Chiabrera

Chiabrera, GABRIELLO, an Italian poet, born at Savona, 8th June 1552. He was educated at Rome under the care of his uncle, after whose death he entered the service of Cardinal Cornaro, but was obliged to leave it for revenging himself upon a Roman nobleman who had wronged him. He married at fifty, and after an easy and well-spent life, died at eighty-five, 14th October 1637. Chiabrera's poetical faculty blossomed late. An enthusiastic student of Greek, he conceived a great admiration of Pindar, and strove not unsuccessfully to imitate him. He was not less happy in catching the naïf and pleasant spirit of Anacreon; his canzonette being distinguished for their ease and elegance, while his Lettere Famigliari was the first attempt to introduce the poetical epistle into Italian literature. Chiabrera also wrote several epics, bucolics, and dramatic poems. Collections of his lyrics, under the title Rime, were published at Rome in 1718 (3 vols.), at Venice in 1737 (5 vols.), and at Milan in 1807 (3 vols.). Prefixed is a naïf but interesting fragment of autobiography.