In both poems Sin and Death reappear on the scene after the transgression.
The flight of Innocence from earth; the distempered lust which dominates
over Adam and Eve after the Fall; the league of Sin and Death to rule
henceforward over the world; the pathetic lament of Adam regarding his
misfortune and the evils in store for his progeny; his noble sentiment,
that none can withdraw himself from the all-seeing eye of God - all these
are images which Milton has copied from Salandra.
Adam's state of mind, after the fall, is compared by Salandra to a boat
tossed by impetuous winds (p. 228):
Qual agitato legno d'Austro, e Noto,
Instabile incostante, non hai pace,
Tu vivi pur . . .
which is thus paraphrased in Milton (ix, 1122):
. . . High winds worse within
Began to rise . . . and shook sore
Their inward state of mind, calm region once
And full of peace, now tossed and turbulent.
Here is a still more palpable adaptation:
... So God ordains:
God is thy law, thou mine.
- MILTON (iv, 636)
. . . . Un voler sia d' entrambi,
E quel' uno di noi, di Dio sia tutto.
- SALANDRA (p. 42).
After the Fall, according to Salandra, vacillo la terra (i), geme
(2), e pianse (3), rumoreggiano i tuoni (4), accompagnati da
grandini (5), e dense nevi (6), (pp. 138, 142, 218). Milton
translates this as follows: Earth trembled from her entrails (1), and
nature gave a second groan (2); sky loured and, muttering thunders (4),
some sad drops wept (3), the winds, armed with ice and snow (6) and hail
(5). ('Paradise Lost,' ix, 1000, x. 697).
Here is another translation:
. . . inclino il ciclo
Giu ne la terra, e questa al Ciel innalza.
- SALANDRA (p. 242).
And Earth be changed to Heaven, and Heaven to Earth.
- MILTON (vii, 160).
It is not to my purpose to do Zicari's work over again, as this would
entail a complete translation of his long article (it contains nearly
ten thousand words), to which, if the thing is to be done properly, must
be appended Salandra's 'Adamo,' in order that his quotations from it can
be tested. I will therefore refer to the originals those who wish to go
into the subject more fully, warning them, en passant, that they may
find the task of verification more troublesome than it seems, owing to a
stupid mistake on Zicari's part. For in his references to Milton, he
claims (p. 252) to use an 1818 Venice translation of the 'Paradise Lost'
by Rolli. Now Rolli's 'Paradiso Perduto' is a well-known work which was
issued in many editions in London, Paris, and Italy throughout the
eighteenth century. But I cannot trace this particular one of Venice,
and application to many of the chief libraries of Italy has convinced me
that it does not exist, and that 1818 must be a misprint for some other
year. The error would be of no significance if Zicari had referred to
Rolli's 'Paradiso' by the usual system of cantos and lines, but he
refers to it by pages, and the pagination differs in every one of the
editions of Rolli which have passed through my hands.
