"O cinquecento, e cinque, e diece guarda": a riddle poem and Dantesque mosaic (1).

Scholars have extensively researched the reception of Dante's works in the Quattrocento. Vittorio Rossi lists the following fifteenth-century works as demonstrating Dante's influence: Matteo Palmieri's Citta di vita, Marino Jonata's Anima peregrina, an untitled work by Bartolomeo Gentile Fallonico, Cecchino Alberti's visions, and Ser Bastiano d'Antonio Foresi's Libro chiamato ambizione (257-62). Few of the above texts, however, were written in the milieu of fifteenth-century Florentine humanism. Cecil Grayson notes, rather, that Dante had few defenders among Florentine humanists for most of the Quattrocento (65). Instead, Gianvito Resta points out, Dante provoked interest among them primarily as an object of debate (77). Emilio Bigi describes Medicean culture as being in a state of "crisis," with the figure of Dante falling in the center of several debates: the value of the active life vs. the contemplative, the merits of Averroism vs. Neoplatonism, or the importance of the Florentine tradition of vernacular literature vs. Classical Latin ("Dante e la cultura," 148-55). Carlo Dionisotti studies the fifteenth-century tradition of commentaries on the Divine Comedy. (2) Dionisotti argues that the commentaries flourished in Northern Italy until 1481, when Cristoforo Landino "reconciled" Dante with the thought of humanistic Florence (376). In short, during most of the Quattrocento, the appreciation of Dante was found primarily outside of Tuscany. (3)

In the context of fifteenth-century Italy, one text that has, thus far, escaped scholarly notice is the anonymous sonnet "O cinquecento, e cinque, e diece guarda." The unedited sonnet, while not speaking directly about Dante or his works, constitutes another document of Dante's influence most likely during the Quattrocento. The sonnet is composed as a virtual mosaic of citations of Dante's verses and language, and, therefore, it attests to the penetration of Alighieri's works into the Renaissance culture of Northern Italy. Its author dearly knew about the Commedia in particular and, more importantly, expected that the readers would possess similar knowledge; in order to arrive at the meaning of the anonymous poet, the readers must rely upon, in part, the intertextual references in the sonnet. The reminiscences of the Commedia comprise an intrinsic component of the sonnet, for they form a composite which helps communicate the sonnet's political meaning.

Marco Santagata's Incipitario Unificato della Poesia Italiana (IUPI), a research tool that lists the incipit verses of poetic works in Italian, locates the sonnet "O cinquecento, e cinque, e diece guarda" in only two codices (2: 1112). According to Santagata, it appears in manuscript 10 of the Biblioteca "Vincenzo Joppi" of Udine, and in manuscript 114 (formerly numbered as 133) of the Biblioteca Bertoliniana of Vicenza. In the first decade of the twentieth century, Giovanni Fabris published an in-depth description of the Udine 10 manuscript. At the end of his study, he attached an appendix, which included some of the anonymous poetry of that codex; a lectio of "O cinquecento, e cinque, e diece guarda" appeared therein. (4) Fabris lists the sonnet along with two others under the subheading "Sonetti di forma carattenstica (bilingui--a dialogo--enigmatici)." (5) Since the lyric under examination is neither a dialogue nor outwardly bilingual, only the term "enigmatic" refers directly to it and that single word may constitute Fabris's only commentary on it ("Il codice udinese," 5: 224). He provides no footnotes to clarify its language nor does he explicate its possible meaning. Besides Fabris's study, the sonnet's incipit verse--but not its other thirteen lines--appears in published descriptions of the two codices in question as part of Giuseppe Mazzatinti's series Inventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'Italia. (6) Thus, as far as can be determined, the anonymous sonnet has barely received any attention from scholars. The sonnet, however, with its obvious reminiscence of Purgatorio, is more important to Italian literary history than its almost non-existent criticism might suggest. Besides the appropriation and adaptation of Dante's language by an anonymous poet, the sonnet possesses some intrinsic worth as a literary text.

The two manuscripts that contain the sonnet provide some useful information about it. (7) Measuring 210 mm x 150 mm, Udine 10 was compiled by Lunardo da Brissa, probably between 1460 and 1470. (8) Consisting of 298 paper folios, it holds poems by such authors of the late Due- and early Trecento as Dante (f. 127v), Bindo Bonichi (f. 190v; 198r), and Cecco Angiolieri (f. 148v; f. 209r). It also presents the works of fourteenth-century poets such as Bosone da Gubbio (f. 161v), Petrarch (f. 129r), and Antonio Pucci (f. 170v; f. 172v). However, it seems to emphasize the writings of fifteenth-century authors, including Giovanni Pellegrini of Ferrara (f. 252v-253r) and Eliseo of Padua (f. 182r), but focuses particularly on Georgius Sumaripa of Verona (ff. 51r-87r; ff. 98v-107v; ff. 120r-124v; and ff. 229-246v) and on Domenico di Giovanni nicknamed Il Burchiello (f. 150r; f. 190r; ff. 199r-207r; f. 249r). The Vicenza 114 manuscript measures 208 mm x 144 mm, is comprised of 131 paper folios, and appears to be a sixteenth-century codex. It contains some 511 sonnets, three ballate, four madrigals and one sestina, all unattributed. Tommaso Casini notes that some thirteen sonnets therein were written by the Venetian petrarchist Marco Piacentini who was active between 1430 and 1455 (190). Therefore, the codicological evidence demonstrates that the sonnet was written at some time before 1470 at the very latest, perhaps during the Quattrocento although the fourteenth century is not out of the question. Sadly, the questions of who the author was and the particular political situation he describes cannot be addressed by the manuscript evidence. Indeed, these mysteries will remain unsolved.

