XXX.

“So that continuing what erewhile was said, “Poets and scholars in small number are: “For, where they are unsheltered and unfed, “Even beasts desert the inhospitable lair.” As thus the blessed ancient ended, red As two fierce fires, his eyes appeared to glare: Then, sagely smiling on the duke, his mien He changed anew from troubled to serene.

XXXI.

Henceforth with that apostle let the peer Remain; for I have now to make a spring As far as ’tis from heaven to earth; for here I cannot hang for ever on the wing. I to the dame return, who was whilere Wounded by jealousy with cruel sting. I left her where, successively o’erthrown, Three kings she quickly upon earth had strown;

XXXII.

And afterwards arriving in a town, At eve, which on the road to Paris lay, Heard tidings of Rinaldo’s victory blown; And how in Arles the vanquished paynim lay. —Sure, her Rogero with the king is gone— As soon as reappears the dawning day, Towards fair Provence, whither (as she hears) King Charlemagne pursues, her way she steers.

XXXIII.

She towards Provence, by the nearest road, So journeying, met a maid of mournful air; Who, though her cheeks with tears were overflowed, Was yet of visage and of manners fair. She was it, so transfixed with Love’s keen goad, Who sighed for Monodante’s valiant heir , Who at the bridge had left her lord a thrall, When with King Rodomont he tried a fall.

XXXIV.

She sought one of an otter’s nimbleness, By water and by land, a cavalier So fierce, that she that champion—to redress Her wrongs—might match against the paynim peer. When good Rogero’s lady, comfortless, To that fair dame, as comfortless, drew near, Her she saluted courteously, and next Demanded by what sorrow she was vext.

XXXV.

Flordelice marked the maid, that, in her sight, Appeared a warrior fitted for her needs; And of the bridge and river ’gan recite, Where Argier’s mighty king the road impedes; And how he had gone nigh to slay her knight; Not that more doughty were the monarch’s deeds; But that the wily paynim vantage-ground In that streight bridge and foaming river found.

XXXVI.

“Are you (she said) so daring and so kind, “As kind and daring you appear in show, “Venge me of him that has my lord confined, “And makes me wander thus, opprest with woe, “For love of Heaven; or teach me where to find “At least a knight who can resist the foe, “And of such skill that little boot shall bring “His bridge and river to the pagan king.

XXXVII.

“Besides that so you shall achieve an end, “Befitting courteous man and cavalier, “You will employ your valour to befriend “The faithful lest of lovers far and near. “His other virtues I should ill commend, “So many and so many, that whoe’er “Knoweth not these, may well be said to be “One without ears to hear or eyes to see.”

XXXVIII.

The high-minded maid, to whom aye welcome are All noble quests, by which she worthily May hope a great and glorious name to bear, Straight to the paynim’s bridge resolves to hie; And now so much the more—as in despair— Wends willingly, although it were to die: In that she, ever with herself at strife, Deeming Rogero lost, detested life.

XXXIX.

“O loving damsel (she made answer), I “Offer mine aid, for such as ’tis, to do “The hard and dread adventure, passing by “Causes beside that move me, most that you “A matter of your lover testify, “Which I, in sooth, hear warranted of few; “That he is constant; for i’faith I swear, “I well believed all lovers perjured were.”

XL.

With these last words a sigh that damsel drew, A sigh which issued from her heart; then said; “Go we;” and, with the following sun, those two At the deep stream arrived and bridge of dread: —Seen of the guard, that on his bugle blew A warning blast, when strangers thither sped— The pagan arms him, girds his goodly brand, And takes upon the bridge his wonted stand;

XLI.

And as the maid appears in martial scale, The moody monarch threatens her to slay, Unless her goodly courser and her mail, As an oblation to the tomb she pay. Fair Bradamant who knew the piteous tale, How murdered by him Isabella lay, The story gentle Flordelice had taught; Replied in answer to that paynim haught.

XLII.

“Wherefore, O brutish man, for your misdeed “Should penance by the innocent be done? “ ’Tis fitting to appease her you should bleed; “You killed her, and to all the deed is known. “So that, of trophied armour or of weed “Of those so many, by your lance o’erthrown, “Your armour should the best oblation be, “And you the choicest victim, slain by me;

XLIII.

“And dearer shall the gift be from my hand; “Since I a woman am, as she whilere; “Nor save to venge her have I sought this strand; “In this desire alone I hither steer: “But first, ’tis good some pact we understand, “Before we prove our prowess with the spear: “You shall do by me, if o’erthrown, what you “By other prisoners have been wont to do.

XLIV.

“But if, as I believe and trust, you fall, “I will your horse and armour have (she cried), “And taking down all others from the wall, “Hang on the tomb alone those arms of pride; “And will that you release each warlike thrall.” —“The pact is just (King Rodomont replied), “But those, my prisoners, are not here confined, “And therefore cannot be to you consigned.

XLV.

“These have I sent into mine Africk reign; “But this I promise thee, and pledge my fay; “If, by strange fortune, thou thy seat maintain, “And I shall be dismounted in the fray; “Delivered, all, shall be the captive train, “Within what time suffices to convey “An order thither, that ‘they out of hand “ ‘Should do what thou, if conqueror, may’st command.’

XLVI.

“But art thou undermost, as fitter were, “And, as thou surely wilt be, I from thee “Not therefore will thy forfeit armour tear, “Nor shall thy name inscribed, as vanquished, be. “To thy bright face, bright eyes, and beauteous hair, “All breathing love and grace, the victory “Will I resign; let it suffice that thou “Then stoop to love me, as thou hatest now.

XLVII.

“To fall by me thou needest not disdain; “I with such strength, such nerve am fortified.” Somedeal she smiled; but smiled in bitter vein; Savouring of anger more than aught beside. She spake not to that haughty man again, To the bridge-end returned the damsel, plied Her courser with the rowels, couched her spear, And rode to meet the furious cavalier.

XLVIII.

King Rodomont prepares his course to run; Comes on at speed; and with such mighty sound Echoes that bridge, the thundering noise might stun The ears of many distant from the ground. The golden lance its wonted work has done; For that fierce Moor, in tourney so renowned, This from the saddle lifts, in air suspends, Then headlong on the narrow bridge extends.

XLIX.

Scarce for her horse the martial damsel can Find space to pass, when she has thrown her foe; And little lacked, and mighty risque she ran Of falling into that deep stream below: But, born of wind and flame, good Rabican So dextrous was, and could so lightly go, He picked a path along the outer ledge, And could have paced upon a faulchion’s edge.

