| Description: |
Many literary genres are rendered in verse in our 1501 corpus, including conduct literature and advice on pious lifestyle, news and current affairs, heroic and religious epic, classical satire and eclogue, and classical, medieval and new lyric verse. Among these, contemporary secular verse is the focus of this chapter, including epic but with a particular focus on lyric verse, both neo-Latin and vernacular, which is filled with sound and linked to musical practice. The internal soundscape of the lyric verse printed in Italy in 1501 is analysed in four distinct aspects. Section 2.1 brings together the references made within the verse itself to its own audible performance, forming a bridge between the conceit of verse as song, and the performance of verse as song. In section 2.2, meanwhile, we map the natural landscapes constructed by poets within their verse, analysing their acoustic properties and contributors. Then, sections 2.3 and 2.4 highlight the two protagonists whose voices are most often heard within the verse: first the female beloved, whose voice (like her body) tends to be fragmented and controlled; and second the male lover, the author, who often claims Orpheus-like powers over the world constructed within his verse. Overall, the gleanings from our 1501 corpus show that Italian lyric poets of the late fifteenth century manipulated the soundscapes within their verse in deliberate and distinctive ways, as an important component in their self-fashioning as poets. |