Alessandro Tassoni

Alessandro Tassoni (September 28, 1565 – April 25, 1635), was an Italian poet and writer.

Life

He was born in Modena, to a noble family. In 1597, he began his service for the cardinal Colonna whom he followed to Spain. In 1603 he was back in Italy and moved to Rome.

In 1612 he published anonymously the booklet "Le Filippiche" in which he attacked the Spanish domination of Italy. Though he always denied having written it (probably for fear of Spanish retaliation), the work became famous enough to ingratiate Tassoni to the Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, who, in 1618 hired him in Turin with the title of "first secretary".

After this, Tassoni was with the cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi in 1626 and served under Francesco I d'Este, duke of Modena, in 1635.

He died in Modena. His fellow citizens remembered his life and work with a statue that can still be seen in front of the town symbol, the Ghirlandina.

Work

Besides the above mentioned "Filippiche", and other works, some of poetry and some of literary criticism (such as the "Varieta' di pensieri di Alessandro Tassoni" - Diverse meditations by A.T.), Tassoni is best known as the author of the satirical poem "La secchia rapita" (The Rape of the Bucket): it is by virtue of this work that he is remembered as Modena's poet laureate.

"La secchia rapita"

"La secchia rapita" ("The Stolen Pail") was written by Tassoni between 1614 and 1615 and first published in Paris in 1622. The poem is loosely based on a 14th century war between Modena and Bologna, but the central episode, in which the Modenese steal a bucket from their rivals, is completely fictitious. ["Cambridge History of Italian Literature" ed. Brand and Pertile (1996) p.310]

As a result of the theft an extremely complicated war erupts, where even the Olympian gods take part (this is in the tradition of classical poems such as Homer's Iliad) and is eventually resolved by the intervention of the Pope.

The narration is dotted by references to situations and persons contemporary to the author, and with farcical appearances such as the "Conte di Culagna" (Count of Ass-land) probably the best known character of the book. In the third chapter of the poem, armies from all over the country arrive to take part in the war, and the Conte of Culagna makes his first appearance:

[...] Quest'era un cavalier bravo e galante,filosofo poeta e bacchettonech'era fuor de' perigli un Sacripante,ma ne' perigli un pezzo di polmone.Spesso ammazzato avea qualche gigante,e si scopriva poi ch'era un cappone,onde i fanciulli dietro di lontanogli soleano gridar: - Viva Martano. -

Avea ducento scrocchi in una schiera,mangiati da la fame e pidocchiosi;ma egli dicea ch'eran duo mila e ch'erauna falange d'uomini famosi:dipinto avea un pavon ne la bandieracon ricami di seta e d'or pomposi:l'armatura d'argento e molto adorna;e in testa un gran cimier di piume e corna. [...]

This roughly translates to:

[...] He was a brave and gallant knightA philosopher a poet and a moralist,A devil out of the fight,A meek guy when close to peril.He often claimed he had killed a giant,which was then discovered to be a chicken,and for this the kids, seeing him approaching,would follow him shouting "Long live Martano!"

He had two hundred armed men,hungry and lousy;but he claimed it was an army of two thousandfamous knights;his coat of arms was a peacock,his armour silver;on the head he wore an helmet decorated with feathersand horns(*) [...]

(*)The feathers recall the peacock and its vanity, the horns are the traditional symbol of the cuckold.

References