L.

The damsel wheeled, towards the cavalier Returned, and him bespoke in sportive way; “Who is the loser now to thee is clear, “And who is undermost in this assay.” Silent remained the monarch of Argier, Amazed, that woman him on earth should lay. He cannot, or he will not speak; and lies

LI.

Silent and sad, he raised himself from ground, And when he some few paces thence had gone, His shield unbraced and helm and mail unbound, He flung against the tomb; and thence, alone, Afoot the moody monarch left that ground: Yet not till he had given command to one (Of his four squires was he) to do his hest Relating to those captives, as exprest.

LII.

He parts; and save that in a caverned cell He dwelt, no further news of him were known: Meanwhile the harness of that infidel Bradamant hung upon the lofty stone; And having thence removed all plate and shell Wherewith (as by the writing it was shown) The cavaliers of Charles their limbs had drest, She moved not, nor let other move, the rest.

LIII.

Besides the arms of Monodantes’ heir Were those of Sansonet and Olivier, Who, bound in search of good Orlando, were Thither conducted by the road most near. The day before here taken was the pair, And sent by that proud paynim to Argier: These warriors’ arms the martial maid bade lower From that fair tomb, and stored them in the tower.

LIV.

All others, taken from the paynim train, Bradamant left suspended from the stone; Mid these a king’s, that idly and in vain, Had thither, seeking Frontalatte, gone: I say his arms, that ruled Circassia’s reign; Who, after wandering long, by dale and down, Here to his grief another courser left, And lightly went his way, of arms bereft.

LV.

Stript of his armour and afoot, did part That paynim monarch from the bridge of dread; As Rodomont permitted to depart Those other knights that in his faith were bred: But to his camp to wend he had no heart, For there he was ashamed to show his head: Since, in such fashion, thither to return After his boasts, had been too foul a scorn.

LVI.

Yet still with new desire the warrior burned To seek her, fixed alone in his heart’s core; And such the monarch’s chance, he quickly learned (I cannot tell you who the tidings bore) She was towards her native land returned. Hence, as Love spurs and goads him evermore, He bowns him straight her footsteps to pursue: But I to Bradamant return anew.

LVII.

When she in other writing had displaid How she had freed that passage from the foe, To mournful Flordelice the martial maid, She that still held her weeping visage low, Turned her, and courteously that lady prayed To tell her whither she designed to go. To her afflicted Flordelice replied: “To Arles, where camp the paynims, would I ride.

LVIII.

“Which bark (I hope) and fitting company, “To carry me to Africk may afford; “Nor will I halt upon my way, till I “Once more rejoin my husband and my lord; “All means and measures there resolved to try, “That may release him from his jailer’s ward; “And should the Saracen deceitful prove, “Others, and others yet, I mean to move.”

LIX.

“My company (replied the martial fair) “For some part of the road, I offer thee, “Till we have sight of Arles; then to repair “Thither, will pray you, for the love of me, “To find King Agramant’s Rogero there, “Whose glorious name is spread o’er land and sea, “And render to that knight this goodly horse, “Whence the proud Moor was flung in martial course.

LX.

“Say thus, from point to point, ‘A cavalier ‘That would in combat prove his chivalry, ‘And to the world at large would fain make clear ‘Thy breach of faith with him, that thou may’st be ‘Ready and well prepared for the career, ‘Gave me this horse, that I might give it thee. ‘He bids thee promptly mail and corslet dight, ‘And wait him, who with thee will wage the fight.’

LXI.

“Say this and nought beside, and would he hear “My name, declare that ’tis to thee unknown.” With wonted kindness cried that dame, “I ne’er “In spending life itself, not words alone, “Should weary in your service; since whilere “You would in my behalf as much have done.” Her Aymon’s daughter thanked in courteous strain, And to her hand consigned Frontino’s rein.

LXII.

Through long days’ journeys, by that river-shore, Together go the lovely pilgrim pair, Till they see Arles, and hear the hollow roar Of billows breaking on the sea-beach bare. Almost without the suburbs, and before The furthest barrier, stops the martial fair; To furnish Flordelice what time might need For the conveyance of Rogero’s steed.

LXIII.

She forward rode, within the enclosure sped, And o’er the bridge and through the gateway wended, And (furnished with a guide, who thither led) To young Rogero’s inn; and there descended. She to the Child, as bid, her message said, And gave the courser, to her care commended: Then (for she waits not for an answer) speeds In haste to execute her proper needs.

LXIV.

Rogero stands confused; he finds no end To his perplexing thoughts, and cannot see Who should defy him, who that message send, To speak him ill, and do him courtesy. Who thus as faithless him should reprehend, Or any reprehend, whoe’er it be, Nor knows he nor imagines; least of all On Bradamant the knight’s suspicions fall.

LXV.

To think ’twas Rodomont the youthful peer Was more inclined than any other wight; And wherefore even from him he this should hear, Muses, nor can the cause divine aright; Save him, in all the world the cavalier Knows not of one, that has him at despite. Meanwhile Dordona’s lady craved the field; And loud that martial damsel’s bugle pealed.

LXVI.

To Agramant and King Marsilius flew The news, that one craved battle on the plain. Serpentine stood by chance before the two, And gained their leave to don his plate and chain, And vowed to take that haughty man; the crew Of people over wall and rampart strain; Nor child nor elder was there, but he pressed To see which champion should bestir him best.

LXVII.

In beauteous arms and costly surcoat drest, Serpentine of the star to combat sped; The ground he at the first encounter prest; As if equipt with wings, his courser fled. The damsel flew his charger to arrest, And by the bridle to that paynim led, Exclaiming; “Mount, and bid your monarch send “A knight that better can with me contend.”

LXVIII.

The Moorish king, that on the rampart’s height Stood, with a mighty following, next the plain, Marking the joust, much marvelled at the sight Of the foe’s courtesy to him of Spain . “He takes him not, although he may of right,” He cries i’ the hearing of the paynim train. Serpentine comes, and, as the maid commands, A better warrior of that king demands.

LXIX.

Grandonio de Volterna, fierce of mood, And in all Spain the proudest cavalier, The second for that fell encounter stood, Such favour had his suit obtained whilere. “To thee thy courtesy shall do no good,” He threats, “for if unhorsed in the career “A prisoner to my lord shalt thou be led; “But, if I fight as wonted, thou art dead.”

