Poetry written for fun or as a joke
In the catalogue of Castiglione’s poetic writings there are numerous compositions of various types and nature: not real lyrical exercises as such, but inspired drafts improvised for the various moments of court life. They’re texts that have no literary or artistic ambition, created for fun and games, then hurriedly recorded in order to conserve a memory of them. In Urbino, Maitland even Rome, as was the custom of the time, Castiglione resorted to his quick whit and literary agility to improvise these short compositions in verses, in which, in a more or less allusive manner, he drew a portrait of someone presenter formulated a compliment aimed at them.
They are gallant lines, both artificial and spontaneous, without any pretence of originality, which reflected a humorous fashion that had permeated the Italian courts of the early 16th Century; one can identify in them how important such a practice had become in the renaissance etiquette, mixing comedy and clever whit, as is documented also in the III book of The Cortegiano. Castiglione, in particular, reserved his improvisations for the various ladies he met in the princely palaces. Here is an example of how he spoke to the Marchioness of Mantua
Isabella d’Este: “Dal ciel scesa qua giù voi sete in terra, / donna, il cui valor si mostrachiaro / per dar al mondo pace, et torli guerra” (“From the stars down to this earth you came, madam, your value clearly visible, to give the world peace and free it of war”) (B.Castiglione, Rime e giochi di corte, edited by M. Fantato, Mantua 2004, 81).
Some of these plays in verses seem to have been written on the occasion of the festivities to celebrate the wedding of Baldassarre and the noble lady Ippolita Torelli. During those happy evenings, therefore, Castiglione would have used his talents to pay homage to the ladies and damsels in the wedding procession. On some occasions he pretended to take on the voice of the lady herself, and to interpret, in a humorous and light way, her secret sentiments, her intimate aspirations: “Sì come navicella in mar battuta / dafieri venti, poi si mette in porto, / così spero a’ miei mali al fin conforto” (“Just as a ship battered by storms finally enters a port, so do I hope to find comfort for my pains”) (p. 62). Other interpretations had a more markedly joking and burlesque tone, like the ironic threat levelled at an unknown: “Estote parati, ben dice il testo, / perché la milza un dì faràtenuna, / né impiastro giovarà, né pollo pesto” (Be prepared, says the book, because your insides may well play a trick on you that no poultice or mashed chicken may cure) (p. 91).
