https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_sonnets
... a very special monster to train the mind to manage absurd ideas. Transforming language to music instead finding a way to be understandable ... :-)
More interesting I found, that the poets often use numbers to indicate something. So it was in the case of Malatesta and his Sfinge.
(There is a lot of material to Antonio Malatesti and his "Sfinge" collected at the thread "Germini/Minchiate" ...
viewtopic.php?p=24547#p24547 ... and the following posts ...
.... this was collected after the detection of a very small with 66 poems called "Le Minchiate")
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1683 appeared the "Sfinge" with the following construction. The author was Antonio Malatesti (1610-1672).
The text has 392 poems. Each poem is a riddle. Each poem is correlated to an Oidipus text, which explains the solution.
Part 1: 110 sonnets. A sonnet has 14 lines. 14*110 = 1540 lines
Part 2: 106 sonnets. A sonnet has 14 lines. 14*106 = 1484 lines
Part 3 has 3 subparts:
Part 3a: 53 sonnets. A sonnet has 14 lines. 14*53 = 742 lines
Part 3b: 57 ottave. An ottave has 8 lines. 8*57 = 456 lines
Part 3c: 66 quartine. A quartine has four lines. 4x66 = 264 lines ... this part is called "Minchiate"
1st observation:
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1540 + 1484 + 742 + 456 + 264 = 4486 ???? ... looks not like an interesting number
........................ 742 + 456 + 264 = 1462 = 1 Olympiad + 1 = 4*365 (365 = days of a year) + 1 (= 4*0.25, cause a year has c 365.25 days) + 1 (for the introduction)
... well, this 1462 or 1461 looks like an interesting number
Petrarca had 366 poems for his love to Laura ... "Of its 366 poems, the vast majority are in sonnet form (317), though the sequence contains a number of canzoni (29), sestine (9), madrigals (4), and ballate (7)." There the 366 also doesn't look "accidental", but "arranged with intention".
Pausanias about the Olympiad.
2nd observationAnd Aristeas of Proconnesus—for he too made mention of the Hyperboreans—may perhaps have learnt even more about them from the Issedones, to whom he says in his poem that he came. Heracles of Ida, therefore, has the reputation of being the first to have held, on the occasion I mentioned, the games, and to have called them Olympic. So he established the custom of holding them every fifth year, because he and his brothers were five in number.
That is, in the Greek way of counting. Between two Olympic festivals there were only four complete intervening years, but the Greeks included both years in which consecutive festivals were held.
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Part 1 has 110 poems
Part 3a (= 53) + Part 3b (= 57) also has 110 poems
Part 2 has 106 poems
2 times part 3a (=2*53) has also 106 poems.
... somehow there is a number relation between the group Part 1/2 and the group Part 3a/3b/3c.
3rd observation
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Part1+Part2 = 110+106=216=6*6*6 or 2*2*2*3*3*3
Part 3 (3a+3b+3c) = 53+57+66=176=4*44
216 + 176 = 392 =7*7*8 or 7*7*2*2*2
4th observation
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ahem .... a propos 176 ....
97 Minchiate cards + 78 Tarocchi cards makes 175 cards, that's one less than 176
That was surprizing. So let's look at Minchiate first. It has 66 poems, but a card deck of Minchiate has 97 cards. Luckily we have the Oidipus, which explains it.
1st Analysis
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Well, this is now analysis, not observation.
The situation opens the possibility, that 175 of the 176 poems might each be relatable to a specific Tarocchi or Minchiate card. A part of this relation is already openly done by the author and his Oidipus. I've given the complete Oidipus list of Part 3c (= "Minchiate") at ....
viewtopic.php?p=24552#p24552
... here I present only a part of it ...
L'EDIPO OYVERO DICHIARAZIONI DELLA PARTE III, SEZIONE III DEGLI ENIMMI DI ANTONIO MALATESTI
1 Tutte le carte insieme.
Ci azzanna. Liscia col dente .
Ci ammazzi. Faccia mazzo.
Mostra il segno. Il Bollo.
2 Re di danari.
3 Regina di danari.
4 Cavallo. di danari.
Valoroso in carte. Nella carta ov'è dipinto .
Dell'uomo, e della bestia . Perchè è un Centauro .
5 Fantina di danari.
6 Asso di danari.
7 Carte bianche di danari.
Attenersi al poco . Perchè oaglion men coppe, e men danari, e più spade, e più bastoni .
8 Re di coppe.
9 Regina di coppe.
10 Cavallo di coppe.
11 Fantina di coppe.
12 Asso di coppe.
13 Carte bianche di coppe.
14 Re di bastoni.
15 Regina di bastoni.
16 Cavallo di bastoni.
17 Fante di bastoni.
18 Carte bianche di bastoni.
19 Asso di bastoni.
20 Re di spade.
21 Regina di spade
22 Cavallo di spade.
23 Fante di spade.
24 Carte bianche di spade.
25 Asso di spade.
26 Il Matto.
... then follow the Minchiate trumps 1 till 40 on the numbers 27-66
The first poem is the opening, it doesn't present a card, only 175 of 176 poems relate to cards. The opening is a free number. This is the first poem
Colui che ci dà l'essere, e c'impasta,
E che ci azzanna perchè corriam forte,
Benchè ci ammazzi, non ci dà la morte;
Ma mostra il segno una per tutte, e basta.
Automatic translated it means ...
He who gives us being, and kneads us,
And who bites us, that we may run hard,
Though he kills us, does not give us death;
But shows the sign one and all.
Probably it addresses God ....
