Charlotte Smith, The Letters of a Solitary Wanderer

The narrator describes young Falconberg’s skills in poetic improvisation and recitation.

Performer Name:
 
Performance Venue:
 
Performance Date:
 
Author:
Smith, Charlotte
Date Written:
 
Language:
English
Publication Title:
The Letters of a Solitary Wanderer: Containing Narratives of Various Descriptions
Article Title:
 
Page Numbers:
1:216
Additional Info:
Vol. 1, Letter IV ("The Story of Edouarda")
Publisher:
Sampson Low
Place of Publication:
London
Date Published:
1800

Text:

[describing the rustic Italian upbringing of the English protagonist Enrico/Henry Falconberg:] At nine years old he was no contemptible improvisatore, and could repeat with facility and grace all the most celebrated passages of Tasso and Ariosto; from whence the people of Italy, accustomed to hear them from their infancy, acquire that facility of poetical termination, which appears so wonderful to the more phlegmatic and matter-of-fact natives of the north. Young Falconberg, however, was favoured by nature with talents of greater importance.

Notes:

 

Collected by:
AE