POESIA POPOLARE. – Interest in p. p. appeared in England from the first decades of the eighteenth century, and the most significant work of this initial turning of taste toward the elementary and traditional forms of poetry may be considered Percy’s collection, Religies of ancient English Poetry (1765). But it was German Romanticism, and especially J. G. Herder, Goethe, Bürger, and J. Grimm, that raised p. p. to the highest aesthetic, political, and moral values.
Herder’s collection Volkslieder, or Stimmen der Völker in Liedern (“Voices of the Peoples in Songs,” first ed., 1778), offered examples of poetry from the various peoples of Europe. In opposition to classicism and to literature subservient to the models and canons of rhetoric, p. p. was exalted as the only poetry capable of expressing with immediacy and spontaneity the movements of the soul and the vision of the world and of life; it was also recognized as the genuine interpreter of the national character and spirit. Thus was born the Romantic myth of p. p., whose origin was conceived as collective and mysterious. These ideas are still reflected in Uhland’s Geschichte der altdeutschen Poesie (1830). In Italy, the appeal to p. p. and its values is already found in Berchet’s lettera semiseria di Grisostomo (1816), and he also contributed to knowledge of p. p. through his translation of the Vecchie romanze spagnole (1835). In our country, however, the nebulous myth of collective creation never took hold, and the idea of an individual poet as the author of p. p. always remained clear. In any case, the Romantic movement was fruitful because it led to the collection and study of the popular songs of the various European nations, especially those that did not possess an ancient tradition of art poetry. This Romantic phase in Italy is represented above all by Tommaseo, with his great collection of Canti popolari toscani, corsi, illirici, greci, 4 vols., Venice 1841–42.
The refinement of philology during the nineteenth century helped to place the study of p. p. on solid foundations, especially as regards the critical editing of songs, carried out through the contribution of numerous and varied versions of a single song, in order to establish its diffusion and geographical range. Among the examples cited are F. J. Child’s collection, The English and Scottish popular ballads, in 10 vols. (Boston 1882–98), and, in our country, Costantino Nigra’s Canti popolari piemontesi (Turin 1888). But toward the end of the last century and in the first decades of the twentieth, the concept of p. p. was subjected to a critical revision that reached decidedly negative conclusions. As a representative of this anti-Romantic movement, one may cite Bédier, who expressed himself as follows (1923): «La poésie populaire est un mythe: le peuple n'a jamais rien créé». In short, what we call p. p. is nothing other, Bédier says, than learned poetry in decline, which has descended among the humble classes and has been more or less crudely assimilated by them. Studies by John Mejer on the German popular song reached similar conclusions. Over the past thirty years, highly intensive critical work has been undertaken to deepen and clarify the concept of p. p.; eminent philologists, philosophers of art, literary historians, and folklorists have taken part in II. The principal conclusions and the most recent views may be briefly summarized as follows. The descent of learned poetry among the people is not denied, but its assimilation is not conceived as mere passivity, nor as the sole source. An inverse process is also recognized: an upward movement of poetic-musical forms and creations that the educated classes, in certain periods, drew from the popular classes.
In any case, p. p. is recognized as that which has become the expressive heritage of a community. Considered in its aesthetic character, p. p. is that which, according to Croce’s definition, «esprime sentimenti semplici in corrispondenti semplici forme». It is this simplicity that encourages its selection and assimilation by the people and characterizes its subsequent innumerable modifications. Distinctive features of p. p. are also its habitual conjunction with music (and often with dance as well) and its constant practical function, since it is always linked to the various moments and aspects of the life of the humble classes.
The notable progress made in recent decades by the study of p. p. with regard to methods of research and publication, employing refined philological criteria, should also be recalled. An eminent example is provided by the “Raccolta Barbi,” preserved at the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, of which a sample has already appeared, prepared by Vittorio Santoli, under the title Cinque canti dalla Raccolta Barbi (in Annuali della Scuola Nor. Sup. di Pisa, Sez. Lettere, Storia e Filosofia, 2nd series, fasc. II–III, 1938).
P. p. assumes different forms in different countries, although these may be reduced to a few principal types. Among the most important are: 1) the lyric monostrophic song, which serves especially to express love or the opposite sentiment, as well as jest and satire. In Italy the forms are the strembotto and the stornello, in Spain the copla and the villancio, in the Germanic countries the Schnaderhupfi, in Norway the ster, in Romania the doine, in the Baltic states the dainos, etc.; 2) the epic-lyric song, which rapidly unfolds episodes of adventure, war, and love, often with a passionate and tragic character. In many European countries, the epic-lyric song is known by the name of ballad, evidently because, at least originally, it was joined to dance. Its antiquity, its wide diffusion, its function in exalting military valor and patriotic love, and its complex relations with art literature make it one of the most important manifestations of p. p. Setting aside other forms of song (such as iterative songs and the poetry of familial love, from lullabies to funeral laments, etc.), it is worthwhile to dwell on that part of p. p. which, because of its highest spiritual and aesthetic values, occupies a foremost place, even in relation to art poetry: religious p. p. It should first of all be observed that it is always closely connected with the life of the people, both in the course of the day (with special brief prayers for morning, noon, and evening) and throughout the year, on the occasion of the principal feasts, from Christmas to Easter to Saint John’s Day, and then during pilgrimages and patronal feasts. In many regions, the principal agricultural tasks, such as reaping, threshing grain, and gathering olives or hazelnuts, are not carried out without special religious songs.
All religious p. p. may be gathered into two large groups: 1) narrative songs inspired by the Gospels or by hagiographical or moralizing legends; 2) lyric songs, comprising prayers and invocations. By far the more important is the first group, in which the figures of Christ, the Madonna, and all the saints most dear to the people are evoked in an atmosphere of genuine poetry and intense faith. As regards Italy, narrative religious popular songs may in turn be divided into three groups according to their different origin, meter, and style.
1) The orazioni, brief poems in hendecasyllables of an epic character, rhymed or assonant in a distinctive manner; they are most extensively found in central Italy, which was perhaps their place of origin, but occupy a vast area extending from the Alps to Sicily: the oldest, such as a beautiful one on the Passion, and others on s. Antonio Abate, s. Giuliano, s. Gregorio, and s. Lorenzo, certainly date back to the first centuries of our literature and are connected with minstrel poetry; 2) the storie siciliane in ottava rima, which predominantly develop themes of miracles and other episodes with a moralizing purpose; they are not very old (from the 16th century to the present) and are modeled on those offered by the Tuscan cantari of the fourteenth century (v. la voce CANTARI); 3) canzoni epico-liriche di soggetto sacro, not numerous and found only in northern Italy and in other Romance territories. Among the minor forms, noteworthy for their poetic value are the lyrical-narrative «canzoni», almost always inspired by episodes from the life of the Christ Child and the Madonna. The production of religious p. p. is also extensive in the Romance world, and especially in Spain, where sacred legends often adopt the characteristic meter of the Spanish epic-lyrical song (romance).
A genre that achieved considerable popularity in French-speaking territories consists of the noëll, Christmas songs of which a rich production is known, often deriving from a fairly elevated cultural milieu.