di tanta poi mortalità
La Frigia l’un, l’alttro(100) l’Italia empì;
Ne(101) di quelle onde poscia in altra età
D’estinti corpi Orlando il suol coprì:(102)
Ma di durezza e d’importunità(103)
E d’aspri modi armato ei m’assalì.
Ed improvviso in contro(104) mi lanciò
La richiesta mortal di Giuli Tre;(105)
Io mi schermisco, indi gli scaglio un Nò:(106)
Seguia la pugna ed imfieria;(107) ma il piè
Da lui volgendo alfin ratto men vò:(108)
E vincitor la fuga sol mi fe’.
My Creditor has no such arms, as he
Arms which dismiss’d so many souls in strings,
From warlike Ilium(111) and from Italy.
Nor has he those of later memory,
With which Orlando(112) did such loads of things;
But with hard hints, and cursed botherings,
And such rough ways,—with these he warreth me.
And suddenly he launcheth at me, lo!
His terrible demand, the Giuli Tre;
I draw me back, and thrust him with a No!
Then glows the fierce resentment of the fray,
Till turning round, I scamper from the foe;
The only way, I find, to gain the day.
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Son. 142.—The first time the seaman hears the horrible
crashing of the tempest, and sees the fierce and cruel rising
of the sea, he turns pale, and loses both his courage and
his voice; but if he lives long enough to grow grey in his
employment, he sits gaily at the stern, and sings to the
accompaniment of the winds. So it is with the poet. His
Creditor’s perpetual song of the Giuli Tre used to frighten
him at first; but now that his ears have grown used to it, he
turns it into a musical accompaniment like the billows, and
goes singing to the sound.
Son. 144.—He envies Cicero(113) for the power attributed to
his oratory, of being able to persuade his Creditors out of
their demands.
Son. 148.—A friend takes him to see the antiquities in the
Capitol, but he is put to flight by the sight of a statue re-
sembling his Creditor.
Son. 183.—The poet relieves his miseries with wine, and
gets so full of Bacchus,(114) that finding his Creditor coming up,
he asks the God for his thyrsus(115) to knock him down with.
Son. 185.—He marks out to a friend the fatal place where
his Creditor lent him the Giuli Tre, shewing how he drew
out and opened his purse, and how he counted out to him
the Giuli with a coy and shrinking hand. He further shews,
how it was not a pace distant from this spot, that the Credi-
tor began to ask him for the Giuli; and finishes with propos-
ing to purify the place with lustral water, and exorcise it’s(116)
evil genius.
Son. 189.—He laments that happy age of the world, in
which there was a community of goods; and says that the
avidity of individuals and the invention of meum and tuum(117)
have brought an immense number of evils among mankind,
his part of which he suffers by reason of the Giuli Tre.
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Son. 200.—Apollo(118) makes his appearance, and rebukes the
poet for wasting his time, advising him to sing of things
that are worthy of immortality. Upon which the poet
stops short in a song he was chaunting upon his usual sub-
ject, and bids good night for ever to his Creditor and the
Giuli Tre.
Not a word of payment.
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EDITORIAL NOTES
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EDITORIAL NOTES
[1] “The Giuli Tre”, by Leigh Hunt (1784-1859). Edited by Fabio Liberto.
[2] The Giulio, or Iulius, was a silver coin that circulated in the Papal territories from 1504 to 1817.
[3] Giambattista Casti (1724-1803), Italian poet and librettist, author of a collection of 200 humorous and satirical sonnets entitled Li tre Giulj (1762).
[4] Sonnet 157. References to Casti’s sonnets are from the two-volume edition published between 1817 (vol. 1) and 1818 (vol. 2). Variations in spelling and punctuation form Casti’s text will be signalled after a square bracket.
[5] In Greek and Roman mythology, the Fates, or Moiræ, were the trio of sisters-goddesses (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos) who determined humans’ life and fortunes.
[6] In Greek and Roman mythology, the Harpies were winged creatures, sometimes used by the gods as instrument of punishment.
[7] In Greek mythology, Cerberus was the monstrous three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hades, the realm of the dead.
[8] The Holy Alliance, treaty signed at Paris on 26 September 1815 by the sovereigns of Russia, Prussia, and Austria after the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. It was based on a common commitment to Christian values, such as peace, justice, and charity.