Both exemplars of the sonnet present unique characteristics that are worthy of analysis, and consequently I will not follow the Lachmannian approach of grafting together the extant forms into a "corrected" version. At the same time, both variants demonstrate problematic areas as well, so I will not attempt to select a "better" version. Instead, I will perform a contrastive study of the two exemplars. Since we are dealing with merely two versions of a single sonnet of fourteen lines, I will present both in toto back to back. I will make reference to the differences between the two exemplars when such variations seem significant. I reproduce below both versions diplomatically because the originals are quite easy to read. I do not regularize or update the orthographic conventions, nor do I add any punctuation to the texts; the punctuation below represents that found in the codices. I follow the mise-en-page of the two manuscripts and simply spell out between parentheses the scribal contractions found therein. In so doing, I hope to retain the variety found In the manuscript tradition while still producing forms that are accessible to modern readers.

The variant from Udine 10 appears as follows:

   (f. 247v): no rubric
   O cinquecento, e cinque, e diece guarda
   Vn. R. Vn. A. Vn. S. Vn nulla. Vn. N.
   Con cui nella man destra il mucro(n) tiene,
   E nella man mancha le billanze ha in guarda.

   Come se sbigotisse, e si sgagliarda,
   In forse e luna e laltra e di sua spene,
   Se cinquece(n)to un. nulla. a far no(n) uiene
   Vendeta, ch(e) non fuggie, se pur tarda.

   Per li p(as)torj tuoi ch(e) idolo fanno
   Vn. R. tra due nulle: de ch(e) un cinque
   Te, e la uocal seconda sopra stanno.

   Sbrancha le piante A. G. C. D. p(ro)pinque
   Ch(e) pulular p(er) se stesse no(n) sanno
   Ch(e)l cielo e contra a chi virtu rilinque.

The version from Vicenza 114 reads:

   (f. 123 v): no rubric
   O cinquecento e cinque, e diece guarda,
   un' .R. un' .A. un' .diece, un. nulla, un .N.
   con chi ne la man' dextra un' mucro tiene
   e nella mancha ha le bilanze in guarda.
   Come si sbigotisse, e si sgagliarda
   in fore l'una e l'altra di sua spene
   seal cinquecento un' nulla a far' no(n) uiene
   uendeta che non fugie se pur' tarda.
   Mira .j. prestori tui chi Idolo fano
   un' .R. fra due nulle, si che un' cinque
   co(n) la uocali seconda teco stano.
   sbrancha le piante .a.b.c.d. propinque
   chi pulular' per se stesse no(n) sano
   chel e, incontra a chi uirtu relinque

As is immediately evident, Giovanni Fabris's definition of the sonnet as "enigmatic" was not off the mark ("Il codice udinese," 5: 224). The poet constructs the sonnet as a puzzle, or more accurately, a series of puzzles, which the reader must solve. In most of the instances, the author uses words to denote numbers which, when rendered into Roman numerals, act as letters that form new words. The readers face the task of decoding, as it were, the poem and then of reformulating it to arrive at its signification. By requiring that the reader solve enigmas, the anonymous poet follows in a long tradition. Italian literature contains, in addition to Dante's Commedia, several examples of puzzle poetry. Deborah L. Contrada studies a poet of the Florentine Duecento, Ser Pace, and notes how he employs anagrams to spell out the name of his recipient, "Narducio" (283-86). In the Quattrocento, Luigi Pulci also makes use of a numerical enigma in the sonnet "I' mi credea che dell'eucarista" when he writes: "centocinque e cinquanta vi si inzera" (v. 14, p. 1388). (9) When rendered into Roman numerals, Pulci's verse spells out "CULO" as part of the vituperation of his intended reader. In other words, even though the author of the sonnet is unknown, the lyric reveals something about the person who composed it. The poet kept abreast of the developments within Italian literature, starting with the Duecento and the Commedia, and including some of the fifteenth-century masters.