LXX.

She cries, “I would not thy discourtesy “Should make me so forget my courteous vein, “But that aforehand I should caution thee “Back to thy fortress to return again, “Ere on hard earth thy bones shall battered be. “Go tell thy king no champion of thy grain “I seek, but hither come to crave the fight “With warrior that is worthy of my might.”

LXXI.

Bradamant’s sharp and stinging answer stirred The paynim’s fury to a mighty flame; So that, without the power to speak a word, He wheeled his courser, filled with rage and shame; Wheeling as well, at that proud paynim spurred Her horse with levelled lance the warlike dame. As the charmed weapon smites Grandonio’s shield, With heels in air, he tumbles on the field.

LXXII.

To him the high-minded damsel gave his horse, And said, “Yet was this fate to thee foreshown, “Instead of craving thus the knightly course, “Better mine embassy wouldst thou have done. “Some other knight, that equals me in force, “I pray thee bid the Moorish king send down, “Nor weary me, by forcing me to meet “Champions like thee, untried in martial feat.”

LXXIII.

They on the walls, that know not who the peer That in the joust so well maintains his seat, Name many a warrior, famous in career, That often make them shake in fiercest heat. Brandimart many deem the cavalier; More guesses in renowned Rinaldo meet; Many would deem Orlando was the knight, But that they knew his pitiable plight.

LXXIV.

The third encounter craved Lanfusa’s son , And cried, “Not that I better hope to fare, “But that to warriors who this course have run, “My fall may furnish an excuse more fair.” Next, with all arms that martial jousters don, Clothed him, and of a hundred steeds that were Ready for service, kept in lordly stall, For speed and action chose the best of all.

LXXV.

He bowned him for the tournay, on his side, But first saluted her and she the knight. “If ’tis allowed to ask,” (the lady cried,) “Tell me in courtesy how ye are hight.” In this Ferrau the damsel satisfied, Who rarely hid himself from living wight. “Ye will I not refuse,” (subjoined the dame,) “Albeit I to meet another came.”

LXXVI.

—“And who?” the Spaniard said;—the maid replied, “Rogero;” and pronounced the word with pain. And, in so saying, her fair face was dyed All over with the rose’s crimson grain. She after added, “Hither have I hied, “To prove how justly famed his might and main. “No other care have I, no other call, “But with that gentle youth to try a fall.”

LXXVII.

She spoke the word in all simplicity, Which some already may in malice wrest. Ferrau replied, “Assured I first must be “Which of us two is schooled in warfare best. “If what has chanced to many, falls on me, “Hither, when I return, shall be addrest, “To mend my fault, that gentle cavalier, “With whom you so desire to break a spear.”

LXXVIII.

Discoursing all this while, the martial maid Spake with her beavor up, without disguise: Ferrau, as that fair visage he surveyed, Perceived he was half vanquished by its eyes. And to himself, in under tone, he said, “He seems an angel sent from Paradise; “And, though he should not harm me with his lance, “I am already quelled by that sweet glance.”

LXXIX.

They take their ground, and to the encounter ride, And, like those others, Ferrau goes to ground; His courser Bradamant retained, and cried, “Return, and keep thy word with me as bound.” Shamed, he returned, and by his monarch’s side, Among his peers, the young Rogero found; And let the stripling know the stranger knight, Without the walls, defied him to the fight.

LXXX.

Rogero (for not yet that warrior knows What champion him in duel would assail) Nigh sure of victory, with transport glows, And bids his followers bring his plate and mail; Nor having seen beneath those heavy blows The rest dismounted, makes his spirit quail. But how he armed, how sallied, what befell That knight, in other canto will I tell.

NOTES TO CANTO XXXV.

Dating from the incarnate word, the year Shall marked by men with M and D appear .

Stanza iv. lines 7 and 8.

In the original:

Che col M e col D fosse notato L’ anno corrente dal verbo incarnato.

Mr. Hoole supposes these lines to have been taken from the Paradiso, canto xix. verse 129, and so they probably were. If so, however, we must admit that Ariosto has given us the husk without the kernel of Dante . The lines are,

Vedrassi al ciotto di Gerusalemme Segnata con un I la sua bentate, Quando il contrario segnerà un EMME;

and are thus spiritedly given by Mr. Carey:

The lame one of Gerusalem shall see A unit for his virtue, for his vices No less a mark than millions.

Between the king of rivers’ horns (he cries) Stands what is now a small and humble town, &c .

Stanza vi. lines 1 and 2.

Fluviorum rex Eridanus.

Virgil .

The town is Ferrara.

as white, My lord, as is your banner’s snowy grain .

Stanza xiv. lines 5 and 6.

Another allusion to the white eagle of the house of Este.

There moves no leaf beneath, thou hast to know, But here above some sign thereof we trace; Since all, in heaven above or earth below, Must correspond, though with a different face, &c .

Stanza xviii. lines 1, 2, 3, 4.

It is impossible to read these lines without thinking of something like a correspondent passage in the fifth book of The Paradise Lost , where Raphael, addressing Adam, as St. John does Astolpho, says,

Though what if Earth Be but the shadow of Heaven, and things therein Each to other like more than on Earth is thought?

The followers of the mystic philosophers in the age of Ariosto and that of Milton seem to have believed in the existence of two worlds, one of things and the other of types, perhaps from too literal an interpretation of doctrines which were purely allegorical; and it appears that some of the interpreters of the Pythagorean philosophy imagined the seventh sphere of their master to he the moon (Ariosto’s land of types); which leads me to conjecture that the hint of the doctrines contained in this and the last canto maybe founded upon some notion of his age respecting the ἀντιχϑὼν of Pythagoras. It is, at any rate, clear, that much of the mystery of the present canto, the pre-existent souls, ‘the sisters three, and such branches of learning,’ savour strongly of Platonic, and Pythagorean doctrines.

If Cirrha him befriend, &c .

Stanza xxiv. line 7.

A town situated at the roots of Parnassus.

Homer a conqueror Agamemnon shows, And makes the Trojans seem of coward vein, &c .

Stanza xxvii. lines 1 and 2.

This took its rise from a story-book narration

Of ‘the tale of Troy divine,’

an ignis fatuus which misled many. Hence the attempt to give a different colouring to the Trojan war in the Troilus and Cressida of Shakespeare.

