Canzone in Sabo Bobaljević Glušac's poetry

Abstract

Sabo Bobaljević Glušac (1529. or the beginning of 1530.–1585.) theRenaissance poet from Dubrovnik is presented in this paper with three different forms of Italian canzone: Petrarchan canzone, canzone-ode and sestina. Petrarchan canzone is presented with three different examples which differ in the number of stanzas in the canzones (8; 5; 7); in the number of verses in the stanzas (20;13; 6); in the number of lines in the congedo (9; 3; 3) and some other varieties. The canzone-ode is presented with two examples which consist of four verses, with three and four stanzas, while one of the canzones has a form of sestina. All these forms have characteristics of the old Italian canzone, which are its lyricalcharacter, the stanza form and the syllabic pattern. The canzone typically uses hendecasyllable and heptameter. Its strophe (Provencal cobla, pl. coblas), the so called stanza has the lenght which is equal in each poem except for the congedo (parting), which is optional and rather concise, and a shorter concluding stanzacalled envio (or half-stanza), Provencal tornada. Petrarchan canzone consists of "piedi" and "sirma"; piedi can be divided into two or more parts which have the same syllabic pattern and rhyme scheme. On the other hand, the structure of sirma is theoretically free and different combinations of lines and rhymes are possible.The canzone-ode and lyrical sestina consist of stanzas which are divisible within themselves, but have the same number of verses, the same verse type and rhyme scheme. However, the final lines in the sestina do not rhyme; instead, they repeat the words from the first stanza, which appear in all stanzas (parola rhyme). They have six stanzas each consisting of six lines and an envoi of three lines. In terms of their contents and forms, the theme and spirit, these poems are based on Petrarchan elements. The main theme of the poems is love in terms of Petrarchan conception of love, whereas one poem deals with the ephemerality of earthly aspirations contrasted with the praise and lasting value of the poetic creation. The feelingsof the lyrical subject in changeable mood are expressed with inspirational lyrical speech; the lover in pain before the ideal of his lady, who can be compared with a nymph or a goddess. The fair-haired Petrarchan ideal of the lady is expressed with the conventional Petrarchan phraseology: woman here is the image of spiritualand physical beauty but is also graced with virtues. Her beauty is expressed with figurative poetic speech, most frequently with metaphor, allegory and symbolics, which is characteristic of Bobaljević's poetic expression, as well as antithesis. The motifs which dominate the canzone are the praise of female physical and spiritual beauty, love lamenting, emphasis on pain and suffering, thoughts of death, obsession with love, dispair and hope, which are part and parcel of love, etc.