The incipit verse of the anonymous sonnet presents the first conundrum to its readers. By using the imperative tense at the end of the line, the writer establishes this sonnet as the first- and second-person dialogue with a someone apostrophized as five hundred, five and ten (v. 1). These numbers spell out the Latin word "DUX" and suggest that this sonnet was intended, in part, for the eyes of a political leader. Clearly, the anonymous author is echoing Purgatorio XXXIII: 43, where Dante utilizes a similar designation. In that passage, Beatrice tells the pilgrim about a messianic figure to come that will reform the abuses of the Church and correct the political corruption of the day. She states:

   ch'io veggio certamente, e pero il narro,
   a dame tempo gia stelle propinque,
   secure d'ogn'intoppo e d'ogni sbarro,
   nel quale un cinquecento diece e cinque,
   messo di Dio, ancidera la fuia
   con quel gigante che con lei delinque. (Purgatorio XXXIII: 40-45)
   (10)

The unknown poet does not merely happen upon the recollection of the Commedia--perhaps having heard the prediction spoken about, or maybe by it having passed into the oral culture--but rather, establishes unmistakable links to the passage above. While the author removes the word "cinque" from the rhyming position in the incipit verse and, therefore, from the A-rhyme of the quatrains, it reappears in the rhyming position in the tercets. He even borrows two of Dante's three rhymewords, "cinque" (v. 10) and "propinque" (v. 12), changing only "delinque" (Purgatorio XXXIII: 45) to "relinque" (v. 14). In other words, the anonymous author demonstrates an awareness of Dante's prophecy in Purgatorio. As shall be spelled out further below, moreover, Purgatorio XXXIII is not the only passage from the Commedia recalled in the first eight verses of the sonnet.

The unknown versifier composes also the incipit verse in line with the commentary tradition of the Comedy. Some modern Dante scholars have wanted to see in the "515" a term other than "DUX." (11) Robert E. Kaske, as but merely one example, considers it a reference to the liturgical books where the monogram that began the words "Vere Dignum" appeared to form the letters D, X and V (187). However, the commentators of the Treand Quattrocento are consistent in stressing that the numbers should be rendered into Roman numerals to therefore spell out the word "DUX." The "Ottimo commento" states: "questo testo spone alcuno cosi: per 'cinquecento' fa D, per dieci X, per cinque V: si che dicono che in questo tempo verra uno Duca (DUX) messagiere da Dio, che tutto il mondo riducera a Dio." (12) Francesco da Buti concurs: "intende questo numero DVX, sicche per questo intende: nel quale tempo uno Duca, cioe uno signore." Jacopo della Lana comes to a similar conclusion but also addresses the issue that the resulting series of Roman numerals need also to be reordered to arrive at "DUX":

   'Cinque cento' se scrive per D, cinque per V se scrive, dexe se
   scrive per X; ponendo queste tre littere inseme relevano DUX; e
   perche nel verso siano altramente ordenade, coe in prima D, seconda
   X, terzio V, no c'e forca: che li e condedudo de licenzia poetica a
   trasportar cussi le dizioni.

As is frequently the case, the "anonimo fiorentino" follows Jacopo della Lana quite closely, writing:

      V cento si scrive per D; cinque si scrive per V; dieci si scrive
   per X, eta accoppiare queste tre lettere insieme dice DVX. E perche
   nel verso sieno altrimenti ordinate, cio e in prima D, secondo X,
   terzo V, non ci ha forza; ch'ello e conceduto di licenzia poetica a
   potersi trasporre le dizioni.

The anonymous poet falls in line with the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century commentaries that "515" is a cryptogram that spells out the word "DUX." But the poet also seems aware of the concern raised by Jacopo della Lana and by the "anonimo fiorentino" that Dante's number, written correctly, arithmetically speaking, results in the incorrect spelling of the Latin word. Dante's word order is transposed from "cinquecento diece e cinque" (Purgatorio XXXIII: 43) to "cinquecento, e cinque, e diece" (v. 1). Since both "diece" and "cinque" are bisyllabic words whose accent falls on the first syllable, the versifier could have retained Dante's word order. In other words, metrics do not appear to account for this change in order between "cinque" and "diece." Rather, it appears that the writer juxtaposes the two numbers in order to ensure that the readers will have the Roman numerals in the correct order to spell out "DUX."

The rest of the first quatrain clarifies what the potentate, the sonnet's intended reader, should imagine. The second verse is dedicated to another enigma. Using "nulla" to denote zero, the writer provides in order the letters for the word reason in the Udine 10 version (R-A-S-0-N); in the variant from Vicenza 114, ten (X) is substituted for "S," but the lexical item denoted is the same (R-A-X-0-N). (13) In both manuscripts, the term for "Reason" is presented in the manner of the northern dialects, (14) suggesting that the sonnet itself originated in one of the northern Italian regions. The dialectism (RASON, RAXON) is not the only piece of evidence of the provenance of the anonymous poet. Given the prevalence in the two manuscripts of authors from Venice, Verona, Padua, and Ferrara, it is plausible that the poet came from the Veneto, Lombardia or Emilia-Romagna. Of course, such a suggestion is not certain. Interestingly, however, the poet's use of a regionalism comes immediately after the Latinate spelling of "DUX" and within a sonnet composed primarily in literary Tuscan and not in dialect. In the following two verses, Reason is presented as a personification who strongly recollects the classical image of Justice. Reason holds in her right hand a sword and gazes upon the scales in her left hand (vv. 3-4). In these two verses, the writer employs the Latin term for sword ("mucro(n)") and then uses a dialectism for scales (Udine 10: "billanze"; Vicenza 114: "bilanze"). (15) The first quatrain emphasizes the sonnet's macaronic quality by using language from Latin, literary Tuscan and dialect. Brian Richardson notes that the hybridization of Latin, Tuscan and local dialects was not uncommon in the texts of the Quattrocento (xi). The presence of the three types of language in this sonnet, therefore, suggests that it was composed in line with fifteenth-century aesthetics.