For the charge that

Penelope was but a courtezan,

Ariosto has older authorities. Her intrigue with Pan was said to have been manifested by its fruits, and more scandal is reported of her in the Classical Dictionary.

What fame Eliza, she so chaste of sprite, &c .

Stanza xxviii. line 1.

In rescuing the character of Dido, Ariosto has yet better foundation; since it is agreed that Virgil has overleapt a space of 300 years in order to bring her and Æneas together. Ariosto probably eulogizes her chastity on the ground of the story of her having killed herself to avoid marrying Iarbas. Hence Petrarch in his triumph of chastity places her among his examples of chaste women.

Authors I love, and pay the debt I owe, Speaking their praise; an author I below .

Stanza xxviii. lines 7 and 8.

Gli scrittori amo e fò il debito meo; Ch’ al vostro mondo fui scrittore anche io.

The characterizing St. John as an author is to be sure as ridiculous as making St. James a Moor-slayer; but we must recollect that every age, every country, and every sect, entertains notions of persons which must be monstrous in the eyes of those who are not swayed by their partialities; and some future æra may wonder to hear two men of Ariosto’s age, cited even in the present century in France and England, one as a loyal knight, and the other as a saint, who were both guilty of homicide and premeditated perjury.

To the bridge-end returned the damsel .

Stanza xlvii. line 6.

She must therefore have either advanced or backed her horse during the conference with Rodomont; though she could hardly have advanced, as she must then have turned upon his narrow bridge. When she wheels, in stanza L. , after having run her course, we may conceive it to have been on the land beyond the bridge, to which she returns, for the purpose of taunting her enemy.

Layout 2

THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

CANTO XXXVI.

ARGUMENT.

While with the fierce Marphisa at despite

Duke Aymon’s daughter wages fierce affray,

One and the other host engage in fight.

With Bradamant Rogero wends his way.

With other war disturbs their great delight

Marphisa bold; but when that martial may

Has for her brother recognized the peer,

They end their every strife with joyous cheer.

THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

CANTO XXXVI.

I.

Where’er they be, all hearts of gentle strain Still cannot choose but courtesy pursue; For they from nature and from habit gain What they henceforth can never more undo. Alike the heart that is of churlish vein, Where’er it be, its evil kind will shew. Nature inclines to ill, through all her range, And use is second nature, hard to change.

II.

Among the warriors of antiquity Much gentleness and courtesy appear, Virtues but seldom seen with us; while we Of evil ways, on all sides, see and hear. Hippolytus, when you, with ensignry Won from the foe, and with his captive gear Adorned our temples; and his galleys bore, Laden with prey, to your paternal shore;

III.

All the inhuman deeds which wrought by hand Of Moor, or Turk, or Tartar ever were, (Yet not by the Venetians’ ill command, That evermore the praise of justice bear,) Were practised by that foul and evil band Of soldiers, who their mercenaries are. Of those so many fires not now I tell Which on our farms and pleasant places fell.

IV.

Though a foul vengeance in that blow was meant Mainly at you, who being at Cæsar’s side, When Padua by his leaguering host was pent, ’Twas known, that oft, through you, was turned aside More than one ravening flame, and oft was spent The fire, in fane and village blazing wide: What time the destined mischief ye withstood, As to your inborn courtesy seemed good.

V.

This will I pass, nor their so many more Discourteous and despiteous doings tell, Save one alone, whereat from rock-stone hoar Whene’er the tale is told warm tears might well. That day you sent your family before, Thither, my lord, where, under omens fell, Your foes into a well protected seat, Abandoning their barks, had made retreat.

VI.

As Hector and Æneas, mid the flood, Fire to the banded fleet of Greece applied, I Hercules and Alexander viewed, Urged by too sovereign ardour, side by side, Spurring before all others in their mood, Even within the hostile ramparts ride; And prick so far, the second ’scaped with pain, And on the foremost closed the opposing train.

VII.

Feruffine ’scaped, the good Cantelmo left. What counsel, Sora’s duke, was thine, what heart, When thy bold son thou saw’st, of helm bereft, Amid a thousand swords, when—dragged apart— Thou saw’st his young head from his shoulders cleft, A-shipboard, on a plank? I, on my part, Marvel, that seeing but the murder done, Slew thee not, as the faulchion slew thy son.

VIII.

Cruel Sclavonian! say, whence hast thou brought Thy ways of warfare? By what Scythian rite To slay the helpless prisoner is it taught, Who yields his arms, nor fends himself in fight? Was it a crime he for his country fought? Ill upon thee the sun bestows his light. Remorseless aera, which hast filled the page With Atreus’, Tantalus’, Thyestes’ rage!

IX.

Barbarian! thou madest shorter by the head The boldest of his age, on whom did beam The sun ’twixt pole and pole, ’twixt Indus’ bed And where he sinks in Ocean’s western stream; Whose years and beauty might have pity bred In Anthropophagus, in Polypheme; Not thee; that art in wickedness outdone By any Cyclops, any Lestrigon .

X.

I ween, mid warriors in the days of yore, No such example was; they all, in field, Were full of gentleness and courteous lore, Nor against conquered foe their bosom steeled. Not only gentle Bradamant forbore To harm the knights whom, smitten on the shield, Her lance unhorsed; but for the vanquished crew Detained their steeds, that they might mount anew.

XI.

I of that lady fair, of mickle might, Told you above, how she had overthrown Serpentine of the Star in single fight, Grandonio and Ferrau, and then upon Their coursers had replaced each baffled knight. I told moreover how the third was gone Rogero to defy to the career, Upon her call, who seemed a cavalier.

XII.

Rogero heard the call in joyous vein, And bade his arms be brought; now while in view Of Agramant he donned the plate and chain, Those lords the former question moved anew; ‘Who was the knight, that on the martial plain ‘The manage of the lance so quaintly knew?’ And of Ferrau, who spake with him whilere, Craved, if to him was known that cavalier.

XIII.

“Be ye assured,” to them Ferrau replied, “He is not one of those I hear you cite “To me (for I his open face descried). “Rinaldo’s youthful brother seemed the knight. “But since his doughty valour I have tried, “And wot not such is Richardetto’s might, “I ween it is his sister, who, I hear, “Resembles much in mien that martial peer.

XIV.

“The damsel equals well, so Rumour tells, “Rinaldo, and every paladin in fray. “But brother she and cousin both excels, “Measured by that which I have seen to-day.” Hearing him, while upon her praise he dwells, As the sky reddens with the morning ray, Rogero’s face is flushed with crimson hue, And his heart throbs, nor knows he what to do.

