American Classical League

CATULLUS AND FOSCOLO

Author(s): RAYMOND MANDRA
Source: The Classical Outlook, Vol. 19, No. 4 (January, 1942), pp. 38-40
Published by: American Classical League
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44006220
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 •38 THE CLASSICAL OUTLOOK

Marsh's biographer puts

rather spoils the generalit with
joye de mourire, score; andpleasing
that the same group had the
variation, spe revivendi Christiana
so to speak; copied, patently, . Do And
from the highest percentage of appointments.
how many of the readers
usual tombstone of
admonition, this
it almost youarticle want to be a policewoman? Then
recognize the word armiger?
hauls the reader into heaven by hisItsears.study transla- Latin!
tion is obvious, but not
It is a sort itsto meaning
of challenge the viator to here,
V * ^
unless one remembers that a knight's see if he can create such a highly favorable
squire in olden days bore his master's stir in the heavenly mansions as young CATULLUS AND FOSCOLO
arms in the joust; the translation "Esq." John Flagg - with the unhappy implica- A Brief Comparison, with Emphasis
can then be clearly traced. It seems a rather tion that he probably cannot! upon Their Expression of Grief
clever invention. By RAYMOND MANDRA
In different vein, there are iri a porch
And so they go - in sonorous Cicer- in the Memorial Church at Harvard Uni- Hunter College

