| 词源 |
improvisator. An improvisator is someone who composes, acts, sings, etc., on the spur of the moment, without prepara- tion. The word derives from the Italian improvvisatore, which originally referred only to a person who extemporized verse. Petrarch is supposed to have introduced the game of inventing poems on the spot for a particular occasion and to have re- ceived a laurel crown for extemporizing in verse. Others among many famous for this talent were Italian poet Angelo Mazza (1741–1817), reputedly best of all; Francisco Gianni (1759– 1822), whom Napoleon made imperial poet to celebrate his victories in verse; English poet Thomas Hood, author of “The Bridge of Sighs”; William Cowper; and Alexandre Dumas père. |