In a series of lyrics inserted
into the text of "A Margarite of America,"[1] Lodge avowedly imitates
the Italian poets Dolce, Pascale, and Mantelli, while in another
passage in the same book[2] he expresses his unbounded admiration for
the French poet Desportes, and his belief "that few men are able to
second the sweet conceits of Philippe Desportes." His "sweet conceits"
are imitated, we are told, in Montanus's song on page 29, and again in
_Rosader's Sonnet_, on page 62. In his borrowings Lodge merely
followed a prevalent fashion. The early English Elizabethan lyric was
wholly experimental and imitative--the product of foreign influences,
predominantly Italian and French; and in this respect Lodge's are
entirely typical.
[Footnote 1: Hunterian Club reprint, pp. 76 ff.]
[Footnote 2: Hunterian Club reprint, p. 79.]
_Historical Significance._ Historically the book is interesting as one
of the predecessors of the modern novel. But we need to keep in mind
that it is really a precursor of the novel and not the thing itself.
We have no right, therefore, to demand a well-constructed plot or
skill in characterization, because these did not appear in English
fiction till a much later time.
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