XV.

Stung, at these tidings, by the amorous dart— Within, new fire inflames the cavalier; And strait, together with the burning smart, Shoots through his bones a chill, produced by fear; Fear, that new wrath had stifled in her heart That mighty love, wherewith she burned whilere. Confused he stands, irresolute and slow, And undecided if to stay or go.

XVI.

Now fierce Marphisa, who was there, and prest By huge desire to meet the stranger wight, And armed withal (for, save in iron vest, Her seldom would you find by day or night). Hearing Rogero is in armour drest, Fearing to lose the honour of the fight, If first that champion with the stranger vies; Thinks to prevent the youth and win the prize.

XVII.

She leapt upon her horse, and thither hied Where Aymon’s daughter on the listed plain, With palpitating heart, upon her side, Waited Rogero; whom the damsel fain Would make her prisoner, and but schemed to guide Her lance in mode the stripling least to pain. Marphisa from the city portal fares, And on her gallant helm a phœnix wears.

XVIII.

Whether the maid would publish, in her pride, That she was single in the world, for might; Or whether by that symbol signified, That she would live, exempt from bridal rite. Her closely Aymon’s martial daughter eyed; When seeing not those features, her delight, She craves the damsel’s name before they move, And hears that it is she who joys her love:

XIX.

Or rather she, that gentle lady thought, Had joyed her love; and whom she hated so, Her to Death’s door her anger would have brought, Unless she venged her sorrow on the foe. She wheeled her courser round, with fury fraught, Less with desire to lay her rival low, Than with the lance to pierce her in mid breast, And put her every jealousy at rest.

XX.

Parforce to ground must go the royal maid, To prove if hard or soft the listed plain, And be with such unwonted scorn appaid, That she is nearly maddened by disdain. Scarce was she thrown, before her trenchant blade She bared, and hurried to avenge the stain. Cried Aymon’s daughter, no less proud of heart, “What art thou doing? Thou my prisoner art.”

XXI.

“Though I have courtesy for others, none” (She said) “from me, Marphisa, shalt thou find. “Since evermore I hear of thee, as one “To pride and every churlishness inclined.” Marphisa, at these words, was heard to groan, As roars in some sea-rock the prisoned wind. She screamed an answer; but its sense was drowned (Such rage confused that damsel) in the sound.

XXII.

She whirls this while her faulchion, and would fain Wound horse or rider in the paunch or breast ; But Aymon’s watchful daughter turns the rein; And on one side her courser leaps; possest With furious anger and with fierce disdain, She at her opposite her lance addrest; And hardly touched the damsel, ere, astound, Marphisa fell, reversed upon the ground.

XXIII.

Scarce down, Marphisa started from the plain, Intent fell mischief with her sword to do, Bradamant couched her golden spear again, And yet again the damsel overthrew. Yet Bradamant, though blest with might and main, Was not so much the stronger of the two As to have flung the maid in every just, But that such power was in the lance’s thrust.

XXIV.

This while some knights (some knights upon our side, I say) forth issuing from the city, go Towards the field of strife, which did divide The squadrons, here and there, of either foe —Not half a league of one another wide— Seeing their knight such mighty prowess show; Their knight, but whom no otherwise they knew Than as a warrior of the christian crew.

XXV.

Troyano’s generous son, who had espied This band approaching to the city-wall, For due defence would every means provide, And every peril, every case forestall: And orders many to take arms, who ride Forth from the ramparts, at the monarch’s call. With them Rogero goes, in armour cased, Balked of the battle by Marphisa’s haste.

XXVI.

The enamoured youth, with beating heart, intent, Stood by, the issue of the just to view. For his dear consort fearing the event, In that he well Marphisa’s valour knew; —At the beginning I would say—when, bent On mischief, fiercely closed the furious two: But when that duel’s turn the stripling eyes, He stands amazed and stupid with surprize;

XXVII.

And when he saw unfinished was the fight, At the first onset, like the justs whilere, Misdoubting some strange accident, in sprite, Sore vexed, this while remained the cavalier. To either maid wished well that youthful knight; For both were loved, but not alike were dear. For this the stripling’s love was fury, fire; For that ’twas rather fondness than desire.

XXVIII.

If so Rogero could with honour do, He willingly the warriors would divide; But his companions, in the fear to view Victory with King Charles’s knight abide, Esteeming him the better of the two, Break in between and turn their arms aside; Upon the other part, the christian foes Advance, and both divisions come to blows.

XXIX.

On this side and that other, rings the alarm, Which in those camps is sounded every day. Bidding the unmounted mount, the unarmed arm, And all their standards seek, without delay, Where, under separate flags, the squadrons swarm, More than one shrilling trump is heard to bray; And as their rattling notes the riders call, Rousing the foot, beat drum and ataball.

XXX.

As tierce as thought could think, ’twixt either host Kindled the fell and sanguinary fray. The daring damsel, fair Dordona’s boast, Sore vexed and troubled, that in the affray She cannot compass what she covets most, —Marphisa with avenging steel to slay,— Now here, now there, amid the medley flies, Hoping to see the youth for whom she sighs.

XXXI.

By the eagle argent on the shield of blue She recognized Rogero, mid the rest. With eyes and thought intent, she stops to view The warrior’s manly shoulders and his breast, Fair face and movements full of graceful shew; And then the maid, with mickle spite possest, Thinking another joys the stripling’s love, Thus speaks, as sovereign rage and fury move.

XXXII.

“Shall then another kiss those lips so bright “And sweet, if those fair lips are lost to me? “Ah! never other shall in thee delight; “For if not mine, no other’s shalt thou be. “Rather than die alone and of despite, “I with this hand will slay myself and thee, “That if I lose thee here, at least in hell “With thee I to eternity may dwell.

XXXIII.

“If thou slay’st me, there is good reason, I “The comfort too of vengeance should obtain; “In that all edicts and all equity “The death of him that causes death ordain; “Nor, since you justly, I unjustly, die, “Deem I that thine is equal to my pain. “I him who seeks my life, alas! shall spill, “Thou her that loves and worships thee wouldst kill.

XXXIV.

“My hand, why hast thou not the hardiment “To rive with steel the bosom of my foe, “That me so many times to death has shent, “Under the faith of love, in peaceful show; “Him, who to take my life can now consent, “Nor even have pity of my cruel woe? “Dare, valiant heart, this impious man to slay, “And let his death my thousand deaths appay!”

