Natalia Ginzburg

Natalia Ginzburg, unlike many of the noble women mentioned in previous post, was a writer. This is later portray of an Italien woman during the WWII era, a struggling mother, as well as an established author. This contempory author is as interesting as the woman Boccaccio imortalized in his works.

Facism, like Patrarch's concept of the Dark Ages, spawned from the boot itself. The term is often applied to the German National Socialism party, or Nazism. The linguistic roots can be traced all the way to the latin word Fasces, and the symbol of the soverignty of the Roman Republic. In 1870, the term fascio was used by a radical social and political organization found on the left of the political scale. Benito Mussolini coined the term in 1919 and due to the aftermath of WWI, the political dictatorship was established in 1925. Thus, Facism in Italy is born.

One-forth of Italien participants in the Italien Resistance during WWII were women, many taking on dangerous missions. These women had the duties of relaying messages, and delivering weapons, money, food and clothing. Fully aware that failing to complete the mission may lead in rape, torture, and death. In most Major cities, groups offered protection, jobs and training for women and young infants. No matter side the women chose, life was difficult and involved more than knitting and sewing for soldiers.

Ginzburg wrote essays, short stories and novels about family life and politics during and after the second world war. This philosopher one two prizes (Strega and Bagutta), and was elected in the Italien Parlament. The same year Mussolini emerged her father accepted a pisition in the University of Turin and was renowned for his works in history. She grew up in a home which entertained many intellectuals, and activists of her time. At age 17, she first published a short story. She married multiple times. One of her husbands was exiled, created an anti-fascist zine, and killed for his political views.

Much is printed on Ginzburg, and I find her much more appealing and sexy than the portrays of the victimized cows of the medieval ages. For more reading on Ms. Natalia Levi Ginzburg, feel free to click the link provided.

Shot down by Laura de Noves

According to Strand and Boland in their  Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms, ''The Making of a Poem,'' The Patrarchan sonnet spawns from the boot of Italy. Fourteen line iambic, octave and sestet, the rhyming scheme usually goes as follows: ababcdcdc and cdecde.

The Sonnet is usually attributed to Shakespeare. It actually took two centuries before it became popular in English courts. The purpose of this form was to bring inform a woman of a young man's passion, in a courtly love fashion. This was not always welcomed, so many are not preserved.

Francesco Patrarca, a colourful character from Italian history, gave up his priesthood at the sight of a woman during Good Friday, on April 6th 1327. This woman, in his poems, goes by the name of Laura. According to Wikipedia, she was possibly, Laura de Noves. She is known as the wife of some lesser Italian Count, known mostly because he was related to some French nut, during the French Revolution.

Besides her noble birth, she is mainly known for the love affair. Patrarca's boner for her was expressed through his sonnets. Never consummated their affair, as she was already married. She was a good childbearing wife, and died young. This devastated Patrarca as he stalked the fuck out of this bitch, and this made her famous.

To get back to the subject of poetic form, many interpretation are smarita in comparison to the original. Let's take the Higgenson's translation.

Soleasi Nel Mio Cor

She ruled in beauty o'er this heart of mine,
A noble lady in a humble home,
And now her time for heavenly bliss has come,
'Tis I am mortal proved, and she divine.

Translated by Thomas Wentworth Higginson, retrieved on Sonnet.org.

Right away, standard rhyming scheme is ignored. Perhaps it was to emphasize the theme of the poem, or to illustrate his passion for Dr. Sues rhymes. This is up to the interpreter. The theme of sonnets, is usually the courtship of a noble lady. Women of noble birth, like Laura, are usually married at a young age ensure the bargain of noble men. Courtly love, kept to retain the boners of virtuous men for virtuous and/or noble women, is an expression of tragic emotion. To sum up, Sonnets spawned from a love that could never have been.

This very idea made Shakespeare rich. We know Shakespeare for his play, which incorporated his poetry, however; it is his sonnets he was commissioned for and not many of them have been preserved. The idea of a woman cheating on her older, fatter, busier husband was not a welcomed signed in court, and usually does not end well... Laura de Noves did die young.