onian phrases, in beautiful Biblical peri- versity memorials to Harvard's young Two of the greatest lyric poets of the
ods, in common school-boy Latin. These dead, the heroischen Gefallenen of the last world, Gaius Valerius Catullus (87-54
last are fortunately few, but the writer
Great War. There were, of course, Ger- [?] B.C.) and Ugo Foscolo (1778-
picked up one in Old Boylston, Massa- man lads in residence at Cambridge when 1827), have much in common. Both
chusetts, which left him speechless. His
the war broke out, who returned home were very learned. The range of culture
classes had a wonderful time with the
to take -up their duties with the forces of their individual ages, however, allowed
criticism of its text. The original epitaph
of their Fatherland. Some went forth to to Catullus the literary works of Greece
reads as follows, exactly as it was found:
return no more. After this memorial and Rome up to his own time; but to
Hòc Monumentum inter muitos gemitus porch had been dedicated in the Yard, Foscolo, besides all those of Greece and
multasque lachrymas, instauratur, invarious alumni thought it a pity that there
Rome, as far as they are preserved, those
memoria Johannis Flagg, nuper Collegiiwas no memorial to the German students of modern Italy, France, England, and
Hàrvardini, Cantabrigiensis Nov: Ang: who had gone to fully as heroic a death Germany. Each was moved by a man that
Qui vita defunctus Shrewsburiensis, as had their American brothers. Subse-
profoundly affected the world, one by
triginta quently there appeared in the nave of the Caesar and the other by Napoleon; and
die, Janii. AD 1785, Aetat: annos viginta University Church, unhappily separated neither hesitated to express his feelings of
quatuor, diebus triginta nono, et natus from the other names, a small marble independence. Untimely death saved the
fuit Stephani Flagg et Judith sibi uxor. tablet; however, even in the separation, Roman bard from witnessing the final
Juvenis, qui in vita, prestanti ingenio, in a greater honor was conferred, for the outcome of the struggle between Caesar
Studiis et Laboribus indefatigatus, in tablet is, as the others are not, in the and Pompey. Whether the restless spirit
Religione main body of the Church, "to be seen of Catullus would have acquiesced in the
rationalis, fide Christiana validus,
of men." Nobly and beautifully phrased, elevation of a private citizen to the su-
Cögnatus, et Cognatibus, magnopere a fitting and gracious Christian tribute of preme public office of Rome, with abso-
dilectus, In morte jure Divino a great University to her sons, it reads: lute powers and life tenure, we do not
resignatus, et Super omnes calamitates know. Foscolo, we know, found unbear-
Academia Harvardiana
Vítee,-teř*íwes lethi, et horrores
Non oblita est fîliorum suorum able the rule of Austria, and opened a new
Sepulchri triumphans, Superstes ad
Fritz Daur Konrad Delbrück path for Italian intellectuals who disap-
Sedes Beati eum Sequntur, Virtutibus
Kurt Peters Max Schneider prove of political conditions in Italy, the
ejus imituntur, et mori memento.
Qui diversis sub signis path to exile.
Speculation regarding the authorship of
Pro patria spiritum reddiderunt One woman was "the passport to
this gem runs riot. One hopes it did not
MDCCCCXIV MDCCCCXVIII fame" and death for Catullus; many a
originate at Harvard, or even in Boston,
woman was an inspiration to Foscolo to
with, as one huge signboard once put it, attain the pinnacle of eternal fame. Both
"it's reservoir of culture." Possibly the
were born in regions whose dialects they
local minister, who was the author, fre- A LIFE ON THE did not use in their works: Catullus in
quently, of such inscriptions, and whose OCEAN WAVE
Cisalpine Gaul (Verona) , Foscolo in
Latin, like Shakespeare's was small, may
Greece
I Translated by STANFORD MILLER I (island of Zakynthos: Zante).
have been the guilty man. Despite the
Racnford School, Sherman Oaks, CaliforniaCatullus was perhaps of Celtic descent.
welter of errors verbal, grammatical, and
Foscolo, eighteenth century history shows,
declensional, one gathers that young Flagg In mari vivimus
was born of a Greek woman who was
was a lad of parts (if not of speech!), In altis fluctibus
never able to understand his works, and
and must have left behind hordes of weep- Ubi undae sparsae sunt a man from Venice, a navy doctor, An-
ing relatives. Indeed, if we interpret aright, Et venti coeunt.
drea Foscolo, who died when the future
the very angels trooped in his train, eager Velut aquila vineta poet was ten years old. Hence the task
to imitate his virtutes. It is pleasing to Maneo in hac ora;
of educating the complex, listless and
observe that he was rationalis in his re- O da mihi mare altům
sensitive red-headed boy devolved upon
ligion, a virtue not universally possessed Et spumam et fremitum. Diamante Spathys, widow for the second
by his contemporaries. One gathers also (Repeat first four lines.) time, who had beauty, the sweet mellow-
that he must have had a lively hope of
ness of ideal mothers, honesty, but not
the resurrection, as did his peers at Harv- a cent.
ard. The post mortem hurdles the poor POLICEWOMEN AND LATIN Both poets hardly knew the middle of
boy had to leap in his trek to the sedes
Beati are staggering to think upon; it is the road in their journey through life.
small wonder that the heavenly hosts fell ember 18, 1941, on the Civil Service
And both felt deeply, and had the gift
over themselves to follow in his train. of making the reader fathom the depth
page, appeared an article analyzing of their feelings.
Could It be possible that death and the IN page, thetheember
results ofTHEtheappeared 18, NEW
last examination for 1941, YORK an on article the SUN Civil analyzing for Service Nov-
tomb bothered his relatives more than policewoman in New York City. The A comparison between two poems,
they did him? At any rate, his was ap- writer of the article emphasized the fact written for the death of their respective
parently a highly successful death, and that on that examination college graduates brothers, will demonstrate this gift, and
the whole thing turned out very happily. who had "majored" in the ancient clas- also the echoes of the older poet in the
The last sentence of the text, however, sics turned in the highest median test :
more recent one. Catullus (101) saya:

