Milli mála - 01.01.2010, Blaðsíða 262

ing it to me”31; “alas, Mr. Sarsi, what kind of absurdity do you
write?”32; “Stop it then, and keep quiet.”33
If Considerazioni al Tasso cannot strictly be categorized as an
epistolary work, since there is no specific addressee in it, never-
theless one can also observe in this work the ‘dialogue’ between
galileo and his public and between galileo and his ‘opponent’. In
fact, this dialogue is the leitmotif of the work itself. as in The
Assayer, the rhetorical aim is the same, only in a grosser way: to
humiliate the sitting duck, in this case a literary sitting duck, unable
to defend itself or to counterattack.34 galileo vehemently attacks
Tasso’s very poetical standards and abilities – as in The Assayer he
would attack Sarsi’s/grassi’s scientific ones, more than ten years
later35 – with a sarcasm that often turns to insult: “Come on, Mr.
Tasso, this is not your job, you will end up smearing a lot of papers
and you will make a mush for dogs.”36; “Here we are again, Mr.
Tasso, with your intricate somersaults.”37; “Mr. Tasso, this is child-
ish rubbish”38; “Oh, my dear Mr. Tasso, do you not realize how
many words you waste by saying things without substance, with-
out intelligence, without anything at all?”39
Furthermore, galileo often directs his fierce derision towards
the characters of Jerusalem Delivered: “Easy, easy, Lady Clorinda;
you are a bit too much free with your hands; let him at least catch
his breath, that poor guy, don’t start beating him again so soon.”40;
SIMILarITIES BETWEEn SCIEnTIFIC LanguagE …
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31 “Ma, Signor Sarsi, perdonatemi: […] io non poco mi meraviglio nel vedervi portar questo pre-
cedente discorso con maniera dottrinale, quasi che voi lo vogliate insegnare a me”, ibid, p. 107.
32 “Oimé, Signor Sarsi, e quali essorbitanze scrivete voi?” Ibid, p. 224.
33 “Cedete dunque, e tacete.” Ibid, p. 290.
34 See footnote 18.
35 See footnote 18.
36 “Eh, Sig. Tasso, questo non è mestier da voi; impiastrerete di molte carte, e farete una panic-
cia da cani.” galileo galilei, Considerazioni al Tasso, from Edizione digitale delle opere
complete di Galileo Galilei, Vol IX, p. 67, http://pinakes.imss.fi.it:8080/pinakestext/home.
jsf (accessed november 5, 2010).
37 “E pur torniamo alle capriole intrecciate, Signor Tasso.” Ibid, p. 75.
38 “Queste, Sig. Tasso, sono porcheriole da bambini”, ibid, p. 90.
39 “Oh, Sig. Tasso mio da bene, non v’accorgete voi quante parole andate buttando via in dir
cose senza sugo, senza concetto, senza niente?” Ibid, p. 129.
40 “Pian un poco, Madonna Clorinda; voi siate un poco troppa manesca; lasciatel al manco
ripigliar fiato a quel povero garzone, e non lo cominciate a ripicchiar così subitamente.”
Ibid, p. 85.
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