Giovanni Battista Casti

Giovanni Battista Casti Poems

Let others sing his pious deeds and bold—
And wars Eneas did in Latium wage,
Whence empire and the city rose, of old,
That to the World gave laws in after age:
...

If in my youth, ambitious then of fame,
In my more verdant and vivacious age,
The deeds and virtues did my song engage
Of heroes worthy an eternal name,
...

Hence, dreams or fables, hence! Others before
Have sung, while poesy their bosoms warmed,
How Jove, in bull and golden shower transformed,
Agenor and Acrisius wrong' d of yore;
...

Who would believe that hard and arid stone,
Which hath no principle of light nor heat,
Doth in itself inactive fires secrete
With luminous existence of their own!
...

Giovanni Battista Casti Biography

Giovanni Battista Casti (29 August 1724 – 5 February 1803) was an Italian poet, satirist, and author of comic opera librettos, born in Montefiascone. He rose to the dignity of canon in the cathedral of his native place, but gave up his chance of church preferment to satisfy his restless spirit by visiting most of the capitals of Europe. In 1782, on the death of Metastasio, he was appointed Poeta Cesario, or poet laureate of Austria, in which capacity he applied himself with great success to the opera bouffe; but in 1796 he resigned this post, in order that he might not be hampered by political relations; and he spent the close of his life as a private gentleman at Paris, where he died in 1803. Casti is best known as the author of the Novelle galanti, and of Gli Animali parlanti, a poetical allegory, over which he spent eight years (1794-1802), which excited so much interest that it was translated into French, German and Spanish, and (very freely and with additions) into English, in W. S. Rose's Court and Parliament of Beasts (Lond, 1819). Written during the time of the Revolution in France, it was intended to exhibit the feelings and hopes of the people and the defects and absurdities of various political systems. Some of Goya's print series The Disasters of War drew from the Spanish translation of 1813. The Novelle Galanti is a series of poetical tales, in the ottava rima metre largely used by Italian poets for that class of compositions. One merit of these poems is in the harmony and purity of the style, and the liveliness and sarcastic power of many passages.)

The Best Poem Of Giovanni Battista Casti

Sonnet I

Let others sing his pious deeds and bold—
And wars Eneas did in Latium wage,
Whence empire and the city rose, of old,
That to the World gave laws in after age:
The feats of mighty Kings let these unfold;
A pleasing face, or beauty, those engage;
Far other tales must by the Muse be told:
Nor dreadful Mars nor Love employs her page.
This is the subject matter of my lay
Chbtsophilus one time Three Groats me lent,
And for them ask'd me a hundred times a day:
He kept on asking, and I would not pay:
And this importunate Dun 'tis my intent
Herein in various fashion to display.

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