Marthae Marchinae Virginis Neapolitanae Musa Postuma

Marthae Marchinae Virginis Neapolitanae Musa Posthuma was first published in, sixteen years after Martha Marchina's death. The book contains a collection of Latin poems attributed to Marchina, including epigrams and odes, as well as letters written by Marchina who was an Early Modern Italian poet whose family made and sold soap. The poetry included in this volume were from the private collection of Virgilio Spada, the brother of Cardinal Bernardino Spada, who had been Martha Marchina's benefactor.
Three of the poems in the collection are thematically linked by depicting the deities Apollo and Selene having a conversation with the Virgin Mary.

Publication

Musa Posthuma was published after Marchina's death. The book was dedicated to Christina, Queen of Sweden. The collection was edited by Francisco Macedo. It is unclear how much Macedo edited her verses. Macedo, though, was responsible for the titles of the poems, some of which offered brief contextualizing statements for the reader. Macedo, however, did seem to play with the order of the poems. The final poem in the collection is an epigram that states "Praecipis ex isto demi mala carmina libro. / Si mala sustuleris, quid reliquum fuerit?" Given the content of the epigram, it is unlikely to have been an accidental placement but was instead the intentional placement by an editor. Her corpus of writing was well received for centuries after her death.

The book includes several liminal elements, including an address to the Queen of Sweden written by Antonio Bulison. Although this letter is in Italian, the majority of the book is written in Latin. Other liminal elements include: an address to the reader calling Marchina a Sappho and similar to Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchii, Latin poetry by Cardinal Spada and anonymous poems in Marchina's honor, and letters between Cardinal Bernardino Spada and his brother Virgilio Spada. Marchina's epigrams and odes are published and often grouped by similar topics. For example, three poems addressed to the Virgin Mary where Apollo and Selene speak with the Virgin Mary are grouped together. After her final poem, a few of Marchina's letters are included to finish the book, including letters to Cardinal Bernardino Spada and her brother Joseph. These letters offer insight into the texts that Marchina had read and had access to as she references both Horace and Plautus in them. They also reflect her willingness to criticize a man's writing as she offers several critiques on her brother's writing.

Selected Poems

This selection of poems includes the Latin text as well as a modern English and French translations to elucidate Martha Marchina's style and recurring themes in her poetry. Macedo describes her style as "nitidus et facilis, non fucatus, non neglectus,". Jane Stevenson agrees and further suggests that her poetry is "elegant, and often a little melancholy." Selected poems highlight her use of contrasts, nature imagery, religious devotion, and classical allusions.

In Eadem Epiphania. Ad puerum Jesum. (On the Same Epiphany. To the Boy Jesus.)

Machina has a series of poems about the Epiphany and the three Magi’s visit to the infant Jesus. In this poem, she states the three gifts brought by the kings, namely frankincense, gold, and myrrh, and how she, who is without such fine gifts, offers instead herself to Christ, presumably through her poetry and faith. Marchina plays with the number three through her word choice and word order. Additionally, she sets up contrasts by using several personal pronouns as well as between Christ as king of heaven and the Magi as kings on earth.

In Eadem Epiphania. Ad Puerum Jesum.	On the Same Epiphany. To the Boy Jesus.
Te Regem Reges, hominemque, Deumque fatentur Thure, auro, myrrha, munere quisque suo. Ast ego, cui nullum est triplici de munere munus, Me tibi Christe dabo Regi, homini, atque deo.	The kings confess that you are a king, a man, and God With frankincense, gold, and myrrh, each with his own gift. But I, I who have no such three-fold offering, To you, Christ, king, man, and God, I will give myself.

De Annunciatione B. Virginis. (On the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin)

This epigram reflects a recurring theme in the book, how the pagan gods, here specifically Apollo, have been supplanted by the Virgin Mary and Jesus. This epigram is written as elegiac couplets in dactylic pentameter. This poem illustrates Marchina's use of contrasts, characteristic of Baroque Latin, through her use of ardens and nivea as well as her use of repetition to explore shades of meaning.

De Annunciatione B. Virginis.	On the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin
Ardens Virgineo Phoebus velatus amictu, Mitius ardentes dirigit inde faces. Sic deus intactae nivea modo Virginis alvo Velatus fundit mitis in Orbe faces.	Blazing Phoebus veiled in a maidenly cloak Directs his blazing torches more mildly from there. Thus God now in the snowy womb of the untouched Virgin, Concealed, pours forth mild torches on the earth.