[9] Casti was seldom portrayed in headwear; only one illustration depicts him wearing a cap. Since Hunt clearly knew what a cocked hat was – he discussed of cocked hats in his essay “Hats, New and Ancient” (The Indicator, 8 March 1820) – this and the following allusions might be double entendres or puns, possibly laden with sexual innuendo, hinting at Casti’s reputation for his Novelle Galanti (1790; 1804). See notes on p. 208.
[10] In Greek mythology, the Graces, or Charites, usually three in number, were goddesses of grace, beauty, and fertility. Hunt’s interest in the mythological figures of the Graces is also reflected in “A German Apologue”, published in the first issue of The Liberal (I:90-95), which tells the story of Mercury’s quest for three women who could replace the three Graces.
[11] Possibly a reference to Sarah Bartley (1783?-1850, DNB), British actress also known as Miss Smith, and dubbed “the Siddons of Bath” (Baron-Wilson 1844, 141) for her talent in tragic roles. She was one of Byron’s protégée during his membership of the management subcommittee at the Drury Lane Theatre (1815-16), (Byron 1899, 237).
[12] Reference to Mrs. Wiggins (1803), a farce by John Till Allingham (1775/6-1812, DNB), first performed in London at the Haymarket Theatre on 27 May 1803, with Charles Mathews as Old Mr. Wiggins. The comic element in the farce arises from the presence in the play of three ladies of the same surname: Mrs. Cloe Wiggins, Mrs. Tom Wiggins, and Old Mrs. Wiggins.
[13] Hunt’s Italianised form of the name ‘Wiggins’.
[14] The Giulio was named after Pope Julius II (1443-1513, papacy 1503-1513), who reformed the Papal coinage in 1504 by replacing the Carlini with the Giuli.
[15] In 1747, Casti became a canon in the cathedral of Montefiascone.
[16] William Stewart Rose (1775-1843), poet and translator. Rose’s The Court and Parliament of Beasts is a free and abridged translation from Casti’s satirical poem Animali Parlanti (1802). Rose’s translation first appeared anonymously in 1816 and was later published by John Murray in 1819.
[17] Reference to Casti’s Novelle Galanti (1790; 1804), a collection of forty-eight humorous tales of lascivious and libertine subject.
[18] Byron was among the readers of Casti’s Novelle Galanti, having perused the collection in June 1816 (Byron 1973, 5:80). Casti’s Novelle very likely provided the stylistic inspiration for Byron’s Beppo (1818) and Don Juan (1819-24).
[19] Reference to the preface to the fourth edition of Casti’s sonnets, published in 1817 by Regina Luchi in Florence with the title Li Giulj tre (Casti 1817, 3–4). The name of the editor is unknown.
[20] G. Casti, Li Giulj tre, (1817, 4).
[21] Samuel Butler (1612-80), poet and satirist. His poem Hudibras (1663-64) was one of the most acclaimed satires of the Restoration period.
[22] Andrew Marvell (1621-78), English metaphysical poet and politician. After the restoration of Charles II (1660), Marvell composed several satires against the corruption of court and parliament, including his famous “Last Instructions to a Painter” (1667).
[23] Reference to Andrew Marvell’s satirical poem “The Character of Holland” (1665).
[24] In Roman mythology and religion, Lares and Penates were the gods of the household. “Lares and Penates” is an expression used to define the valued or prized possessions of a household.
[25] William Shakespeare, King Henry V, IV.iii.52. All references from Shakespeare are from the Arden Edition, Third Series.
[26] John Milton, Paradise Lost (1688), IV.765-67.
[27] Giuli Tre] Giulj tre (Casti 1817, 7).
[28] mio, da] mio da (Casti 1817, 14)
[29] Giuli Tre] Giulj tre (Casti 1817, 14).
[30] Misspelling of m’appicchi (Casti 1817, 14).
[31] Misspelling of piuttosto (Casti 1817, 14).
[32] Misspelling of appicchi (Casti 1817, 14).
[33] Asmodeus, demon in the apocryphal Book of Tobit 3:8; 3:16; 8:3.
[34] Beelzebub, the prince or ruler of the devils in the Bible (Matthew 12:22-30; Mark 3:20-27).