XXXV.

So said, she spurred at him amid the throng; But, first—“Defend thee, false Rogero!”—cried. “No more, if I have power, in spoil and wrong, “Done to a virgin heart, shalt thou take pride.” Hearing that voice the hostile ranks among, He deems—and truly deems—he hears his bride; Whose voice the youth remembers in such wise, That mid a thousand would he recognize.

XXXVI.

Her further meaning well did he divine, Weening that him she in that speech would blame, For having broke their pact; and—with design, The occasion of his failure to proclaim,— Of his desire for parley made a sign: But she, with vizor closed, already came, Raging and grieved, intent, with vengeful hand, To fling the youth; nor haply upon sand.

XXXVII.

Rogero, when he saw her so offended, Fixed himself firmly in his arms and seat. He rests his lance, but holds the stave suspended, So that it shall not harm her when they meet. She that to smite and pierce the Child intended, Pitiless, and inflamed with furious heat, Has not the courage, when she sees him near, To fling, or do him outrage with the spear.

XXXVIII.

Void of effect, ’tis thus their lances go; And it is well; since Love with burning dart, Tilting this while at one and the other foe, Has lanced the enamoured warriors in mid-heart. Unable at the Child to aim her blow, The lady spent her rage in other part, And mighty deeds achieved, which fame will earn While overhead the circling heavens shall turn.

XXXIX.

Above three hundred men in that affray In little space by her dismounted lie. Alone that warlike damsel wins the day; From her alone the Moorish people fly. To her Rogero, circling, threads his way, And says; “Unless I speak with you I die. “Hear me, for love of heaven!—what have I done, “Alas! that ever mine approach ye shun?”

XL.

As when soft southern breezes are unpent, Which with a tepid breath from seaward blow, The snows dissolve, and torrents find a vent, And ice, so hard erewhile, is seen to flow; At those entreaties, at that brief lament, Rinaldo’s sister’s heart is softened so; Forthwith compassionate and pious grown; Which anger fain had made more hard than stone.

XLI.

Would she not, could she not, she nought replied, But spurred aslant the ready Rabicane, And, signing to Rogero, rode as wide As she could wend from that embattled train; Then to a sheltered valley turned aside, Wherein embosomed was a little plain. In the mid lawn a wood of cypress grew, Whose saplings of one stamp appeared to view.

XLII.

Within that thicket, of white marble wrought, Is a proud monument, and newly made; And he that makes enquiry, here is taught In few brief verses who therein is laid. But of those lines, methinks, took little thought, Fair Bradamant, arriving in the glade. Rogero spurred his courser, and pursued And overtook that damsel in the wood.

XLIII.

But turn we to Marphisa, that anew During this space was seated on her steed, And sought again the valiant champion, who At the first onset cast her on the mead; And saw, how from the mingling host withdrew Rogero, after that strange knight to speed; Nor deemed the youth pursued in love; she thought He but to end their strife and quarrel sought.

XLIV.

She pricks her horse behind the two, and gains, Well nigh as soon as they, that valley; how Her coming thither either lover pains, Who lives and loves, untaught by me, may know: But sorest vext sad Bradamant remains; Beholding her whence all her sorrows flow. Who shall persuade the damsel but that love For young Rogero brings her to that grove?

XLV.

And him perfidious she anew did name. —“Perfidious, was it not enough (she said) “That I should know thy perfidy from fame, “But must the witness of thy guilt be made? “I wot, to drive me from thee is thine aim; “And I, that thy desires may be appaid, “Will die; but strive, in yielding up my breath, “She too shall die, the occasion of my death.”

XLVI.

Angrier than venomed viper, with a bound, So saying, she upon Marphisa flies; And plants so well the spear, that she, astound, Fell backward on the champaigne in such guise, Nigh half her helm was buried in the ground: Nor was the damsel taken by surprise: Nay, did her best the encounter to withstand; Yet with her helmed head she smote the sand.

XLVII.

Bradamant who will die, or in that just Will put to death Marphisa, rages so, She has no mind again with lance to thrust, Again that martial maid to overthrow: But thinks her head to sever from the bust, Where it half buried lies, with murderous blow: Away the enchanted lance that damsel flings, Unsheathes the sword, and from her courser springs.

XLVIII.

But is too slow withal; for on her feet She finds Marphisa, with such fierce disdain Inflamed, at being in that second heat So easily reversed upon the plain, She hears in vain exclaim, in vain entreat, Rogero, who beholds their strife with pain. So blinded are the pair with spite and rage, That they with desperate fury battle wage.

XLIX.

At half-sword’s length engage the struggling foes; And—such their stubborn mood—with shortened brand They still approach, and now so fiercely close, They cannot choose but grapple, hand to hand. Her sword, no longer needful, each foregoes; And either now new means of mischief planned. Rogero both implores with earnest suit; But supplicates the twain with little fruit.

L.

When he entreaties unavailing found, The youth prepared by force to part the two; Their poniards snatched away, and on the ground, Beneath a cypress-tree, the daggers threw. When they no weapons have wherewith to wound, With prayer and threat, he interferes anew: But vainly; for, since better weapons lack, Each other they with fists and feet attack.

LI.

Rogero ceased not from his task; he caught, By hand or arm, the fiercely struggling pair, Till to the utmost pitch of fury wrought The fell Marphisa’s angry passions were. She, that this ample world esteemed at nought, Of the Child’s friendship had no further care. Plucked from the foe, she ran to seize her sword, And fastened next upon that youthful lord.

LII.

“Like a discourteous man and churl ye do, “Rogero to disturb another’s fight; “A deed (she cried) this hand shall make ye rue, “Which, I intend, shall vanquish both.” The knight Sought fierce Marphisa’s fury to subdue With gentle speech; but full of such despite He found her, and inflamed with such disdain, All parley was a waste of time and pain.

LIII.

At last his faulchion young Rogero drew; For ire as well had flushed that cavalier: Nor it is my belief, that ever shew Athens or Rome, or city whatsoe’er Witnessed, which ever so rejoiced the view, As this rejoices, as this sight is dear To Bradamant, when, through their strife displaced, Every suspicion from her breast is chased.

LIV.

Bradamant took her sword, and to descry The duel of those champions stood apart. The god of war, descended from the sky, She deemed Rogero, for his strength and art: If he seemed Mars, Marphisa to the eye Seemed an infernal Fury, on her part. ’Tis true, that for a while the youthful knight Against that damsel put not forth his might.

