Literary notes about madrigal (AI summary)
The term "madrigal" in literature has been used both earnestly and with a touch of irony. In Pushkin’s Eugene Oneguine, for instance, it appears as a delicate yet ambivalent emblem of poetic creation, being dismissed as "not worth a rush" in one instance [1] while later suggesting that a finished madrigal might well secure everlasting fame [2]. Oscar Wilde employs the term to evoke a melancholic or reflective mood, referring to a "sad madrigal" that sets the tone for introspection [3]. Meanwhile, Alexander Pope uses the word in a playfully self-deprecating manner, hinting that even a badly crafted madrigal might serve as a satirical mirror of hackneyed poetic pretensions [4]. Together, these examples illustrate how "madrigal" has been flexibly deployed—from an emblem of poetic idealism to a critique of literary affectation—in the hands of different writers.
- Some madrigal not worth a rush, And pressed her hand—the crimson blush Upon her cheek by adulation Grew brighter still.
— from Eugene Oneguine [Onegin] by Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin - In hopes of everlasting fame A finished madrigal would frame
— from Eugene Oneguine [Onegin] by Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin - Open it at that sad madrigal that begins Que m’importe que tu sois sage?
— from Intentions by Oscar Wilde - What woful stuff this madrigal would be, In some starv'd hackney sonneteer, or me?
— from The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems by Alexander Pope