In the second quatrain, the poet continues the description of Reason, explaining that she is both weak and dismayed (v. 5). When expressing her fear, the anonymous poet constructs the verse with Dantesque overtones. The writer employs the verb "sgagliarda" (v. 5) that recalls a passage from Inferno XXI. (16) In that episode, Dante describes his reaction at first seeing one of the devils that patrol the bolgia of corrupt politicians:

   Mentr'io la giu fisamente mirava
   lo duca mio, dicendo "Guarda, guarda!,"
   mi trasse a se del loco dov'io stava.
   Allor mi volsi come l'uom cui tarda
   di veder quel che li convien fuggire
   e cui paura stibita sgagliarda,
   che, per veder, non indugia 'l partire:
   e vidi dietro a noi un diavol nero
   correndo su per lo scoglio venire. (vv. 22-30; emphasis added)

The intertextuality of the sonnet with the Commedia is dear. Not only does the anonymous poet utilize the distinctive verb "sgagliarda," but he also retains Dante's other rhyme words "guarda" (vv. 1, 4) and "tarda" (v. 8). The reminiscence of Inferno does not seem to be mere ornamentation, but may in fact suggest the reason for Justice's anguish. Political corruption, such as that punished in the particular malabolgia of Inferno XXI-XXII, may be the cause of Justice's weakness. By recalling the Comedy in that way, the poet implies--but does not need to state explicitly--an explanation for the situation at hand.

According to the exemplar of Udine 10, Reason does not know in which hand her hope lies, whether the one holding the scales, perhaps suggesting judgment, or the other which grasps the sword, possibly connoting punishment ("In forse e luna e laltra e di sua spene," v. 6). Yet the version from Vicenza 114 indicates that her hope lies outside of either of her hands, that is, in neither wisdom nor retribution ("in fore l'una e l'altra di sua spene," v. 6). It is impossible to determine which reading should take precedence for both make sense. Immediately thereafter, the author presents another enigma. Reason will have no hope if five hundred, one, and zero, that is, God (D-I-0), does not come to take the revenge which has been long delayed (vv. 7-8). Thus, in the opening quatrains, the writer presents an image of Reason--in a posture similar to that of Justice--who has been abandoned and lacks all hope. The versifier implies that the political leader addressed in the incipit verse must act to change the situation, but the poet does not provide any dear indications of what the circumstances truly are.

In the following stanza, the author clarifies the current situation for the reader. The Vicenza 114 manuscript opens the tercet by reiterating the meaning of the rhyme word of the incipit verse. Here, the poet commands the reader to look upon another image ("Mira," v. 9). Hence, the version of Vicenza 114 establishes a parallel between the sextet and the octave as both portions of the sonnet contain imperatives to visualize certain matters. A similar structural parallel is lacking in the variant from Udine 10. Once again, the Udine 10 codex has a different reading for the rest of the ninth verse than Vicenza 114. The latter manuscript invites the political figure to consider the "prestori," that is, lenders. Such a reading makes sense given the flourishing economies of Northern Italy of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. If Vicenza 114 is correct, then the poet urges the leader to rein in the bankers who lend at interest. Yet, in the Udine 10 codex, the writer warns of the "p(as)torj," that is, advisors. (17) In that exemplar, the poet asks the political figure to keep his subservients under tighter control. By calling them "p(as)torj," the narrator conflates political and religious language, a conflation that will continue in the following line. These counselors, the versifier goes on, make an idol out of an "R" between two nothings, that is, out of gold (0-R-0) (vv. 9-10). If "p(as)torj" is the proper reading of the verse, then the poet makes explicit the implicit implications suggested previously by the intertextuality with the fifth bolgia. The sonnet appears to deal with political graft and bribery. By describing gold as an idol, the author seems to recollect the biblical story of Exodus when Moses found the Israelites worshiping the golden calf (32: 1-35). By placing the word gold as part of an enigma, however, the anonymous poet may suggest that gold may not be the substance out of which the idol is constructed, as in the case of the biblical golden calf; rather, gold itself may be the idol worshipped by "p(as)torj" or "prestori." In that case, these lines of the sonnet may also constitute another case of intertextuality with the Comedy, for they echo Dante's invective against the simonists: "Fatto v'avete Dio d'oro e d'argento: / e che altro e da voi all'idolatre, / se non ch'elli uno, e voi ne orate cento?" (Inferno XIX: 112-14). In these two verses, the anonymous writer fuses the language of political misdeeds with that of religious corruption. Such a fusion gives a greater internal consistency to the sonnet as a whole for it recollects the messianic overtones of the "515," the number of Dante's "messo di Dio" (Purgatorio XXXIII: 44).

