them to be hanged there. But the men who were in
the remaining ship came to East Anglia, sorely wounded.

Translation of Robert Sharp.

GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO

(1864-)

An Italian poet and novelist of early promise, who has become a somewhat
unique figure in contemporary literature, Gabriele d'Annunzio is a
native of the Abruzzi, born in the little village of Pescara, on the
Adriatic coast. Its picturesque scenery has formed the background for
more than one of his stories. At the age of fifteen, while still a
student at Prato, he published his first volume of poems, 'Intermezzo di
Rime' (Interludes of Verse): "grand, plastic verse, of an impeccable
prosody," as he maintained in their defense, but so daringly erotic that
their appearance created no small scandal. Other poems followed at
intervals, notably 'Il Canto Nuovo' (The New Song: Rome, 1882), 'Isotteo
e la Chimera' (Isotteo and the Chimera: Rome, 1890), 'Poema Paradisiaco'
and 'Odi Navali' (Marine Odes: Milan, 1893), which leave no doubt of his
high rank as poet. The novel, however, is his chosen vehicle of
expression, and the one which gives fullest scope to his rich and
versatile genius. His first long story, 'Il Piacere' (Pleasure),
appeared in 1889. As the title implies, it was pervaded with a frank,
almost complacent sensuality, which its author has since been inclined
to deprecate. Nevertheless, the book received merited praise for its
subtle portrayal of character and incident, and its exuberance of
phraseology; and more than all, for the promise which it suggested. With
the publication of 'L'Innocente,' the author for the first time showed a
real seriousness of purpose. His views of life had meanwhile essentially
altered:--"As was just," he confessed, "I began to pay for my errors, my
disorders, my excesses: I began to suffer with the same intensity with
which I had formerly enjoyed myself; sorrow had made of me a new man."
Accordingly his later books, while still emphatically realistic, are
chastened by an underlying tone of pessimism. Passion is no longer the
keynote of life, but rather, as exemplified in 'Il Trionfo della Morte,'
the prelude of death. Leaving Rome, where, "like the outpouring of the
sewers, a flood of base desires invaded every square and cross-road,
ever more putrid and more swollen," D'Annunzio retired to
Francovilla-al-Mare, a few miles from his birthplace. There he lives in
seclusion, esteemed by the sim