«Canzonette piacevoli» e «qualche moralità». Il "Novelliere" di Giovanni Sercambi tra versi e novelle

This paper analyses the role of verses in Sercambi’s collection of novellas. By using specific data found in the "Novelliere", it shows that the social and narrative role of the characters who perform the poems inserted in the book had a bearing on the purpose assigned to the verses. Moreover, it suggests that Sercambi resorted to different strategies to connect poems and novellas, thus creating a piece of work which is throughout characterised by both unity and didacticism.