Immediately following, the readers encounter perhaps the most intricate of the enigmas. The writer states that the counselors are above an individual identified as one, five, you and the second vowel (vv. 10-11). Since the second-person has been used in relationship to the "515," then you ("Te," v. 11) probably refers to the "DUX"; by incorporating the second of the vowels, "e," "DUX" becomes "DEX." Then by adding one (I) and five (V), the Latin word for judge, "IUDEX," is formed. In the last conundrum, the poet underscores the macaronic nature of the lyric. Two enigmas of the sonnet spell out terms from Latin ("DUX"; "IUDEX"); two others result in literary Tuscan ("DIO"; "ORO"); and one forms a dialectism ("RASON"). In addition, by referring to zero ("nulla," w. 2, 7, 10), the poet mixes the Arabic numeral system with the Roman. When the puzzle of lines nine and ten is solved, moreover, the signification of the first tercet thus comes to the fore and the nature of the political crisis is revealed. The potentate's advisors--or bankers within his city--worship gold and are indemnified from retribution for their corruption. The anonymous poet thus turns to their lord in the hopes that he will bring an end to their misdeeds.

Sadly, the last tercet does not share the clarity of the first. It begins with a mixed metaphor, "Sbrancha le piante" (v. 12). The verb "sbrancare" is derived from the noun "branco" signifying herd or flock, and means to isolate an individual animal from the group. Yet the poet commands the "515" to take this action with certain plants. Hence, I believe that the writer is making an allusion to gardening, asking the intended reader to weed out undesired growth. The plants are described as close ("propinque," v. 12), presumably choking off the useful vegetation. He then includes a paradoxical statement about them, however. He says that these particular weeds do not know how to multiply on their own (v. 13). Here, too, the anonymous poet recollects the Commedia. He uses a particular verb, "pulular" (v. 13), to describe the actions of the weeds. In Inferno VII, Dante describes the slothful sinners who are fixed in the mud of the River Styx: "che sotto l'acqua e gente che sospira, / e fanno pullular quest'acqua al summo" (vv. 118-19; emphasis added). By creating an infernal subtext to the actions of the weeds, the poet seems to also recall Christ's warning about sin: "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned" (John 15: 6). The rationale for the anonymous poet to adopt Dante's verb, therefore, becomes clear. Perhaps the poet warns the intended reader about the dangers of inaction; if the "DUX" is slothful, then perhaps he too might end up in the depths of the Styx.

The verb "pulular" is not the only reminiscence of Dante's great poem in the tercets of the sonnet. As mentioned above, the anonymous poet appears to substitute one of Dante's rhyme words, "delinque" (Purgatorio XXXIII: 45) with "relinque" (v. 14). Such a change may imply more than merely the appropriation of a new rhyme in the sextet. Instead, it may signal a second intertextuality with the Commedia, one that contributes to the overall meaning of the sonnet. Three of the rhyme words in the sextet of the sonnet, "cinque" (v. 10), "propinque" (v. 12) and "relinque" (v. 14), are quite similar to those of another passage from the Commedia. In Paradiso IX, Cunizza speaks about the importance of changing one's life from sin to virtue:

   Di questa luculenta e cara gioia
   del nostro cielo, che piu m'e propinqua,
   grande fama rimase; e pria che moia,
   questo centesimo anno ancor s'incinqua:
   vedi se far si dee l'omo eccellente,
   si ch'altra vita la prima relinqua. (vv. 37-42; emphases added)

Cunizza explains that virtue not only brings rewards in the next life, but also results in long-lasting fame in the material world. The choice of the anonymous poet to recollect that particular canto may in itself have symbolic resonances. Vittorio Zaccaria points out that several critics have called Paradiso IX the "Trevisan canto" (294). Perhaps by echoing Cunizza, the sonneteer is subtly bringing to mind the situation in the Veneto. Such an interpretation corresponds with the use of dialect found in the sonnet. The multiple intertextualities between the sextet of the sonnet and the Comedy seem to suggest a secondary layer of meaning in the lyric: that, just as inaction is sinful--and may result in damnation--proper action to rectify the situation might result in worldly renown and eventual heavenly repose.

The writer gives some indication of the nature of the underbrush by identifying it with a series of letters. This marks a change in the poet's modus operandi for it is the only case in which numbers do not need to be rendered as letters to spell out a new word. Instead, the readers are provided no clue as to how to interpret them. In Udine 10, the letters are "A. G. C. D" (v. 12), perhaps implying the initials of one of the offending servants of the "DUX." However, I hold that the exemplar from Vicenza 114 provides the key to interpreting this mystery. There, the letters are "a. b. c. d." (v. 12), possibly suggesting by synecdoche the alphabet or perhaps even language itself. In other words, the weeds that the poet asks the "515" to discard are language itself, for words cannot affect change without power behind them. It may constitute a request from the sonnet's recipient not to answer verbally but through actions. It may also imply that the leader should distrust his advisors and not listen to their statements, but look only at their actions. If the lectio from Vicenza 114 is the correct one, and if the interpretation of the weeds as language is also accurate, then these verses explicate the poetics underlying the entire sonnet: signifiers (words) denote other signifiers (numbers) that need to be rendered as symbols (Roman numerals) that act as letters and need to be combined to denote still other signifiers (new words). There is a constant shifting between lexical items and signifieds within this lyric and the attitude of mistrust toward language expressed in this verse conforms to it fully.

