Sign-In
Cart
A Gift: The Life of Da Ponte: A Poem
Paperback
Publisher Price: $19.95
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 0807120480
ISBN13: 9780807120484
Publisher: LSU Press
Published: Feb 1 1996
Pages: 64
Weight: 0.22
Height: 0.23 Width: 5.52 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
ISBN13: 9780807120484
Publisher: LSU Press
Published: Feb 1 1996
Pages: 64
Weight: 0.22
Height: 0.23 Width: 5.52 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Epic poem, biography, literary criticism, historical romance--in A Gift, David Slavitt presents the fascinating life of Mozart's librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, one of history's great unknowns, a man blessed and cursed by his conviction that within him lay the capacity for literary greatness.
Educated in the church, the young da Ponte carouses in Venice, flees Italy, and finds himself in Austria, trying to establish a career in the theater. Under the tepid patronage of Joseph II of Austria, he turns out libretti for Salieri and learns the whorey tricks of writing on demand: Adaptation, translation, theft. In lines that ring harrowingly true, Slavitt reflects the young man's self-doubts: The mad hope grows like a mold on bread
that it's not so bad,
is better than you think--
but what that means
is only that your judgment is going too,
you can't tell good from bad, are a fraud, impostor Then, on the brink of despair, he encounters Mozart--boorish, preferring crude farce to literary grace. Still, the partnership thrives with The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte. But good luck is not to be trusted, and misfortune is not reliable either. Despite his brilliant gift, success eludes da Ponte. Ever gullible, ever generous, he is destined to accumulate others' debts, to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, to be forgotten. Da Ponte lives out his life in the fledgling United States, plagued by sickness, debt, and the implacably looming specter of failure. Slavitt has created a lovely, heartening book, one that reminds us that untested faith is no faith at all. Alight with muted passion, A Gift chronicles a man's refusal to despair despite the growing awareness that nothing awaits but poverty and ignominy--that this ill-fitting garment is what the wardrobe holds. Through Slavitt's lively imagination, we feel reverence rather than pity for the dogged nobility of da Ponte's struggle. Ultimately, Lorenzo da Ponte is a hero, his life a victory.
that it's not so bad,
is better than you think--
but what that means
is only that your judgment is going too,
you can't tell good from bad, are a fraud, impostor Then, on the brink of despair, he encounters Mozart--boorish, preferring crude farce to literary grace. Still, the partnership thrives with The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte. But good luck is not to be trusted, and misfortune is not reliable either. Despite his brilliant gift, success eludes da Ponte. Ever gullible, ever generous, he is destined to accumulate others' debts, to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, to be forgotten. Da Ponte lives out his life in the fledgling United States, plagued by sickness, debt, and the implacably looming specter of failure. Slavitt has created a lovely, heartening book, one that reminds us that untested faith is no faith at all. Alight with muted passion, A Gift chronicles a man's refusal to despair despite the growing awareness that nothing awaits but poverty and ignominy--that this ill-fitting garment is what the wardrobe holds. Through Slavitt's lively imagination, we feel reverence rather than pity for the dogged nobility of da Ponte's struggle. Ultimately, Lorenzo da Ponte is a hero, his life a victory.
Also in
General Poetry
Dante's Vita Nuova, New Edition: A Translation and an Essay
Pitavy, Francois
Alighieri, Dante
Paperback
$33.00
Sounding the Seasons Enlarged Edition: One Hundred and Ten Sonnets for the Christian Year
Guite, Malcolm
Paperback
$19.94
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching: A Book about the Way and the Power of the Way
Le Guin, Ursula K.
Lao Tzu
Paperback
$17.06
They Bloom Because of You: Poems on the Infinite Love, Growth, and Magic of Motherhood
Urlichs, Jessica
Paperback
$18.05
This Is the Main Event: Discovering the Life You Long for in the Life You Have
Smith, Joshua Luke
Hardcover
$24.70