LV.

He knew the virtues of that weapon well, Such proof thereof the knight erewhile had made. Where’er it falls parforce is every spell Annulled, or by its stronger virtue stayed. Hence so Rogero smote, it never fell Upon its edge or point, but still the blade Descended flat: he long this rule observes; Yet once he from his patient purpose swerves.

LVI.

In that, a mighty stroke Marphisa sped, Meaning to cleave the brainpan of her foe: He raised the buckler to defend his head, And the sword smote upon its bird of snow, Nor broke nor bruised the shield, by spell bested; But his arm rang astounded by the blow; Nor aught but Hector’s mail the sword had stopt, Whose furious blow would his left arm have lopt;

LVII.

And had upon his head descended shear, Whereat designed to strike the savage fair. Scarce his left arm can good Rogero rear; Can scarce the shield and blazoned bird upbear. All pity he casts off, and ’twould appear As in his eyes a lighted torch did glare. As hard as he can smite, he smites; and woe To thee, Marphisa, if he plants the blow!

LVIII.

I cannot tell you truly in what wise, That faulchion swerves against a cypress-stock, In such close-serried ranks the saplings rise, Buried above a palm within the block. At this the mountain and the plain that lies Beneath it, with a furious earthquake rock; And from that marble monument proceeds A voice, that every mortal voice exceeds .

LIX.

The horrid voice exclaims, “Your quarrel leave; “For ’twere a deed unjust and inhumane, “That brother should of life his sister reave, “Or sister by her brother’s hand be slain. “Rogero and Marphisa mine, believe! “The tale which I deliver is not vain. “Seed of one father, in one womb ye lay; “And first together saw the light of day.

LX.

“Galaciëlla’s children are ye, whom “She to Rogero, hight the second, bare. “Whose brothers, having, by unrighteous doom, “Of your unhappy sire deprived that fair, “Not heeding that she carried in her womb “Ye, who yet suckers of their lineage are, “Her in a rotten carcase of a boat, “To founder in mid ocean, set afloat.

LXI.

“But Fortune, that had destined you whilere, “And yet unborn, to many a fair emprize, “Your mother to that lonely shore did steer, “Which overright the sandy Syrtes lies. “Where, having given you birth, that spirit dear “Forthwith ascended into Paradise. “A witness of the piteous case was I, “So Heaven had willed, and such your destiny!

LXII.

“I to the dame as decent burial gave “As could be given upon that desert sand. “Ye, well enveloped in my vest, I save, “And bear to Mount Carena from the strand; “And make a lioness leave whelps and cave, “And issue from the wood, with semblance bland. “Ye, twice ten months, with mickle fondness bred, “And from her paps the milky mother fed.

LXIII.

“Needing to quit my home upon a day, “And journey through the country, (as you can “Haply remember ye) we on our way, “Were overtaken by an Arab clan. “Those robbers thee, Marphisa, bore away; “While young Rogero ’scaped, who better ran. “Bereaved of thee, thy woful loss I wept, “And with more watchful care thy brother kept.

LXIV.

“Rogero, if Atlantes watched thee well, “While yet he was alive, thou best dost know. “I the fixed stars had heard of thee foretell, “That thou shouldst perish by a treacherous foe “In Christian land; and till their influence fell “Was ended, laboured to avert the blow; “Nor having power in fine thy will to guide, “I sickened sore, and of my sorrow died.

LXV.

“But here, before my death, for in this glade “I knew thou should’st with bold Marphisa fight, “I with huge stones, amassed by hellish aid, “Had this fair monument of marble dight; “And I to Charon with loud outcries said; ‘I would not he should hence convey my sprite, ‘Till here, prepared in deadly fray to strive, ‘Rogero and his sister should arrive.’

LXVI.

“Thus has my spirit for this many a day “Waited thy coming in these beauteous groves; “So be no more to jealous fears a prey, “O Bradamant, because Rogero loves. “But me to quit the cheerful realms of day, “And seek the darksome cloisters it behoves.” Here ceased the voice; which in the Child amazed And those two damsels mighty marvel raised.

LXVII.

Gladly a sister in the martial queen Rogero, she in him a brother knows; Who now embrace, nor move her jealous spleen, That with the love of young Rogero glows; And citing what, and when, and where had been Their childish deeds, as they to memory rose, In summing up past times, more sure they hold The things whereof the wizard’s spirit told.

LXVIII.

Rogero from Marphisa does not hide, How Bradamant to him at heart is dear; And by what obligations he is tied In moving words relates the cavalier; Nor ceases till he has, on either side, Turned to firm love the hate they bore whilere. When, as a sign of peace, and discord chased, They, at his bidding, tenderly embraced.

LXIX.

Marphisa to Rogero makes request ‘To say what sire was theirs, and what their strain; ‘And how he died; by banded foes opprest, ‘Or at close barriers, was the warrior slain? ‘And who it was had issued the behest ‘To drown their mother in the stormy main? ‘For of the tale, if ever heard before, ‘Little or nothing she in memory bore.’

LXX.

“Of Trojan ancestors are we the seed, “Through famous Hector’s line,” (Rogero said.) “For after young Astyanax was freed , “From fierce Ulysses and the toils he spread, “Leaving another stripling in his stead, “Of his own age, he out of Phrygia fled. “Who, after long and wide sea-wandering, gained “Sicily’s shore, and in Messina reigned.

LXXI.

“Part of Calabria within Faro held “The warrior’s heirs, who after a long run “Of successors, departed thence and dwelled “In Mars’ imperial city: more than one “Famed king and emperor, who that list have swelled, “In Rome and other part has filled the throne; “And from Constantius and good Constantine, “Stretched to the son of Pepin, is their line.

LXXII.

“Rogero, Gambaron, Buovo hence succeed; “And that Rogero, second of the name, “Who filled our fruitful mother with his seed; “As thou Atlantes may’st have heard proclaim. “Of our fair lineage many a noble deed “Shalt thou hear blazed abroad by sounding Fame.” ‘Of Agolant’s inroad next the stripling told, ‘With Agramant and with Almontes bold;

LXXIII.

‘And how a lovely daughter, who excelled ‘In feats of arms, that king accompanied; ‘So stout she many paladins had quelled; ‘And how, in fine, she for Rogero sighed; ‘And for his love against her sire rebelled; ‘And was baptized, and was Rogero’s bride; ‘And how a traitor loved (him Bertram name) ‘His brother’s wife with an incestuous flame;

LXXIV.