The final verse sums up the entire sonnet. In this instance, the exemplar from Vicenza 114 appears to be a corrupted form of that from Udine 10. Heaven is opposed to those who relinquish virtue, the poet writes (v. 14). Perhaps the last line is merely intended as inducement to action on the part of the recipient, or possibly as a threat that the "515" should not shirk its responsibilities. But the lyric returns to the message that the circumstances have become intolerable and that the political leader should not fall into inaction. In so doing, the versifier further justifies the intertextuality already found in the incipit verse. Just as Dante claims that the stars foretell of a messenger of God who will restore the Church, so too does the anonymous author hope that the sonnet's intended reader will improve the current decadent political situation. Dante is not treated as a mere reservoir of citations, but instead references to Dante's work function to construct the sonnet's message of the need for reform.

Owing to the general lack of information about this sonnet, there is much that cannot be determined about it. Judging from the other compositions in the two manuscripts, we can hypothesize that it was probably written during the fifteenth century. Given the presence of traits of dialect in the lyric and the provenances of both manuscripts, it is possible that the political corruption described therein occurred in Northern Italy. However, with such wide parameters, it is almost impossible to specify to whom it was addressed, when it was composed, and under which circumstances. The absence of evidence is regrettable, for it would go a long way in clarifying much of the poem. Nonetheless, given its numerous reminiscences of the Commedia, it is most likely the late, and indirect, product of the "cult of Dante" found in Northern Italy--the Veneto, in particular--starting in the early Trecento. (18) The so-called translatio studii of Tuscan literature and intellectuals toward Venice has been well studied by scholars of Dante. The first decades of the fourteenth century, caused by a number of political and economic reasons, saw the migration of literary texts and individuals from Tuscany into the Veneto (Brugnolo 381). Perhaps due to Dante's presence in that region after his exile from Florence, the poetry of the dolce stil nuovo was particularly prized (Brugnolo 388-89). (19) Poets of the early Trecento, such as Nicolo de' Rossi and Giovanni Quirini, imitated and adapted Dante's poetics. (20) Indeed, it is possible that the latter poet owned one of the first copies of the Commedia in Venice (Brugnolo 391). Yet the Venetian "cult of Dante" was not limited only to the early Trecento. In the second half of the Quattrocento, in the decades just following the composition of the Udine 10, Venice was at the vanguard of the publication of incunabulae of the Divine Comedy (Richardson xii). None of this discussion is intended to suggest that the anonymous sonnet was necessarily written in the Veneto; rather, it is merely an overview to provide the literary context of Northern Italy in which the sonnet was most likely produced. (21) Whatever its origins, the sonnet seems to be another document of the popularity of Dante in Northern Italy prior to Landino's "reconciliation" of the Commedia with fifteenth-century Florentine humanism.

NOTES

(1) I would like to acknowledge the receipt of a Humanities Research Initiative (HRI) grant, which allowed me to study on site the Udine 10 manuscript in May, 1999. I want to thank the staff of the Biblioteca "Vincenzo Joppi" for its assistance. I would also like to thank the staff of the Biblioteca Bertoliniana of Vicenza for its assistence when I consulted codex 114 in May, 2001. A version of this paper was presented at the American Association of Italian Studies Conference in Columbia, MO, in April 2002. I would like to thank all the participants of that session for their feedback. I would also like to thank Italica's anonymous readers for their comments in revising this article.

(2) For another reading on the commentary tradition on the Commedia, see Deborah Parker, Commentary and Ideology.

(3) Dante's impact on later centuries has also been studied. For information on Dante's impact on the sixteenth century, see Michele Barbi's book Dante nel Cinquecento; see also Emilio Bigi, "La tradizione esegetica." For information on Dante's impact on the seventeenth century, see Giuseppe Tavani Dante nel Seicento, Domenico Pietropaolo Dante Studies in the Age of Vico, and Piero Chiminelli La fortuna di Dante nella Cristianita riformata.

(4) Fabris's reading follows: "O cinquecento e cinque e diece guarda / Vn .R. Vn .A. Vn .S. Vn nulla Vn .N. / Con cui nella man destra il mucron tiene, / E nella mancha le billanze ha in guarda./ Come se sbigotisse e si sgagliarda / In forse luna e laltra di sua spene, / Se cinquecento vn. nulla. afar non uiene / Vendeta che non fuggie se pur tarda. / Per li pretorj [sic] tuoi che idolo fanno / Vn R. tra due nulle: de che vn cinque / Te e la uocal seconda soprastanno. / Sbrancha le piante A. G. C. D. propinque / Che pulular per se stesse non sanno / Che l cielo e contra achi virtu relinque" ("Il codice udinese," 5: 224; all italicizations are Fabris's).

(5) The two other sonnets under this heading are "Coram vobis propono et ago, Amore," and "Phoebo nel sun phython fulgente e caldo."

(6) The description of Udine 10 is in Giuseppe Mazzatinti, lnventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'Italia 46 (Firenze: Olschki, 1930): 12-49. The description of Vicenza 133 is in Giuseppe Mazzatinti, lnventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'Italia 2 (Forli: Bordandini, 1892): 27-39.