[35] Gabriel Daniel (1649-1728), French historiographer and theologian. In his Voyage du monde de Descartes (1690) Daniel critiques Cartesian theories.
[36] Misspelling of dì (Casti 1817, 19).
[37] qui] quì (Casti 1817, 19).
[38] creditor] Creditor (Casti 1817, 19).
[39] gravità,] gravità (Casti 1817, 19).
[40] virtù,] virtù (Casti 1817, 19).
[41] attrazione,] attrazione (Casti 1817, 19).
[42] In Greek mythology, Orestes was the son of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, and Clytemnestra. After Agamemnon’s return from the Trojan War, he was assassinated by Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. On reaching adulthood, Orestes avenged his father by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. As punishment for having killed his own kin, Orestes became haunted by the Furies.
[43] Vizier, a high administrative official or minister in Muslim countries.
[44] Mufti, an expert in Islamic law in Muslim countries.
[45] Biblical reference. In Genesis 8:6-9, Noah sends out a raven and a dove to determine whether the floodwaters have begun to recede.
[46] fu.] fu: (Casti 1817, 59).
[47] fa;] fa, (Casti 1817, 59)”number-of-volumes”:”2”,”publisher”:”Regina Luchi”,”publisher-place”:”Firenze”,”title”:”Li Giulj tre”,”volume”:”1”,”author”:[{“family”:”Casti”,”given”:”Giambattista”}],”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“1817”]]}},”locator”:”59”,”label”:”page”,”suppress-author”:null,”prefix”:null,”suffix”:null}],”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”} .
[48] più] piú (Casti 1817, 59).
[49] va;] va, (Casti 1817, 59).
[50] debiti;] debiti, (Casti 1817, 59).
[51] così:] così; (Casti 1817, 59).
[52] Giuli Tre] Giulj tre (Casti 1817, 59).
[53] da] diè (Casti 1817, 59).
[54] Golconda, fortified citadel and ruined city located near Hyderabad, India.
[55] fa] fè (Casti 1817, 76).
[56] Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), Danish astronomer. His Tychonic system was based on a geo-heliocentric model of the Solar System according to which the Sun and Moon revolve around the Earth, while the planets orbit the Sun.
[57] Pythagoras (c. 570- c. 500 BCE), Greek philosopher and mathematician. According to Pythagorean cosmology and astronomy – which are mostly based on the theories of Pythagoras’s follower Philolaus (c. 470-390 BCE) – the Earth, like all other heavenly bodies, including the Sun and the Moon, move around a “Central Fire”.
[58] studiò ] studiò, (Casti 1817, 102).
[59] so;] so, (Casti 1817, 102).
[60] Giuli Tre] Giulj tre (Casti 1817, 102).
[61] Misspelling of Ch’anzi (Casti 1817, 102).
[62] Galen (129- c. 216), Greek physician, writer, and philosopher. He wrote extensively on medical subjects.
[63] Hippocrates (c. 460-377 BCE), Greek physician, known as the father of medicine.
[64] In Greek mythology, Daedalus was an inventor and architect who built the labyrinth for King Minos of Crete. Imprisoned by Minos, he crafted wings from wax to escape with his son Icarus.
[65] The hippogriff is a fabulous creature with the body and hindquarters of a horse and the wings and head of a griffon invented by the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533). In one notable episode of his epic poem Orlando furioso (1516), Astolfo flies up to the moon on the hippogriff to bring back the lost wits of Orlando.
[66] it’s: regional and nonstandard variant form of its from 1600s to 1800s (OED), frequently used in Hunt’s writings.
[67] Giuli Tre.] Giulj tre, (Casti 1818, 15).
[68] Misprint for E solo (Casti 1818, 15).
[69] uscì;] uscì, (Casti 1818, 15).
[70] partì;] partì, (Casti 1818, 15).
[71] d’Etrè.] d’Etrè; (Casti 1818, 15).
[72] Misspelling of poichè (Casti 1818, 15).
[73] dice,—] dice: (Casti 1818, 15).
[74] Ebben-quando] ebben quando (Casti 1818, 15).
[75] Tre Giuli] tre Giulj (Casti 1818, 15).
[76] ruzza, e scherza,] ruzza e scherza (Casti 1818, 15).
