{"id":438,"date":"2016-05-13T11:35:55","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T15:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/?p=438"},"modified":"2016-08-04T07:44:11","modified_gmt":"2016-08-04T11:44:11","slug":"suid092","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/?p=438","title":{"rendered":"Felicia Hemans, “The Dying Improvisatore”"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
\n
Performer Name:<\/dt>\n
Sestini<\/dd>\n
Performance Venue:<\/dt>\n
 <\/dd>\n
Performance Date:<\/dt>\n
 <\/dd>\n
Author:<\/dt>\n
Hemans, Felicia<\/dd>\n
Date Written:<\/dt>\n
 <\/dd>\n
Language:<\/dt>\n
English<\/dd>\n
Publication Title:<\/dt>\n
New Monthly Magazine<\/dd>\n
Article Title:<\/dt>\n
The Dying Improvisatore<\/dd>\n
Page Numbers:<\/dt>\n
22:403-04<\/dd>\n
Additional Info:<\/dt>\n
Vol. 22, part 1<\/dd>\n
Publisher:<\/dt>\n
Henry Colburn<\/dd>\n
Place of Publication:<\/dt>\n
London<\/dd>\n
Date Published:<\/dt>\n
1828<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Text:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

[403] The Dying Improvisatore.*<\/p>\n

\r\n"My heart shall be poured over thee—and break."\r\n     Prophecy of Dante.<\/i>\r\n\r\n     THE spirit of my land,\r\nIt visits me once more!—though I must die\r\nFar from the myrtles which thy breeze hath fann'd, \r\n     My own bright Italy!\r\n\r\n     It is, it is thy breath, \r\nWhich stirs my soul e'en yet, as wavering flame\r\nIs shaken by the wind;—in life and death\r\n     Still trembling, yet the same!\r\n\r\n     Oh! that love's quenchless power\r\nMight waft my voice to fill thy summer sky,\r\nAnd through thy groves its dying music shower,\r\n     Italy! Italy!\r\n\r\n     The nightingale is there,\r\nThe sunbeam's glow, the citron-flower's perfume,\r\nThe south wind's whisper in the scented air—\r\n     It will not pierce the tomb!\r\n\r\n     Never, oh! never more,\r\nOn thy Rome's purple heaven mine eye shall dwell,\r\nOr watch the bright waves melt along thy shore—\r\n     —My Italy! farewell!\r\n\r\n     Alas!—thy hills among\r\nHad I but left a memory of my name,\r\nOf love and Grief one deep, true, fervent song,\r\n     Unto immortal Fame!\r\n\r\n     But like a lute's brief tone,\r\nLike a roze-odor on the breezes cast,\r\nLike a swift flush of dayspring, seen and gone\r\n     So hath my spirit pass'd!\r\n\r\n     Pouring itself away\r\nAs a wild bird amidst the foliage turns\r\nThat which within him triumphs, beats, or burns,\r\n     Into a fleeting lay;\r\n\r\n     That swells, and floats, and dies,\r\nLeaving no echo to the summer woods\r\nOf the rich breathings and impassion'd sighs\r\n     Which thrill'd their solitudes.\r\n\r\n     Yet, yet remember me!\r\nFriends! that upon its murmurs oft have hung,\r\nWhen from my bosom, joyously and free,\r\n     The fiery fountain sprung.\r\n\r\n     Under the dark rich blue\r\nOf midnight heavens, and on the star-lit sea,\r\nAnd when woods kindle into Spring's first hue,\r\n     Sweet Friends, remember me!\r\n\r\n[404] And in the marble halls,\r\nWhere Life's full glow the dreams of beauty wear,\r\nAnd Poet-thoughts embodied light the walls,\r\n     Let me be with you there!\r\n\r\n     Fain would I bind for you\r\nMy memory with all glorious things to dwell;\r\nFain bid all lovely sounds my name renew—\r\n     Sweet Friends! bright Land! farewell!\r\n<\/pre>\n
*Sestini, the Roman Improvisatore, when on his deathbed at Paris, is said to have poured forth a Farewell to Italy, in his most impassioned poetry.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
Collected by:<\/dt>\n
 DP<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A poetic monologue by a dying improvisatore (as conceived by Hemans), based on an anecdote about the death of the improvisatore Bartolomeo Sestini. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,134],"tags":[98],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=438"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1080,"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions\/1080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romanticimprov.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}