(7) For complete descriptions of the two manuscripts, see Giuseppe Mazzatinti, Inventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'Italia 49: 12-49; and Giuseppe Mazzatinti, lnventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'Italia 2: 27-39. All information about the Udine 10 and Vicenza 133 is derived from the above two studies.

(8) Giovanni Fabris contends that it was put together prior to 1461 ("Un sonetto," 135) while Lewis Hall Gordon believes that it was commissioned in 1470 (136).

(9) Luigi Pulci is cited from Aulo Greco's edition.

(10) Dante's Commedia is cited in conformity with Giorgio Petrocchi's edition.

(11) I do not wish to enter into the lengthy discussion as to who or what Dante's "515" represents. For a thorough overview of the debate on the matter, see the entry "cinquecento dieci e cinque" from the Enciclopedia dantesca.

(12) Several other citations follow. Pietro di Dante writes: "per quoddam enigma, idest obscuram locutionem secundum Uguccionem, scilicet quod veniet unus Dux, qui scribitur vulgariter abbreviate: per unum D qningentos: quinque per unum V: decem per unum X; et sic resultat ex istis tribus literis DVX." Benvenuto argues: "idest usus Dux; nam D semel positus apud arithmeticos significat quingentos, V importat quinque, X decem, et iste tres litere consfituunt istud nomen DUX." Similarly, Giovanni da Serravalle asserts: "Vult dicere quod veniet unus Dux, quia D ponitur pro quingentis, idest pro quingentesimo; V ponitur pro quinque, X pro decem: que tres littere (sunt D V X) efficiunt hoc nomen Dux." All the commentators on this passage are cited from La Divina Commedia nella figurazione artistica e nel secolare commento 2: 719-21.

(13) The use of "x" for "s" seems to be common in the Vicenza 114 manuscript, as evidenced by the spelling of the word "dextra" (v. 3).

(14) For information about the northern dialects' rendering of "ragione" as "rason," see Rohlfs, v. 1, paragraph 289, p. 409.

(15) For information about the northern dialects' rendering of "bilancia" as "bilanza," see Rohlfs, v. 1, paragraph 275, p. 388.

(16) The Dizionario Etimologico Italiano (v. 5, 3481) and the Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca (v. 6, 171) both list Dante's Commedia as the earliest recorded use of the verb "sgagliardare."

(17) Giovanni Fabris interprets the term from exemplar of Udine 10 as "pretori" (see note 4). In other words, he reads the initial "p" as the contraction "p," that is "p(e)r." However, the text in Udine 10 manuscript clearly shows the term "p~torj" which contains a reference to a missing portion of the word but not "the symbol for 'per'"; the latter symbol appears, moreover, in verse 13 as well as elsewhere within the manuscript.

(18) The term "il culto di Dante" in relationship to the Venetian imitators of Alighieri comes from Furio Brugnolo (381). For an overview of the reception of Dante's works in the Trecento, see Elisabetta Cavallari, La fortuna di Dante nel Trecento.

(19) It should be mentioned that the dolce stil nuovo was not the only style of poetry that moved from Tuscany to the Veneto. Scholars of the poeti giocosi note a similar northward movement of the verse of Cecco Angiolleri, Folgore da San Gimignano and Pietro dei Faltinelll (Berisso 251-52; Landohi 7).

(20) For more information about Giovanni Quirini's literary relationship to Dante, see Gianfranco Folena's study, "Il primo imitatore veneto di Dante." For more information about Nicolo de' Rossi's relationship to Dante, see Mahmoud Salem's study "Tardo stilnovismo veneto."

(21) In the last decades of the Trecento, Lombardy similarly experienced a vogue of Tuscan literature, including interest in Dante's Commedia (Viscardi and Vitale 603).

WORKS CITED

Alighieri, Dante. La Divina Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata. Ed. Giorgio Petrocchi. 4 vols. Edizione Nazionale a cura della Societa Dantesca Italiana. Milano: Mondadori, 1966-1967.

Barbi, Michele. Dante nel Cinquecento. Avezzano: Adelmo Polla, 1890.

Berisso, Marco. La raccolta dei poeti perugini del Vat. Barberiniano Lat. 4036. Storia della tradizione e cultura poetica di una scuola trecentesca. Firenze: Olschki, 2000.

Bigi, Emilio. "Dante e la cultura fiorentina del Quattrocento." Forme e significati nella Divina Commedia. Bologna: Cappelli, 1981. 145-72.

--. "La tradizione esegetica della Commedia nel Cinquecento." Forme e significati nella Divina Commedia. Bologna: Cappelli, 1981. 173-209.

Brugnolo, Furio. "I toscani nel Veneto e le cerchie toscaneggianti." Storia della cultura veneta: il Treeento 2. Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 1976. 369-439.

Casini, Tommaso. "Di alcune rime attribuite a Cino da Pistoia." Giornale di filologia romanza 4.9 (1883): 188-90.

Cavallari, Elisabetta. La fortuna di Dante nel Trecento. Firenze: Perrella, 1921.

Chiminelli, Piero. La formna di Dante nella Cristianita riformata (con riferimento speciale all'Italia. Roma: Bilychnis, 1921.

