Volume 19, 2007 - Brown University

128 Francesco Pucci
aural imagery ubiquitous in Virgil’s Eclogues, and dolphins play in the sea just
as lambs play in the pastures of Virgil. Sannazaro even includes bucolic
elements that would ordinarily be out of place in the littoral world. For example,
the fisherman gather tuna ad pabula (“for the fodder”) (Piscatoria 1.2), with
pabula implying the food of ruminants rather than fish. The fact that the feeding
of tuna is compared to the grazing of cows or sheep undoubtedly intends to
bring a variety of Virgilian descriptives into the Piscatoriae. Virgil uses a verb
meaning “to graze” in close proximity to piscatorial words such as “fish” and
“shore” in his first Eclogue. Sannazaro exploits this propinquity—with another
link provided by the coincidental adjective “leves”—to reveal a very calculated
use of the world “pabula” (Sannazaro 1.1, cf. Virgil 1.59-60). Again, Sannazaro
wishes to legitimize his new piscatorial setting. Regarding the second goal,
Lycidas gradually moves from observing sadness in nature to acknowledging his
own sadness. This represents a movement from “outer” to “inner” in a way
typically Virgilian. This emphasis on the inner voice of the poet-fisherman is
one of the key ways in which Sannazaro attempts to echo Virgil.
After Lycidas acknowledges his own sadness, the fisherman Mycon enters
to respond—he is primarily a foil or a prod, helping Lycidas to produce his
song. This sort of character is frequent in Virgil, and it serves a similar purpose
in Sannazaro. Namely, Mycon will serve as a voice for Sannazaro to ask the
question, “What is ancient pastoral?” Mycon poses this question over several
lines by encouraging the beauty and power of Lycidas’ “inner” song. Mycon’s
role reaches its climax in line 31: (Incipe, quandoquidem molles tibi litus
harenas / sternit et insani poserurunt murmura fluctus” (“Begin! seeing that the
shore spreads soft sands for you and raging waves put down their murmuring,”
Sannazaro 1.31-32).
Lycidas is equal to the challenge: Immo haec quae cineri nuper properata
parabam / carmina (Sannazaro 1.33-34). Virgil’s shepherd Moeris begins a
small praise of Varus with similar words in the ninth Eclogue (“Immo haec quae
Varo,” Buccolica 9.26). However, Moeris ends his speech in saying that he is
not worthy to praise Varus, that he “cackles like a goose” (Nash, 1996). Perhaps
through this allusion, Sannazaro intended to make clear his humility in
attempting to mimic the master-pastoralist. Nonetheless, Virgil would most
likely approve of Lycidas’ song. Most importantly, his lament of Phyllis
explores the self-reflection present in Virgil—in at least some allegorical sense,
mourning the loss of Phyllis is mourning the loss of the classical pastoral tradition,
and the encomium to Phyllis is an attempt to regain it.
Sannazaro makes this intention clearest through the voice of Lycidas: te
sequar in medios mutato corpore fluctus (Sannazaro 1.49). The secondary meaning
of this phrase is obvious: Sannazaro wishes to pursue the Virgilian tradition
boldly—“with a changed body” clearly indicates both the continuity between
Virgil and Sannazaro, but also refers to the new littoral interpretation of the pastoral.
The dirge that follows continues the analogy. Lycidas pines for Phyllis,
who is no longer present, and he wonders “where I might finally seek you”