The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear, Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes. B. iii. Nor is it unlikely, that Marino furnished some of the materials of which the English poet forms the stairs and portal of heaven. When, in Marino's poem, the deity opens the book of fate, Ove in viva pittura agl'occhi avante Delle cose il catalogo gli offerse, St. 27. we discover several of the scenes which appear in vision to Adam, when he and Michael ascend a hill Of Paradise the highest, from whose top The hemisphere of earth in clearest ken Stretcht out to th' amplest reach of prospect lay. e 2 B. xi. Thus A Thus we find that Milton, "like a bee, was studious of gathering flowers wherever he could find them growing." As no biographer of Marino whom I have consulted, takes the slightest notice of the poem to which our divine bard seems to be so much indebted, I presume it was deemed a production unworthy its author. Indeed, I believe it was never completed; at least, I have only seen the seventh canto, and from that all my extracts are made. This canto is subjoined to two small editions of the Strage degl'Innocenti, in my possession: one printed, without date, at Amsterdam; the other at Naples, " a spese di Giacinto Musitano." A portrait of Marino is prefixed to the latter. Since writing the above, I learned from Barotti's valuable annotations on the Secchia Rapita, that the only canto of the Gerusalemme distrutta which remains, is the seventh; at least it is, he says, the only one which has been printed. It is probable, however, that the poem had been completed, and to the satisfaction of the author too, as he speaks of it in his familiar letters, as a " poema grande." and as a " poema non meno excellente di quello, che si avesse fatta il Tasso." 66 No. No. VII. La Tarantata, or Tarantella. IN the course of my musical researches in Italy, I obtained a copy of the music of this dance, which I deem too curious to be withheld from the public. If the air be coeval with the dance which it still inspires in Calabria, and the kingdom of Naples, its antiquity must be very high indeed; for it is generally believed, that the Tarantata (or, as it is vulgarly called, the Tarantella) was the dance performed, during the Pagan ages, at the orgies of Bacchus. But let us hear an enlightened traveller on this subject. "As I was now in the country of the Tarantula," says Mr. Swinburne, "I was desirous of investigating minutely every particular relative relative to that insect; but the season was not far enough advanced, and no Tarantati had begun to stir. I prevailed upon a woman, who had formerly been bitten, to act the part, and dance the Tarantata before me. A great many musicians were summoned, and she performed the dance, as all present assured me, to perfection. At first she lolled stupidly on a chair, while the instruments were playing some dull musick. They touched, at length, the chord supposed to vibrate to her heart (the air given above) and up she sprang with a most hideous yell, staggered about the room like a drunken person, holding a handkerchief in both hands, raising them alternately, and moving in very true time. As the music grew brisker, her motions quickened, and she skipped about with great vigour and variety of steps, every now and then shrieking very loud. The scene was far from pleasant; and, at my desire, an end was put to it before the woman was tired. Wherever the Tarantati are to dance, a place is prepared for them, hung round with bunches of grapes and ribbons. The patients are dressed in white, with red, green, or yellow ribbons, for those are their favourite colours; on their shoulders they cast a white scarf, let their hair fall loose about their ears, and throw their heads as far back as they can bear it. They are exact copies of the ancient priestesses of Bacchus. The orgies of that god, whose worship, under various symbols, was more widely spread over the globe than that of any other divinity, were, no doubt, performed with energy and enthusiasm, enthusiasm, by the lively inhabitants of this warm climate. The introduction of Christianity, abolished all public exhibitions of these heathenish rites, and the women durst no longer act a frantic part in the character of Bacchantes. Unwilling to give up so darling an amusement, they devised other pretences; and possession by evil spirits may have furnished them with one. Accident may also have led them to a discovery of the Tarantula; and, upon the strength of its poison, the Puglian dames still enjoy their old dance, though time has effaced the memory of its ancient name and institution; and this I take to be the origin of so strange a practice." Travels in the Two Sicilies, vol. ii. sect. 52. The ingenious conjecture of Mr. Swinburne, receives support from oral tradition. Under the influence of this notion, a company of Bacchantes were introduced, a few years ago, in a masquerade in Aquila, (a small city in Abruzzo) who, in the course of the evening, performed a dance in character, graced with all the lascivious gestures of the Tarantata. And about ten years since, it was suggested to the manager of the theatre of san Carlo in Naples, to introduce this dance upon the stage, where, as a danza nazionale, it drew, for several nights, large audiences. To give the performance the air and interest of a ballet, the scenery represented santa Lucia, the fish-market of Naples; and while dancers of both sexes, dressed in character, offered fish to sale, the Tarantella was performed in the front of the stage. During the neces sary |