Manzoni

MANZONI

Goethe's influence on Manzoni¹s Ode on Napoleon¹s death:

On 17 May (another source says 17 June) 1821 Manzoni was in his garden at

Brusuglio when was brought the Milan 'Gazettino' announcing the death of

Napoleon at St Helena 10 days before - news had big effect on him, and was

immediately inspired to write a poem: wrote later, "His death shook me, as

if some essential element in the world were coming to an end". Result was

ode on death of Napoleon, 'Il Cinque Maggio', finished three days later.

Poem was significant advance in conception and artistic achievement for

Manzoni - ode is formed in two equal parts relating respectively to

Napoleon's dynamic career, and his lonely exile and recourse to God (he

received last rites from the Church).

However, Manzoni had doubts as to whether ode would see light of day at all

• Austrian censors could not be expected to be keen on poem in honour of

their dead enemy, the spread of whose cult was being watched not only in

France. Manzoni foresighted enough to enclose two manuscript copies with his

application, in the hope that the other copy might find a limited

circulation among the censors themselves - proved v. wise, as only one was

in fact returned to him, while the other was not only copied out by one of

the censors, but was soon circulating in other manuscripts in Milan, and

then throughout Europe. Poem appeared just when many were feeling an

unspoken sympathy for Napoleon, partly for what he had achieved, and partly

in reaction to what had come afer him - and poem took Italy and Europe

almost by storm.

Goethe was first to translate it: although this was a poor translation, as

Goethe himself acknowledged (said he had done it to encourage others to do a

better one), he read it out to the court at Weimar so effectively that it

made an immense impression. Success Goethe had with it in Grand-ducal

drawingroom at Weimar, meant that English version wanted by Longfellow, Lord

Derby and later Gladstone. Emperor of Brazil, Don Pedro II, translated it

into Portuguese, and 27 translations were later (1883) collected in a volume

published at the inauguration of Manzoni's monument in Milan. Outdid in

popularity all the other odes on Napoleon by Lamartine, Beranger,

Wordsworth, and Byron.

Goethe first attracted to Manzoni on publication of his four 'Inni Sacri'

('Sacred Hymns'), published in 1815 (fifth and last, "La pentecoste",

published in 1822). Although poems were generally met with indifference,

Goethe was unexpectedly enthusiastic, marking the beginning of an interest

and championing which was to grow and be one of the first causes of

Manzoni's European reputation. Pair never met, and corresponded directly

only once (January 1821), but had mutual friend in French philosopher Victor

Cousin.

Manzoni as godfather (??) to Beccaria:

Cesare Beccaria (1738-94) was Alessandro Manzoni's (1785-1873) grandfather,

who died when he aged 9 - father of his mother, Donna Giulia Beccaria, who

had married his father, Pietro Manzoni, in 1782. Mother had been married to

father, a country-gentleman many yrs older than she, to avoid the scandal of

her love affair with Giovanni Verri, which continued for long time after

marriage. (Is a possibility that Verri was, in fact, Alessandro's real

father). Were so ill suited that Manzoni's parents separated in February

1792, and from 1795-1805 she lived in Paris with Carlo Imbonati.

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