Veronica Gambara (1485–1550) was one of the most celebrated lyric poets of early sixteenth-century Italy. Equally significant to Gambara’s literary repute was her political standing as the dowager Countess of Correggio. Though she never published a collected edition of her poetry, Gambara produced an extensive oeuvre of vernacular verse that has been extensively anthologized. This book presents the first complete bilingual edition of Gambara’s verse. It sheds light on the unique interrelationship between Gambara’s cultural currency and her political power, as she drew on her literary talent to participate in the political arena to emerge as one of the first women poet-rulers of the Early Modern Italian tradition.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
The Other Voice 1
Veronica Gambara: A Brief Biography 5
Historical Context: The Ruling Dowager 18
Analysis of Gambara’s Writings 23
Aftermath of Writing 32
A Note on the Translation 33
COMPLETE POEMS 35
Poems of Love 37
Poems of Place 71
Poems of Correspondence and Encomia 77
Political Poems 99
Spiritual Poems 117
Stanze 123
Bibliography 137
Index 155
Introduction 1
The Other Voice 1
Veronica Gambara: A Brief Biography 5
Historical Context: The Ruling Dowager 18
Analysis of Gambara’s Writings 23
Aftermath of Writing 32
A Note on the Translation 33
COMPLETE POEMS 35
Poems of Love 37
Poems of Place 71
Poems of Correspondence and Encomia 77
Political Poems 99
Spiritual Poems 117
Stanze 123
Bibliography 137
Index 155