Luna Ad Eandem Virginem. (The Moon to the Same Virgin)

This epigram connects the Virgin Mary's association with the moon to the pagan goddess Cynthia, whose name is an alternate for Selene or Diana. Because Cynthia has submitted to the Virgin Mary, she now outshines the Greco-Roman sun god, Phoebus Apollo. In this poem, Marchina repeats forms of mico. It also demonstrates a recurring theme of a woman superseding a man's role.

Luna Ad eandem Virginem,	The Moon To the Same Virgin
Olim nocte micans Phœbo redeunte recessi, Et mea pervasit plurimus ora rubor. Postquam Virgo tuis substernor gressibus, ipso Cynthia iam Phœbo clarior ecce mico.	Shining at night, I used to retreat as Phoebus returned– Profuse blush pervaded my cheeks. After submitting to your steps, Virgin, Now I, Cynthia, shine brighter than Phoebus himself.

De Beatissima Virgine (On the Most Blessed Virgin)

This poem is a distich addressed to the Virgin Mary. Marchina uses this style of writing to unpack layers of meaning by combining three subjects, three verbs, three objects, and three prepositional phrases. hosted a poetry contest in this particular style of verse.

De Beatissima Virgine	On the Most Blessed Virgin
Filia, sponsa, parens, flextit, devincit, adorat Patrem, ignem, natum, lege, pudore, prece.	As a daughter, bride, and parent, she persuades, conquers, and reveres, Her father, her passion, and her son, with law, modesty, and prayer.

De Eodem Leone (On the Same Lion)

In this poem, Martha speaks directly to the constellations arguing for the worthiness of the lion who saved Prisca over the Nemean lion, preserved in the heavens as the constellation Leo. In several epigrams, Marchina writes to heavenly bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars, in order to elevate a Christian figure over pagan or classical figures. During the reign of Claudius, Prisca was condemned for her Christian faith and put up against a lion in the amphitheater. The lion, however, lay down at her feet, a moment referenced by Marchina in another epigram titled “D. Prisca Virgo, & Martyr Leoni objecta.” In “De eodem Leone,” Marchina effectively utilizes word placement to punctuate her arguments, namely Leonem ends line one to create direct contrast to Hoc starting line two.

De Eodem Leone	On the Same Lion
Sidera, si vobus curæ est servare Leonem, Hoc nullus vestro dignior orbe fuit.	Constellations, if it concerns you to preserve a Lion, None was worthier for your orbit than this one.

Agatha Virgo Vulneribus Decorata (The Virgin Agatha Graced with Wounds)

Marchina often adopts the persona of other women in her poetry. She speaks in this poem from the persona of Saint Agatha who was tortured after refusing to submit to the Roman prefect Quintianus' amorous advances. Marchina's approach to this poem is unique for her reclamation of Agatha's identity and sense of self through the use of brutal imagery in contrast to Agatha's purity, and her resolute belief that she has become more beautiful through these pains.

Agatha Virgo Vulneribus Decorata	The Virgin Agatha Graced with Wounds
Ubera præcidit geminatio vulnere lictor, Sed formam lædunt vulnera nulla meam. Namque ego purpureo cœpi decorata colore Inter Virgineas pulchrior esse nives.	The lictor sliced off my breasts with doubled blows, But no wounds mar my nature. For adorned by the color of a red rose amid virgin snows I have begun to be more beautiful.

D. Marthæ S. Marii coniugi, & Matri S.S Audisacis & Abachii (About Martha, the Spouse of Marius, and the Mother of SS Audifax and Abachius)

Marchina addresses Saint Martha's martyrdom, along with her husband and her two children, in this poem. Marchina makes strong contrasts here between a Saint Martha's loss of both her hands as more powerful than the loss of Gaius Mucius Scaevola's one left hand. Marchina uses a female saint to supplant a pagan story, but she also uses a woman's martyrdom to supplant a male warrior.

D. Marthæ S. Marii coniugi, & Matri S.S Audisacis & Abachii	About Martha, the Spouse of Marius, and the Mother of SS Audifax and Abachius
Sponte subit flammas, ensesque invicta Virago, Nec timor est raptam cernere utramque manum; Ne iactet dextra contemptos Mutius ignes: Plus potuit pro te fœmina, Christe, pati.	Indomitable she endures the flames and swords willingly, a hero, Nor does she fear to witness both of her hands ravaged; Mucius shouldn't boast of the fires slighted by his right hand: A woman, O Christ, was able to suffer more on your behalf.