Gaspara Stampa
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Gaspara Stampa (1523-1554) was an Italian poet.
[edit] Life
Her father Bartolomeo was a dealer in Padua, coming from Milan. When she was eight her father died and her mother, Cecilia, moved to Venice with all her children (Gaspara, Cassandra and Baldassarre), whom she educated to literature, music, history, and painting. Gaspara and Cassandra became very good at singing and playing lute, possibly due to Tuttovale Menon. Early on, the Stampa's house became a literary club, visited by many famous writers, painters and musicians of Venice.
When Baldassarre died in 1544, Gaspara was devastated and intended to become nun. After a long period of crisis, she came back to "la dolce vita" in Venice. It is believed that in this time, she was involved in a love affair with Count Collaltino di Collalto, to whom she dedicated a great part of her 311 poems to. Collaltino, however, never loved her deeply, and he was often far from Venice. Their relationship broke off in 1551, and Gaspara was devastated. She went into a physical prostation and depression. But what came out of this depression are a collection of beautiful, intelligent and assertive poems in which she triumphs over Collatino, creating for herself a lasting reputation, while Collatino is only remembered because of Stampa. She is very clear throughout her poems that she is using her pain to inspire her poetry and hence her survival and fame. After Collatino she had another lover. She was not a courtesan as some believe. Her poor health continued and even a trip to Florence did not help her. She died at the age of 31.
Her most known work is Rime, a collection of 311 poems, many of which are influenced by her experiences with Collalto.
[edit] Literature
Her collection of poems has a diary form: Gaspara expresses happiness and emotional distresses, and her 311 poems are one of the most important collection of female poetry of the 16th century. This collection was published after her death by her sister Cassandra, and dedicated to Giovanni Della Casa.
The great German poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, references Gaspara Stampa in the first of his Duino Elegies, often considered his greatest work.