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 THE CLASSICAL OUTLOOK 39«

Multas per gentesLa et

madre multa per
or sol, suo di tardo aequora
traendo a number of historical events to prove
vectus Parla di me col tuo cenere muto: Foscolo's courage - for instanće, his ex-
Advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
Ma io deluse a voi le palme tendo; ploit in being the first, as a lieutenant, to
Ut te postremo donarem muñere mortis E se da lunge i miei tetti saluto, scale the walls of the town of Cento
Et m u t a m nequiquam adloquerer Sento gli avversi Numi, e le secrete (1799); his fighting single-handed,
e in e rem,
Cure che al viver tuo furon tempesta. armed only with a short sword, a blood-
Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit E prego anch'io nel tuo porto quiete. thirsty mob (uprising of Milan, 1813)
ipsum,
Questo di tanta speme oggi mi resta! in order to save an acquaintance of his;
Heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi. and the numerous duels, in one of which
Straniere genti, l'ossa mie rendete
Nunc tarnen interea, prisco quae more (London, 1823) he stood unflinchingly
Allora al petto della madre mesta.
parentum as a motionless target while his oppon-
Tradita sunt tristi muñere ad inferias. A cry in the first phrase (un di) , in
ent aimed at and shot him with a pistol,
Accipe fraterno multum manantía fletu
a pitch higher than any other in the
and then, with utter contempt for this op-
whole sonnet, strikes the reader, and
Atque in perpetifum, frater, ave atque ponent, he discharged his own pistol in
vale. evokes a sense of deep melancholy. It is
the air. For sheer courage in facing death
somewhat disconcerting, as it soon makes
Slow, heavy, funereal spondees open the this poet of Greek and Italian descent,
one realize that to the existing misfortune
poem, as Catullus trudged wearily and at a giant of the Italian literature, was as
of being away from his country, a second
length to reach his brother's tomb. Dac- the grandiose and severe Aeschylus must
is added in the hint of being unable everhave been rather than as Archilöchus and
tyls follow in the first and second dis- to return home, while a third is observed
tichs that seem rapid bursts of crying. Horace. The fear expressed in the last
in the loss of his beloved brother, and a
Other dactyls in the third and fourth two lines of the sonnet was for the only
fourth rapidly looms forth in the desol-
distichs briefly recall the misfortune that thing that he dreaded, that of dying
ate grief of the one person in the whole
deprived the poet of his brother, express among strangers - a feeling already ex-
world that he wishes always to be happy,
a long uninterrupted sigh - all in the vo- pressed by Euripides. This type of death
his mother. The cry reverberates through-
cative, all in one breath - somewhat pro- for Foscolo meant complete extinction,
out the first stanza, and its sound is still since
longed with a spondee at the thought of
audible at the end of the poem.
the undeserved fate ( indigne ) - and point
to the traditional sad rites. The last dis- The subdued pitch of the other phrase- Gli sarà
accents and the sombre rhyme in uto
tich sets its hexameter going with a dactyl ( Sepo
( seduto . . . caduto . . . muto . . . saluto ) he could not
as a swift gesture toward the tomb; slows
immediately its movement with spondeesin a slightly more subdued tone, alternat- . . .destarla con soavi cure
as the poet is overwhelmed by his ing own rhythmically in the first eight lines, Nella mente de' suoi . . (id.28-29)
give the impression of the beating of • and the
weeping; and seems to accelerate it with
muffled drums.
the dactyl in the fifth foot as many tears
The rhymes of the other four lines in
gush forth. It turns slowly with a spondee Che lo raccolse infante e lo. nutriva
at the end of the -hexameter to enter the octave carry a note of sadness as they (id.33-34)
slowly with another spondee the final belong to sad words and phrases (fug- could not give him
pentameter; and with rushing dactyls gendo . . . gemendo . . . di tardo traendo Nel suo grembo materno asilo
utters a farewell that seems the farewell . . . iîe palme tendo ) . (id.35)
of every man's life - a life quickly lived, The climax of the sorrow is indicated nor make
eternally desired, forever missed in anin the first two lines of the second stanza. . . . sacre le reliquie . .
instant.
Foscolo's mother, old, grief-stricken to Dall'insultar de' nembi e dal profano
The grief is so intense that it does not the point of almost losing her mind, talks Piede del vulgo . . . (id.36-38)
allow the mention of the name of the with the dead son about the living one, while no soft shade of fragrant flowers
beloved one that has passed away. The
perhaps expecting, as mothers do, a family would soothe his ashes (id. 3 9 -40) and no
satisfaction of performing the last duty
reunion! At this tragic vision the poet . . . donna innamorata . . (id.48)
is helpless. Hopelessly he lifts his hands
is enveloped in the tragedy of conversing would pray at his tomb.
with one who cannot answer. It seems an as if to reach his mother and his brother. This fear must have become rooted in
attempt to disregard the inexorable laws But this movement of hands accomplishes Foscolo's mind, must have caused much
of nature: all in vain. In the seventh line nothing but a gesture of salute. brooding, and a few years later, in 1806,
the poet appears to be reeling under the In the sestet the subdued tone of the became finally the inspiration of some
burden of his suffering, and for a momentphrase-accents is continued in the real- of the most beautiful lines written in the
he wanders with a "nunc tamen interea."
ization of the persistent hostility of fate nineteenth century (Sepolcri, 1-50).
For once, at this point, a slight reference
and the unavoidable bitterness of his The relation of this sonnet to the
to others ( parentum ) is made. But ex-brother's woes while he was living. Sepolcri, his greatest masterpiece, has not
cept for this vague recollection no thought
For Foscolo a prayer is a wish that yet received its full treatment, but jt lies
of others is permitted to come between beyond the scope of this paper.
affects human beings and does not involve
Catullus and his brother. The world be-
any supernatural power or existence. His It is unfortunate that the exact chronol-
comes very small and lonely as our emo-
wish, then, that his brother requiescat ogy in of Catullus' poems it not known.
tions are focused upon one person, and
pace, points to a peace that actually would It would be interesting to discover the
this person is gone forever;
be for his mother and himself; but they date when No. 101 was written. Certainly
Foscolo's poem was written in 1802 cannot have it. Yet he had hoped so it was not jotted down when the poet
in Milan, and was later, in 1816, re- much ( tanta speme) both for his brother was standing by the tomb of his brother:
touched in Zürich. The latter version is and himself. Here the thought of himself it is too finished to be the work of à
presented here. The brother had died and and that of the death of his brother few minutes. It might have been com-
been buried in Venice: mingle, exchange terms, and give riseposed to while he was in Bithynia, or while
Un di, s'io non andrò sempre fuggendo the thought of death for himself. A fear he was sailing home on his yacht, or
Di gente in gente, mi vedrai seduto now begins to oppress the poet, a fear after reaching Sirmio. Thus, like Fo-
Su la tua pietra, o fratel mio, gemendo not merely of dying, because he was not scolo's sonnet, it was written at a great
Il fior de' tuoi gentil anni caduto. a man to be afraid of death. There are distance from the tomb of die beloved