The poems 7, 13, 18 and 24 start with a "Carte bianche di .... (and a suit name)", likely indicating, that they present all number cards beside the aces. This is okay, as far the 66 poems shall mean 97 Minchiate cards, but if the author had indeed the secret idea to present 175 Tarocchi and Minchiate cards, the riddlesolving reader has to assume ... for instance four 10s on the four positions.
The Matto has the position of poem 26
2nd Analysis
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We've a rest of 32 Minchiate cards (4 times 2-9 of the suits)
We've all 78 Tarocchi cards, which means 56 small arcana , 1Fool and 21 trumps.
And we've two groups of poems (3a and 3b) and 3a needs 53 cards for 53 poems and 3b needs 57 cards for 57 poems.
And 32 +21 = 53 and 56 + 1 = 57
And that's it, it is ready.
3rd Analysis
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Checking the details of the Italian texts it looks difficult to get all and everything solved. The row of poems might have become confused, the poet possible never had the idea to become ready with, possibly the poet became supressed by controls of the literature.
A piece I could solve, at least I believe it. The following is it.
21 Tarocchi trumps
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32 is 0, 33 is 21 and 53 is 1
and the rest is between 33 and 53, with 20=32 and 2=52
The list is a modern one....
http://www.giochidelloca.it/storia/malatesti_1.pdf
It are not the poems, but the (modern) Oidipus explanations. The old Oidipus texts from 1683 are longer. The texts might contain errors.
4th Analysis32. Il Zero.
33. La Città di Roma, Amor: Roma.
34. La guardiana di Capre.
35. La Settimana. Due magri: Venerdì e Sabato. Mette mana:
aggiungendo mana a sette.
36. L' oriolo a Sole. —
37. La Città di Venezia. Infausta Luna: il Turco.
38. Mercato Vecchio, ove e' era il Ghetto degli Ebrei.
39. Il Razzo.
40. Una forma di Cacio.
41. Il Leone del Carapanil di Piazza.
42. Il Succhiello. A chi per voi: la botte di vino. Da suo Padre: Giove, morta Semele portò nel ventre Bacco sino al tempo del parto.
43. La Lettiga.
44. Il Carnevale.
45. Il Cocomero.
46. L' Ellera, sposa del Muro.
47. Lo Speziale.
48. Il Bue.
49. L' Escaiuolo.
50. La Melagrana.
51. Indice de' Libri Proibiti dal Santo Uffizio.
52. Il Violino.
53. Il nome dell'autore. Antonio Màlatesti.
automatic translation
0 ... FOOL 32. The Zero.
21 ... CAPUT MUNDI 33. The City of Rome, Amor: Rome.
20 ... 34. The Guardian of Goats.
19 ... 35. The Week. Two lean: Friday and Saturday. Adding mana to seven.
18 ... 36. The Sun oriole. -
17 ... 37. The City of Venice. Inauspicious Moon: the Turk.
16 ... 38. Mercato Vecchio, where the Jewish Ghetto used to be.
15 ... 39. The Rocket.
14 ... 40. A form of cheese.
13 ... 41. The Lion of Carapanil di Piazza.
12 ... 42. The Succhiello. To you: the barrel of wine. From his Father: Jupiter, who died and carried Bacchus in his womb until the time of birth.
11 ... 43. The Lettiga.
10 ... 44. The Carnival.
09 ... 45. The Watermelon.
08 ... 46. The Ellera, bride of the Wall.
07 ... 47. The Apothecary.
06 ... 48. The Ox.
05 ... 49. The Escaiuolo.
04 ... 50. The Pomegranate.
03 ... 51. Index of Books Prohibited by the Holy Office.
02 ... 52. The Violin.
01 ... BAGATELLO 53. The name of the author. Antonio Màlatesti.
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The number 1461 points to a Olympiad as a measure of time, but also it has the message "the year 1461 AD". The year 1461 might have been the year, when the poet Luigi Pulci started to write the "Morgante".
The elder poet Jacopo Cicognini, who died in 1633 (Malatesti was then 23 years old) had the opinion, that the style of Malatesti would be similar to the Morgante style. Possibly this had impressed Malatesti. Riddle 90 of Part 1 gives a reference for the Morgante, a crab or grunchion bites Morgante and Morgante dies. Possibly this was a reference to Orion (also a sort of giant, who was killed by a Scorpio).
Anyway, it's a fact, that there is a handwritten text with Sfinge poems from the year 1637. Franco Pratesi has mentioned it in his article http://naibi.net/e/22.pdf at page 17.
Even Parte Terza is noted.
What do you think, what is the result of the subtraction 1637-1461 ??? Ah, yes, correct, it's 176 ..... :-) It's said, that Malatesti was clever in Mathematic and Astronomy.
Riddle about the crab, which killed the giant Morgante
"Google.translate" has big difficulties
Head, nor tail, Heaven has not made me,
the eyes, and the mouth is in and out of the chest,
the bust to the belly, and 'the belly to the bust always tight never inside a cuirass i' celo. The skin is hard, and no hair is born in it;
because humidity has this effect: I am half a year with a subject Goddess, who is a doe in Heaven, and a hunter in Delos. I am not a fish, and I am often in the water, I go through holes, and I am not a cricket but cautious;
I throw it away, and yet I am not a snake.
Killed while fighting a Giant;
and even the star fast in the algent water
gives me, and one makes me change semblant.
:-) ...
here is a translated version of the Morgante
Morgante: The Epic Adventures of Orlando and His Giant Friend Morgante
Luigi Pulci, Indiana University Press, 2000 - 975 Seiten
https://books.google.de/books?id=CIICQp ... ab&f=false
Morgante with a bell clapper and without boots, involved in a stone throwing battle.