esent its interests at
Paris. The speedy overthrow of the new State brought the young
ambassador home again, and for the next ten years he worked for Italian
unity and freedom. He was twice imprisoned, at Mantua in 1852, and again
in 1859 at Verona, where he died April 17th, 1878.

Like most of the Italian poets of this century, Aleardi found his chief
inspiration in the exciting events that marked the struggle of Italy for
independence, and his best work antedated the peace of Villafranca. His
first serious effort was 'Le Prime Storie' (The Primal Histories),
written in 1845. In this he traces the story of the human race from the
creation through the Scriptural, classical, and feudal periods down to
the present century, and closes with foreshadowings of a peaceful and
happy future. It is picturesque, full of lofty imagery and brilliant
descriptive passages.

'Una Ora della mia Giovinezza' (An Hour of My Youth: 1858) recounts many
of his youthful trials and disappointments as a patriot. Like the
'Primal Histories,' this poem is largely contemplative and
philosophical, and shines by the same splendid diction and luxurious
imagery; but it is less wide-reaching in its interests and more
specific in its appeal to his own countrymen. And from this time onward
the patriotic qualities in Aleardi's poetry predominate, and his themes
become more and more exclusively Italian. The 'Monte Circello' sings the
glories and events of the Italian land and history, and successfully
presents many facts of science in poetic form, while the singer
passionately laments the present condition of Italy. In 'Le Citta
Italiane Marinore e Commercianti' (The Marine and Commercial Cities of
Italy) the story of the rise, flourishing, and fall of Venice, Florence,
Pisa, and Genoa is recounted. His other noteworthy poems are 'Rafaello e
la Fornarina,' 'Le Tre Fiume' (The Three Rivers), 'Le Tre Fanciulle'
(The Three Maidens: 1858), 'I Sette Soldati' (The Seven Soldiers: 1859),
and 'Canto Politico' (Political Songs: 1862).

A slender volume of five hundred pages contains all that Aleardi has
written. Yet he is one of the chief minor Italian poets of this century,
because of his loftiness of purpose and felicity of expression, his
tenderness of feeling, and his deep sympathies with his
struggling country.

"He has," observes Howells in his 'Modern Italian Poets,' "in greater
degree than any other Italian poet of this, or perhaps of any age, those
mer