1. Petrarch, "Hymn to Italy"

But where to begin? Why not close to the beginning with

Petrarch, Epistolae metricae “Letters in verse” 3.24 (ed. E. Bianchi, 1951).

Petrarch returned to Italy in 1353 after years in France at Avignon and Vaucluse. His salute to his native land, sometimes called the “Hymn to Italy” (Inno all’Italia), sounds a new note of local patriotism but derived from classical models.

Salve, cara Deo tellus sanctissima, salve

Tellus tuta bonis, tellus metuenda superbis,

Tellus nobilibus multum generosior oris,

Fertilior cunctis, terra formosior omni,

Cincta mari gemino, famoso splendida monte,          5

Armorum legumque eadem veneranda sacrarum

Pyeridumque domus auroque opulenta virisque,

Cuius ad eximios ars et natura favores

Incubuere simul mundoque dedere magistram.

Ad te nunc cupide post tempora longa revertor         10

Incola perpetuus: tu diversoria vitae

Grata dabis fessae, tu quantam pallida tandem

Membra tegant prestabis humum. Te laetus ab alto

Italiam video frondentis colle Gebennae.

Nubila post tergum remanent; ferit ora serenus        15

Spiritus et blandis assurgens motibus aer

Excipit. Agnosco patriam gaudensque saluto:

Salve, pulcra parens, terrarum gloria, salve.

Notes:

Dactylic hexameter.

1. salve . . . salve, tellus . . .tellus: anaphora.

7. Pyeridum-que for the classical spelling Pieridum, gen.pl., the Muses of Mt. Pierus.

8. cuius (— ⏑)

9. Incubu-ēre, 3.pl. pf.

11. for classical dēversoria, a ‘place to turn off the road to,’ an ‘inn’, almost ‘hotel’.

13. tegant: subj. of purpose, depending on quantam.

14. Gebenna, also Cevenna, Cebenna: Montgenèvre, a famous pass between France and Italy, now a ski resort.

Translation:

Hail, land most holy dear to God, hail!

A land of safety to the good, a land to be feared by the proud,

Land much nobler than other famous shores,

More fertile than the rest, more beautiful than any other country,

Bound by twin seas, shining with famous mountains,           5

Revered for arms and holy laws,

Home of the Pierian Muses, rich in gold and men.

Art and nature together courted your exceptional favors

And gave a teacher to the world.

Now after a long time I return to you eagerly,                              10

A permanent resident. You will give a welcome resting place

To my tired life, and in the end you will supply enough

Earth to cover my pale bones. How happy I am to see you,

Italy, from the high mountain of leafy Montgenèvre.

The clouds stay behind my back. A clear breeze                         15

Strikes my face, and the air rises to meet me with gentle

Motions. I recognize my homeland and rejoicing I greet it.

Hail, beautiful mother, glory of the earth, hail.

Petrarch draws on a number of “Praises of Italy,” most importantly Virgil in the Georgics (2.173-4), which concludes:

Salve, magna parens frugum, Saturnia tellus,

magna virum;

The poem was set as a motet by Ludovico da Rimini, c. 1450; see Denis Stevens, “Petrarch's Greeting to Italy,” Musical Times 115 (1974) 834-836, with a nice introduction to the poem and a copy of the edited score for one voice.

Also published in Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Österreich, Band 76.
Vienna: Österreichischer Bundesverlag, (1933). Plate Dm.d.Tk.in Oest.XL 76.