Ciotti, Andrea. "Imitatori trecenteschi" (subheading of "Commedia"). Enciclopedia dantesca 2. Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1970. 99-100.

Contrada, Deborah L. "The Resolution of Ser Pace's nome secreto." Italica 66.3 (Autumn 1989): 281-92.

Dionisotti, Carlo. "Dante nel Quattrocento." Atti del congresso internazionale di studi danteschi. Firenze: Sansoni, 1965. 333-78.

La Divina Commedia nella figurazione artistica e nel secolare commento. 3 vols. Ed. G. Biagi, G. L. Passerini, and E. Rostagno. Torino: UTET, 1924-1939.

Fabris, Giovanni. "Il codice udinese Ottelio di antiche rime volgari." Memorie storiche forogiuliesi 4 (1908): 89-112; 5 (1909): 33-74; 5 (1909): 145-60; 5 (1909): 210-35. (Sonnet appears in 5 [1909]: 224.)

Fabris, Giovanni. "Un sonetto di Santa Caterina da Siena." Memorie storiche forogiuliesi 3 (1907): 162-65.

Folena, Gianfranco. "Il primo imitatore veneto di Dante, Giovanni Quirini." Dante e la cultura veneta. Atti del Convegno di studi organizzato dalla Fondazione "Giorgio Cini." Ed. Vittore Branca and Giorgio Padoan. Firenze: Olschki, 1966. 395-421.

Garin, Eugenio. "Cultura filosofica toscana e veneta nel Quattrocento." Umanesimo europeo e umanesimo veneziano. Ed. Vittore Branca. Firenze: Sansoni, 1963. 11-30.

Gordon, Lewis Hall. "Burchiello inedito." Italica 33 (1956): 121-39.

Grayson, Cecil. "Dante and the Renaissance." Italian Studies presented to E. R. Vincent. Ed. C. P. Brand, K. Foster, and U. Limentani. Cambridge: Heffer and Sons, 1962. 57-75.

Kaske, Robert E. "Dante's 'DXV' and 'Veltro.'" Traditio 17 (1961): 185-254.

Landoni, Elena. "Il problema linguistico nella tradizione manoscritta angiolieresca: quanti i senesismi?" Studi e problemi di critica testuale 46 (1993): 5-42.

Mazzamuto, Pietro. "Cinquecento diece e cinque." Enciclopedia Dantesca 2. Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1976. 10-14.

Mazzatinti, Giuseppe. Inventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'Italia 2. Forli: Bordandini, 1892. 27-39.

--. Inventari dei manoscritti delle biblioteche d'ltalia 46. Firenze: Olschki, 1930. 12-49.

Parker, Deborah. Commentary and Ideology: Dante in the Renaissance. Durham: Duke UP, 1993.

Pietropaolo, Domenico. Dante Studies in the Age of Vico. Ottawa: Dovehouse, 1989.

Pulci, Luigi. Morgante e opere minori 2. Ed. Aulo Greco. Torino: UTET, 1997.

Resta, Gianvito. "Dante nel Quattrocento." Dante nel pensiero e nell'esegesi dei secoli XIV e XV. Atti del Convegno di studi realizzato dal Comune di Melfi in collaborazione con la Biblioteca Provinciale di Potenza e il Seminario di Studi Danteschi di Terra di Lavoro. Melfi 27-28 ottobre 1970. Ed. Adalgisa Borraro and Pietro Borraro. Firenze: Olschki, 1975. 71-91.

Richardson, Brian. Print Culture in Renaissance Italy: The Editor and the Vernacular Text, 1470-1600. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge UP, 1994.

Rohlfs, Gerhard. Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti: Fonetica 1. Trans. Salvatore Persichino. Torino: Einandi, 1966.

Rossi, Vittorio. Il Quattrocento. Milano: Vallardi, 1945.

Salem, Mahmoud. "Tardo stilnovismo veneto (Nicolo de' Rossi)." Dante e la cultura veneta. Atti del Convegno di studi organizzato dalla Fondazione "Giorgio Cini." Ed. Vittore Branca and Giorgio Padoan. Firenze: Olschki, 1966. 423-46.

Santagata, Marco, ed. Incipitario unificato della poesia itallana 2. Panini: Modena, 1988.

"Sgagliardare." Dizionario Etimologico Italiano 5. Ed. Carlo Battisti and Giovanni Alessio. Firenze: Barbara, 1968. 3481.

"Sgagliardare." Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca 6. Verona: Ramanzini, 1804-1806. 171.

Tavani, Giuseppe. Dante nel Seicento. Saggi su A. Guarini, N. Villani, L. Magalotti. Firenze: Olschki, 1976.

Viscardi, Antonio, and Maurizio Vitale. "La cultura milanese nel secolo XIV." Storia di Milano V, La signoria dei Visconti (1310-1392). Milano: Fondazione Treccani degli Alfieri per la storia di Milano, 1955. 571-634.

Zaccaria, Vittorio. "Dante e il Veneto." Ateneo Veneto: Rivista di scienze, lettere ed arti 6 (1968): 293-318.

FABIAN ALFIE

University of Arizona