Page 13 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(2) (2024)

From Religious Lauda to Medieval Canzone and Sonnet:
Poetry of the Senses in 13 and 14 Century Italy
th
th
Od verskih hvalnic do srednjeveške kancone in soneta:
poezija čutov v italiji 13. in 14. stoletja

Eva Gjorgjievska
Goce Delcev University, North Macedonia
eva.gorgievska@ugd.edu.mk

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present the sensory expression impregnated in the medieval religious
poetry from the 13th and 14th centuries written by Italian poets originally from the regions of Umbriа,
Sicily, and Emilia-Romagna: Jacopone da Todi, San Francesco d’Assisi, Giacomo da Lentini and Gui- 13
do Guinizelli. Although religious representation is often related to the rationally expressed scholas-
tic message, we can talk about the almost therapeutic dimension of the poem when spirituality is ex-
pressed through sensory poetics. Poetry affects not only through the open religious message it conveys
but also through the activation of all sensory impressions at the moment of reading or liturgical sing-
ing, as empathy between the reader and the poet. Even religious poetry is not immune to these peculi-
arities, which we will prove in this article. Four poems will be taken as examples: Canticle of the Crea-
tures (‘Laudes Creaturarum’) by San Francesco d’Assisi, The Lament of the Madonna (‘Il pianto della
Madonna’) by Jacopone da Todi, Love Is a Desire that Comes from the Heart (‘Amor è uno desio che
ven da core’) by Giacomo da Lentini, and Truly I Wish to Praise My Lady… (‘Io voglio del ver la mia don-
na laudare’) by Guido Guinizelli.
Keywords: lauda, sonnet, canzone, senses, Middle Ages

Izvleček
Namen tega prispevka je predstaviti čutni izraz, impregniran v srednjeveški verski poeziji iz 13. in 14. sto-
letja, ki so jo napisali italijanski pesniki iz regij Umbrija, Sicilija in Emilija - Romanja: Jacopone da Todi,
San Francesco d’Assisi, Giacomo da Lentini in Guido Guinizelli. Čeprav je religiozna predstava največ-
krat postavljena v razmerje z racionalno izraženim sholastičnim sporočilom, pa lahko govorimo o sko-
raj terapevtski razsežnosti pesmi, ko je duhovnost izražena s čutno poetiko. Poezija ne vpliva le z odpr-
tim verskim sporočilom, ki ga posreduje, temveč tudi z aktivacijo vseh čutnih vtisov v trenutku branja ali
liturgičnega petja kot empatije med bralcem in pesnikom. Tudi verska poezija ni imuna na te posebnos-
ti in to bomo dokazali v tem članku. Za primer bomo vzeli štiri pesmi: Pesem stvarstev (»Laudes Cre-
aturarum«) Frančiška Asiškega, Žalostinke Madone (»Il pianto della Madonna«) Jacopona da Todija,
Ljubezen je želja, ki prihaja iz srca (»Amor è uno desio che ven da core«) Giacoma da Lentinija in Res-
nično želim hvaliti svojo gospo (»Io voglio del ver la mia donna laudare«) Guida Guinizellija.
Ključne besede: hvalnice, sonet, kancone, čutila, srednji vek

Introduction: Italian Poetry in the Context al distancing from the classical religious form
of the Late Middle Ages of lyrical expression. The selection focuses on
those poets who were directly influenced by the
his paper traces the development stages medieval Italian philosopher St. Thomas Aqui-
of poetry in Italy starting from the 13th nas (1920) because, in his philosophy, reason and
Tcentury through the prism of its gradu- emotion become complementary things. Thus,
https://doi.org/10.26493/2350-5443.12(2)13-24 © author/authors