[77] King Frederick II of Prussia (1712-86, reigned 1740–86), also known as Frederick the Great. The sonnet mentions events and protagonists in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63).
[78] Reference to the Battle of Hastenbeck (26 July 1757), when the French army, commanded by Louis Charles d’Estrées (1695-1771), invaded the Electorate of Hanover.
[79] Erroneous use of capitalization: scioccamente (Casti 1818, 24).
[80] Erroneous use of the lowercase: Gebèr (Casti 1818, 24).
[81] Misspelling of dì (Casti 1818, 24).
[82] Misspelling of sudò (Casti 1818, 24).
[83] Misspelling of mercurj (Casti 1818, 24).
[84] Misspelling of Nè, also present in Casti’s text (Casti 1818, 24).
[85] Misspelling of riuscì (Casti 1818, 24).
[86] oh!] oh (Casti 1818, 24).
[87] Misspelling of sì, also present in Casti’s text (Casti 1818, 24).
[88] Misspelling of è (Casti 1818, 24).
[89] lavori] lavori, (Casti 1818, 24).
[90] Giuli Tre] Giulj tre (Casti 1818, 24).
[91] vaso,] vaso (Casti 1818, 24).
[92] Misspelling of più (Casti 1818, 24).
[93] Arnold of Villanova (c. 1240-1311), Catalan physician, theologian and alchemist. While he adopted the sulphur-mercury theory of metallic constitution, he believed that gold and silver could be prepared by using mercury alone, as he maintained that mercury also contained sulphur.
[94] Ramon Llull (c. 1232- c. 1316), Catalan mystic, and poet. The reference is to the Pseudo-Llullian tradition of alchemical works associated with the poet’s name. These works were published posthumously and are not believed to have been written by Llull, but by anonymous writers who appropriated his name.
[95] Geber (c. 14th century), name adopted by an anonymous Spanish alchemist probably because of the reputation of the renowned Arabian alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (died c. 815), whose name was Latinised as Geber. He generally accepted Jabir’s alchemical theories and notably described the use of an elixir to turn base metals into gold.
[96] Biblical reference. David was a king of ancient Israel and Judah. He famously defeated the giant Goliath, armed only with a sling and stone (1 Samuel 17:1-51).
[97] Biblical reference. Psalm 118 is a thanksgiving song for delivery from death and for military victory by an anonymous author and sometimes attributed to King David. The psalm contains some references to the speaker’s enemies and God’s help in defeating them.
[98] Occitan language (from the French langue d’oc), also known as Provençal, is a Romance language spoken in southern France, especially in the province of Languedoc.
[99] Misspelling of sì (Casti 1818, 30).
[100] Misprint for l’altro (Casti 1818, 42).
[101] Misspelling of Nè (Casti 1818, 42).
[102] coprì:] coprì; (Casti 1818, 42).
[103] d’importunità] d’importunità, (Casti 1818, 42).
[104] Misprint for incontro (Casti 1817, 42).
[105] Giuli Tre] Giulj tre (Casti 1818, 42).
[106] Nò] nò (Casti 1818, 42).
[107] Misspelling of infieria (Casti 1818, 42).
[108] vò:] vò, (Casti 1818, 42).
[109] Reference to Achilles, mythological hero in Homer’s epic poem Illiad (c. late 8th to early 7th century BCE). Achilles is explicitly mentioned by Casti in the original sonnet.
[110] Reference to Aeneas, hero in Virgil’s Aeneid (c. 30 to 19 BCE) who played a key role in defending his city during the Trojan War. Aeneas is explicitly mentioned by Casti in the original sonnet.
[111] Ilium, Latin name for Troy, ancient city in the northwestern part of Anatolia.
[112] Reference to Orlando, protagonist of the epic poem Orlando furioso (1516) by Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533).
[113] Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), Roman writer, scholar, and politician. He is considered the greatest classical Roman orator.
[114] In Roman mythology, Bacchus was the god of wine, equivalent to the Greek god Dionysus.
[115] In Greek and Roman mythology, the thyrsus was the wand or staff used by Dionysus, and later by his Roman equivalent, Bacchus.
[116] it’s: regional and nonstandard variant form of its.
[117] meum and tuum (Latin): mine and yours.
[118] In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo was the god son of Zeus and was commonly associated with the sun, poetry and prophecy.
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26.08.2025