The Partridge Hunt

The Partridge Hunt chronicles a hawking party organized by young Lorenzo de' Medici for his closest friends on a fine summer day of 1473. In forty-four engrossing stanzas, we look on the preparations for the hunt, the antics of the participants, and on their skillful and, at times, ridiculously awkward actions. The poem gallops from the idyllic lines of the opening to the tense, agitated sequences of the center, and on to the convivial description of the closing. Rinaldina Russell's introduction and list of characters illustrate the historical background of Lorenzo's milieu, thus opening our vista on the cultural and political subtext of this delightful little work.