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 .40 THE CLASSICAL OUTLOOK

one. But unlike Foscolo's poem, it docs respectively, 84 and 144 of them; Catul-
not look forward to a greater work ; lus, 85 and 136.
rather it looks backward to an earlier, When all these references and similar-
humble one, No. 65, where we read this ities have been duly observed, the student
prophetic line : of poetry who looks to a horizon wider
Semper maesta tua carmina morte canam.than that afforded by vowels, consonants, Note: Books reviewed here are not sold by the
isolated words, and isolated phrases, sees American Classical League. Persons interested in
them should communicate directly with the pub-
Foscolo's poem is one of his few sonnets in Foscolo's poem a monument of art lishers. Only books already published, and only
that, together with those of Dante, Pet- books which have been sent in specifically for
expressing something that all the other review, are mentioned in this department.
rarch, one or two of Tasso, and some of poems do not express. Recollections of
Carducci, represent modern Italy's contri-other poets became for Foscolo material to
The Oration of Demosthenes On the
bution to the highest type of sonnet of all be molded. Thus Lysippus and Cellini, in
time. Crown. A Rhetorical Commentary. By
gathering the metal for one of their statues,
Francis P. Donnelly, S. J. New York:
Nothing is detracted from it if the may have put in their crucible fragments Fordham University Press, 1941. To-
student of Latin literature detects in it of other statues that they happened to gether with: The Oration of Demos-
echoes from Catullus. Thus possess. These fragments were fused, and
thenes On the Crown. With an English
. . . andrò sempre fuggendo a new statue came into being. Translation and Notes. By Francis P.
Di gente in gente Classical culture has its best results Simpson. Oxford: James Thornton,
is a distinct echo of
when, thoroughly absorbed and trans- 1882. Pp. 356. $2.25.
Multas per gentes et multa per muted, it leads to such high standards of
This volume is a most worthy produc-
aequora vectus; perfection as those found in Ugo Foscolo. tion of Fordham University upon the oc-
W W W casion of its one hundredth anniversary.
Combining the text, translation, and notes
Su la tua pietra, o fratel mio, . . . THE FEBRUARY MEETING of Simpson with the rhetorical comment-
reminds of
Advenio has miseras, frater, ad The fifth annual joint meeting of ary
the of Father Donnelly, it is beautifully
inferias ; American Classical League and the Na- printed and eminently usable. The Greek
tional Federation of Modern Language and English are on facing pages; notes
Sento gli avversi Numi .... are at the bottom of pages; and the rhe-
Teachers, in cooperation with the Ameri-
brings to one's own mind torical commentary follows the complete
can Association of School Administrators,
Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete will be held in San Francisco, Cal., at text. Not only Jesuits, but other scholars,
abstulit ipsum. 2:15 P.M. on Monday, February 23, throughout the country, will welcome the
1942, in the Delphian Room of the work. - L.B.L.

