Two Arcadians alone evinced real poetical talent, the two Zappis of Imola. FELICE ZAPPI wrought on a small scale, but with exquisite perfection. His sonnets, madrigals, and lyrical trifles generally are among the very choicest examples of Italian minor poetry for elegance, _esprit_, and melody. It is true that he exposed himself to the merciless ridicule of Baretti by dreaming that he stood upon his hind legs and barked madrigals in the character of his lady’s lap-dog, but this lapse ought not to count against his genuine merits. His wife, Faustina, formerly Maratti, is more ambitious but less consummate. Her writings are nevertheless always estimable, and one sonnet is remarkable for an energy and vehemence sped straight from the heart: _Lady, on whom my Lord was wont to gaze Complacent so, that oft unto mine ear Of thy abundant tress and aspect clear And silvery speech he yet resounds the praise; Tell me, when thou to him discourse didst raise, Seemed he, immersed in musing, not to hear? Or, as to me may chance, did look austere, And moody frown his countenance deface? Time was, I know, when passionate and weak Thy fair eyes found him, and I know that, till-- But ah! what blushes mantle on thy cheek! Thy glance declines to earth, thy eyelids thrill! Answer, I pray thee--no! hush! never speak If thou wouldst tell me that he loves thee still!_ All the minor Italian versifiers were speedily eclipsed by the genius of Metastasio, whose place, however, is with dramatic poets. But for him, the eighteenth century wore away without producing a poet of great mark, until, in 1763, Italy was startled by the appearance of the _Mattina_, the first part of the _Giorno_ of GIUSEPPE PARINI. Parini is particularly interesting as the first eminent Italian poet who shows decided traces of English influence. The plan of his poem is taken from Thomson, the spirit is the spirit of Pope; the net result is much such a poem as Cowper might have written had he been an Italian. Just as Thomson in his _Seasons_ depicts the entire course of Nature from four points of view, so Parini in his _Giorno_ delineates the useless life of a frivolous young Italian of quality by exhibiting the occupations of his morning, afternoon, evening, and night. The spirit is that of Pope’s satires, but Parini, composing in blank verse, has been led into a style more nearly resembling that of Young, although he has little of the sententious abruptness of the _Night Thoughts_ or of their fatiguing glitter: the four poems are perfect wholes, gliding from theme to theme by the most ingenious and delicate transitions, and replete with charming episodes; the diction is exquisite, and the blank verse the best that Italy had then seen. The work is invaluable as a picture of manners, and a masterpiece of delicate polished satire; the