ABSTRACT
Vincenzo Monti was born in Romagna, on the 19th of February, 1754. His father’s simple, and even humble, but pretty and agreeable, house was situated among the vineyards and agricultural country which lies between Fusignano and the Alfonsine, in the Ravennese territory. Monti is, without question, the greatest Italian poet that has appeared since the golden days of its poetry: he alone emulates his predecessors in the higher flights of the imagination. The parents of Monti were an excellent specimen of the virtues of this unpretending race. Monti’s muse had surely not been silent if he had remained in his father’s farm, surrounded by the luxuriant beauty of nature, and supported by conscious worth and independence. Monti became acquainted with him; being then in a bad state of health, and advised to change the air of Rome for that of Tuscany, he accepted Marmont’s invitation, who offered him a seat in his carriage, and proceeded to Florence.