Moreover to the student of Tibullus Clift Hotel. The Chairman of the Joint
Committee, Professor F. H. Reinsch, of Romani: A Reader for the Third Stage
the University of California at Los An- of Latin. By C. E. Robinson. Cam-
Su la tua pietra

geles, will preside. The theme of the bridge: at the University Press; New
may recall
Illius ad tumulum fugiam supplex- meeting will be "The Vitality of Foreign York: The Macmillan Co., 1941. Pp.
125. 70c.
que sedebo; (2.6.33) Language Instruction in High School."
After an address on "Basic and Potential In the introduction to this reader the

and the Vergilian scholar may Values,"

not by a speaker to be announced
miss theme given is that of "the Roman char-
Ma io deluse a voi le palme later, there will be a conference on "Col-
tendo acter as seen at various stages of its de-
as a variation of laboration with Other Subjects," consist- velopment." The selections are graduated
Invalidasque tibi tendens, heu non ing of brief reports by high school teach- in difficulty and where new constructions
tua, palmas. (G. 4, 498) ers of language, describing actual class- are introduced, explanations and ex-
Even the student of Petrarch will remem- room technique and experience, showing ercises are given. This book is a sequel to
ber what can be contributed by Latin, French, Latinum and Roma reviewed under Book

Questo m'avanza di cotanta speme German, and Spanish. There will be op- Notes in former years. Part I is titled
( Canzone : Che debb'io far? portunity for free discussion from the Roman Qualities, Part II The Last Days
che mi consigli, Amore? 32) floor. Representatives of the classics on of the Republic, Part III The Empire.
when he' reads the Joint Committee are Professor W. H. This reader which includes prose and
Questa di tanta speme oggi mi resta.Alexander, of the University of California poetry from various Roman authors could
To all this may be added the skillful re- be used with profit in the last two years
at Berkeley, Professor R. H. Tanner, of of the four year high school course.
production of the long uninterrupted
sigh of Catullus, 101,6 New York University, and Miss Claire - D.P.L.

Heu miser indigne frater adempie C. Thursby, of the University High

mihi School, Oakland, Cal. The local com-
in mittee will have as its chairman Professor
Alfred Coester, of Stanford University.
Il fior de' tuoi gentil
anni caduto
Teachers in California and neighboring
In reading aloud the two poems
is also states are urged toby
struck attend the meeting;
a certain simila
The Latin Club of the Burlington
sounds, inand teachers
spite the country over
of are urged
the
(Vermont) Highfact
School presented onthat
poetry is to
mainly
call the attention of theiraccentual,
principals
November 14, 1941, The Bronze Bowl,and th
is encased, rather
and superintendents adroitly
to the meeting, to
a play written and directed by Miss
and Mar- be s
quantitative measures
to ask them to attend. jorie Perrin, of
instructor in Greek
Latin. The
This similarity may productionwell be
was a lavish one, with a large due
>1* W ^
tone of sadness of the theme in the de-
velopment of which there is used an al- Your students are invited tocast,
enterand the
was, in effect, a joint project
of the whole school. Singers, dancers, and
most equal number of liquid consonants, American Classical League Verse-Writing
the high school orchestra contributed to
and vowels and diphthongs: Foscolo has, Contest. the effectiveness of the performance.

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