Page 19 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(2) (2024)

esthesis, are present in this poem and are inter- cantly influenced the poets of the 14th century,
connected with the classic senses. especially Dante and Petrarch.
Mary’s repeated address as ‘son’ is less a voc- By taking over the themes from the
ative than a posthumous lament for a lost son. Provençal lyrics (that is, through the French in-
The three stanzas with which Jesus addresses the fluences), it goes towards processing the feeling
mother are not accidental but reflect the holy of love, but there are changes in how it is treat-
trinity. Just as the mother, for whom the son is ed. The poetry here is not performed to the ac-
everything, identifies him with the trinity of fa- companiment of music. Created in a different
ther, son, and holy spirit. But Jesus also addresses social context, court poetry differs from feu-
Mary with the noun ‘mother,’ which etymologi- dal poetry. Provençal lyrics are distinguished by
cally also denotes the relationship of a newborn coldness, intellectuality, expressed concern for
with its mother. The use of the vocative moth- form and rhetoric, complications in expression,
er by Jesus is also specific, which refers to the unreality in depicting phenomena, and elevation 19
Latin etymology for the breast, and from there, to abstract and unattainable values. The beloved
Mary alludes to breastfeeding: ‘Son, why do you of the poets is described in the same way, with a
spurn the breasts that suckled you?’ (verse 47). perfection that makes her inhuman and almost
Using the synecdoche, according to the princi- always portrayed in a spring landscape that rep-
ple of pars pro toto, the mother’s physical proxim- resents a kind of cliché, a stereotype, or kitsch
ity and primordial connection with the child is from today’s point of view. Artificiality is a char-
emphasized. acteristic of the sung object and the procedure
applied by the one who creates it. It is about chiv-
Love Poetry in 13 -Century Italy alrous respect and bowing in front of the lady
th
But, starting with the religious and moralistic (Giudice and Bruni 1981).
literature of the 13th century, Italian creativity The Sicilian school plays a role in changing From Religious Lauda to Medieval Canzone and Sonnet
goes through a visible evolution in which chang- these poetic conventions and in introducing a
es occur both on thematic and composition- certain spontaneity in the expression of feeling
al levels. Italian literature, mainly inspired by because the goal is to progress in the psychologi-
Provençal lyricism, would eventually reach more zation of both the creative subject and the sung
ethical qualities and independence through lady. Therefore, the marble surface of the state-
which it could influence future European liter- ment must be abolished, and the naturalization
ature and civilization. Three schools of poetry of the representations must be inclined. It de-
were formed in this period: the Sicilian school scribes a range of emotions associated with the
of poetry, the Tuscan school of poetry, and the feeling of love, which varies from joy and satis-
Sweet New Stile (Casadei and Santagata 2023). faction to the other extreme of suffering and tor-
The first elements of literary novelty will be felt ture. The exaltation of the lady is not understood
in the court lyrics of the Sicilian school of po- as an annulment of the poet but, on the contra-
etry from the first half of the 13th century. This ry, as his predisposition to notice and experience
school of poetry is among the first in Europe. It the sublime.
will bring a new poetic experience, a new style, Ultimate individualism has not yet been
and the power to plunge into the human psyche, reached in this poetry characteristic of the mod-
thus representing a transitional moment towards ern era because what the poet sings is social-
Humanism and the Renaissance. The lyrical po- ly accepted and recommended. It is about lean-
etry of the first school of poetry is tied to the mo- ing towards a collective, literary, and social ideal
tif of love as a dominant feeling and was inspired of love. Much attention is paid to the technical
to a great extent by the Provençal lyrics in which construction of the song. In that period, several
visible results were achieved and which signifi- poetic forms were characterized by precisely de-