Carlo Porta (June 15, 1775 – January 5, 1821) was an Italian poet, the most famous writer in Milanese (the central dialect of the Western Lombard language).
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Porta was born in Milan to Giuseppe Porta and Violante Gottieri, a merchant family.[1] He studied in Monza until 1792 and then in the Seminario of Milan. In 1796, the Napoleonic Wars pushed Porta to find a job in Venice (where one of his brothers lived) and he remained there until 1799.
From 1804 until his death, Porta worked as clerical officer. In 1806, he married to Vincenza Prevosti.
He died in Milan in January 1821 from an attack of gout and was buried in the Church of San Gregorio. His tomb was subsequently lost.
Porta began to write poems in 1790, although few of them were published before 1810. In 1804-1805 he worked at a Milanese translation of the Divine Comedy, which he, however, left unfinished. In these years the progressive group that formed round him and called themselves the "Cameretta Portiana" included Giuseppe Bossi, who painted a group portrait of four Amici della Cameretta Portiana.
In 1810, Brindisi de Meneghin all'Ostaria (written for Napoleon's return in Milan) was published. This was one of many works by Porta featuring Meneghino (the traditional commedia dell'arte character representing Milan). His best season began two years later, with Desgrazzi de Giovannin Bongee ("Troubles of Johnny Bolgeri").
His works can be divided into three categories: works against superstition and religious hypocrisy, descriptions of vivid Milanese popular characters, and political works. The first one includes Fraa Zenever ("Brother Juniper", 1813), On Miracol ("A Miracle", 1813), Fraa Diodatt ("Brother Adeodato", 1814), La mia povera nonna la gh'aveva ("My dead granny had...", 1810). His political satires were mainly sonnets, such as Paracar che scappee de Lombardia ("Scarecrows [literally 'milestones', referred to Frenchmen] who are escaping from Lombardy", 1814), E daj con sto chez-nous, ma sanguanon ("And go on with this 'chez-nous', but bloody Heaven...", a satire about French, 1811), Marcanagg i politegh secca ball (1815, "Goddam ballbreaker politicians"), Quand vedessev on pubblegh funzionari ("When I'd see a public officer...", 1812). Porta satirized the upcoming new Milanese aristocracy, too, in La nomina del cappellan (1819, "The chaplain's appointment"), making a parody of the episode of the "vergine cuccia" ("virgin pet-pup") in Il Giorno (Il Mezzogiorno), by Giuseppe Parini (a satire itself).
His best works are probably those portraying the Milanese popular life, with the collections Olter desgrazzi de Giovannin Bongee ("Other Troubles of Johnny Bolgeri", 1814), El lament del Marchionn di gamb avert ("The Lament of Melchior the Crippled", 1816) and what is generally considered his masterwork, La Ninetta del Verzee ("Little Nina, from Greens Market", 1815), a meaningful and heartbreaking monologue/confession of a prostitute. In 1816 Porta joined the Romantic literarian movement (Sonettin col covon, "Little sonnet, with a big tail"), obviously in his own way.
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