Dissertation on Birds of Prey and the Sport - the Falconry Heritage ...

The ladylfalcon is much less hostile in a madrigal by Niccolo Soldanieri, who finds that
his falcon already belongs to another: 56
Un be1 girfalco scese a le mie grida:
de l'aria in braccio a piombo giu mi venne
com'Amor volle e '1 destro di sue penne.
In pie gli misi e, fatto ch'ebbe gorga,
alzo piu assai che non fu la caduta,
onde giucando il perde' di veduta:
e che ritorni non mi dice il core,
che credo che se '1 tenga altro signore.
Soldanieri seems to be telling of a lady who loves him and then leaves him. Love
brought her to him, and, after being "fed," she disappears. This is a less painfbl outcome
than the tale of a love affair gone sour in the following, anonymous, madrigal:"
Girand'un be1 falcon gentile e bianco
per l'ari', a1 mie chiamar lento s'artenne
e com'uman in pugno mi rivenne.
Divento corbo poi fellon e fero:
cro cro grachiando e non dicendo vero,
con meco stette in fin che venne manco
la speranza del frutto e con lo 'ngegno
manco la fede, simulando sdegno.
On the whole, a falcon that eats and leaves is less unpleasant than one that turns into a
crow and stays for a while. The image of the falcon is clearly quite versatile in
representing a beloved lady in various aspects of love.
The idea of the pursuit of the bird of prey as a metaphor for seeking the beloved is
implied even in the early-to-mid Trecento cantare of Fiorio e Bianclj'iore. It comes into
play when Fiorio, searching for Biancifiore, hears that she is being kept in a castle, and
56 Rimatovi del Trecento, 745.
j7 Poesie rnusicali del Trecento, 334.