"Il giorno" ("The Day") is a poem written by

Giuseppe Parini Giuseppe Parini (23 May 1729 – 15 August 1799) was an Italian enlightenment satirist and poet of the neoclassic period. Biography Parini (originally spelled Parino) was born in Bosisio (later renamed Bosisio Parini in his honour) in Brianza ...

(1729–1799), first published in 1763. It is an ironic and satirical representation of the

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

of his time. His poem represents the beginning of polite literature in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It was originally divided into three parts: ''Il mattino'', ''Il mezzogiorno'' and ''La sera'' ("Morning", "Midday" and "Evening"). The last part was later divided into two separate parts, ''Il vespro'' and ''La notte'' ("Evening" and "Night").

Plot

''Il mattino''

In ''Il mattino'' (The Morning), Parini writes about the beginning of a young man's day. It begins with his waking up and continues with the breakfast and the choice of it. The young man can choose between several drinks, from chocolate (if he needs to digest the dinner of the last night) to coffee (if he tends to become fat). It continues with some welcome and unwelcome meetings, the ''toeletta'' and the reading of some letters. Then he gets out to meet his lady (aristocratic ladies of this period of time had both a husband and a gallant, called a ''

cicisbeo In 18th- and 19th-century Italy, the ''cicisbeo'' ( , , ; plural: ''cicisbei'') or (french: chevalier servant) was the man who was the professed gallant or lover of a woman married to someone else. With the knowledge and consent of the husband, ...

'', to pass the day with).

''Il mezzogiorno'' or the ''Meriggio''

The young man, on arriving at the lady's house, eats with her and meets the husband of the lady, who appears bored and frigid, but not in the least resentful of the presence of the lover (he probably has a mistress of his own somewhere). Lunch is followed by coffee and games.

''Il vespro''

The young man and the lady meet friends and wander about the streets with a carriage while they speak about several things.

''La notte''

The two lovers go to a meeting. In this phase the author describes people in the hall and makes some comments about them. Then, all the people play cards together and at the end of this, the day of the young man is concluded. He will go to sleep at the dead of night to get up late the following morning.

Style

The ostensible purpose of this poem is to give instructions, in immense detail, about how to fill the "simple day" of a young aristocratic man. It clearly gives an ironic vision of this class, as Parini ostensibly exalts the aristocracy but in reality gives a critical vision of them. (When the young man visits the baths, he may feel some faint suspicion, swiftly dismissed, that he is the same type of creature as men of common clay.) The effect of the poem depends on the comic contrast between the banality and futility of the day of the young man and the exalted epic style of the writing used by the author to describe it, drawing heavily on

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

(ca. 8th century BC) and

Vergil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

(70 BC19 BC). The technique is somewhat similar to that of ''

The Rape of the Lock ''The Rape of the Lock'' is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque, it was first published anonymously in Lintot's ''Miscellaneous Poems and Translations'' (May 1712) ...

'' (1712) by

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

(1688–1744).

Bibliography

*Alessandro Cont
''"Ove pennello industre l'imagin tua ritrasse": i gusti e gli studi del Giovin Signore nell'Italia del Settecento''
"Rivista storica italiana", 128, 1 (aprile 2016), pp. 106-148

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giorno Poem 1763 poems 1763 in Italy Italian poems