‘And country, sire, and brethren two betrayed, ‘Hoping he so the lady should have won; ‘How Risa open to the foe he laid, ‘By whom all scathe was on those kinsmen done; ‘How Agolant’s two furious sons conveyed ‘Their mother, great with child, and six months gone, ‘Aboard a helmless boat, and with its charge, ‘In wildest winter, turned adrift the barge.’

LXXV.

Valiant Marphisa, with a tranquil face, Heard young Rogero thus his tale pursue. And joyed to be descended of a race Which from so fair a font its waters drew: Whence Clermont, whence renowned Mongrana trace Their noble line, the martial damsel knew; Blazoned through years and centuries by Fame, Unrivalled, both, in men of mighty name.

LXXVI.

When afterwards she from her brother knew Agramant’s uncle, sire, and grandsire fell, In treacherous wise, the first Rogero slew And brought to cruel pass Galacielle, Marphisa could not hear the story through: To him she cries, “With pardon, what you tell, “Brother, convicts you of too foul a wrong, “In leaving thus our sire unvenged so long.

LXXVII.

“Could’st thou not in Almontes and Troyane, “As dead whilere, your thirsty faulchion plant, “By you those monarch’s children might be slain. “Are you alive, and lives King Agramant? “Never will you efface the shameful stain, “That ye, so often wronged, not only grant “Life to that king, but as your lord obey; “Lodge in his court, and serve him for his pay?

LXXVIII.

“Here heartily in face of Heaven I vow, “ That Christ my father worshipped, to adore; “And till I venge my parents on the foe “To wear this armour; and I will deplore “Your deed, Rogero, and deplore even now, “That you should swell the squadrons of the Moor, “Or other follower of the Moslem faith, “Save sword in hand, and to the paynim’s scathe.”

LXXIX.

Ah! how fair Bradamant uplifts again Her visage at that speech, rejoiced in sprite! Rogero she exhorts in earnest vein To do as his Marphisa counsels right; And bids him seek the camp of Charlemagne, And have himself acknowledged in his sight, Who so reveres and lauds his father’s worth, He even deems him one unmatched on earth.

LXXX.

‘In the beginning so he should have done,’ (Warily young Rogero answer made,) ‘But, for the tale was not so fully known, ‘As since, the deed had been too long delaid. ‘Now, seeing it was fierce Troyano’s son ‘That had begirt him with the knightly blade, ‘He, as a traitor, well might be abhorred, ‘If he slew one, accepted as his lord.’

LXXXI.

But, as to Bradamant whilere, he cries, ‘He will all measures and all means assay, ‘Whereby some fair occasion may arise ‘To leave the king; and had there been delay, ‘And he whilere had done in otherwise, ‘She on the Tartar king the fault must lay: ‘How sorely handled that redoubted foe ‘Had left him in their battle, she must know;

LXXXII.

‘And she, that every day had sought his bed, ‘Must of this truth the fittest witness be.’ Much upon this was answered, much was said, Between those damsels, who at last agree; And as their last resolve, last counsel read, He should rejoin the paynim’s ensignry, Till he found fair occasion to resort From Agramant’s to Charles’s royal court.

LXXXIII.

To Bradamant the bold Marphisa cries: “Let him begone, nor doubt but I, before “Many days pass, will manage in such wise, “That Agramant shall be his lord no more.” So says the martial damsel, nor implies The secret purpose which she has in store. Making his congees to the friendly twain, To join his king Rogero turns the rein.

LXXXIV.

When a complaint is heard from valley near: All now stand listening, to the noise attent; And to that plaintive voice incline their ear, A woman’s (as ’twould seem) that makes lament. But I this strain would gladly finish here, And, that I finish it, be ye content: For better things I promise to report, If ye to hear another strain resort.

NOTES TO CANTO XXXVI.

that art in wickedness outdone By any Cyclops, any Lestrigon .

Stanza ix. lines 7 and 8.

Ariosto is usually most happy in the opening of his cantos; but this prelude, though there is one masterly touch in the picture, is not, I think, among his happiest. It is proverbially dangerous for the poet to handle cotemporary subjects, more especially in detail, for posterity will seldom sympathize with him in his exaggerated or distorted views. Thus Ariosto had no right to call the Sclavonian such foul names for the death of Cantelmo; which was after all an act of savage justice; for he was a deserter from the Venetian service to that of the duke of Ferrara.

and would fain Wound horse or rider in the paunch or breast .

Stanza xxii. lines 1 and 2.

We have already seen that it was held uncourteous to wound the horse: but this reckless violence is consistent with Marphisa’s character. In the Innamorato, it is yet more extravagant; but, considering the liberties which Ariosto has taken with his other personages (as Astolpho), we may wonder that he has not softened it more.

And from that marble monument proceeds A voice, that every mortal voice exceeds .

Stanza lviii. lines 7 and 8.

gemitus lachrymabilis imo Auditur tumulo.

Æneid. III.

For after young Astyanax was freed, &c .

Stanza lxx. line 3.

Here again we have more after-inventions about Troy. Respecting the rest of the story, I shall give such scattered lights as I find in Harrington and Hoole, without following the example of the noble founder of an antiquarian book-club, who devoted his time to correcting, or reconciling, the contradictions in Dutens’ Genealogy of the Heroes of Romance.

Harrington only says that his “author here follows not any true story, but a work entitled Almontes, which, notwithstanding, hath some credit, though not much:” but Hoole finds the dramatis personæ among those of the Innamorato, and those that “jousted in Aspramont;” and gives the following account of them “After the Grecians had taken Troy, and put most of their prisoners to the sword, among whom was Polyxena, daughter of Priam and Hecuba, who was sacrificed at the tomb of Achilles; in order entirely to extirpate the race of Hector, they sought for Astyanax; but Andromache, to preserve his life, concealed him in a sepulchre, and took another child in her arms, with whom being found, they were both put to death. In the mean time the real Astyanax was safely conveyed, by a friend of his father, to the island of Sicily, when, being grown to man’s estate, he conquered Corinth and Argos: he established a government at Messina, and married the queen of Syracuse, but was afterward killed by treachery, and his widow being driven from the city by the Greeks, took shelter in Risa, where she was delivered of a son named Polydore, from whom descended Clovis and Constantius. Constantius was the head of the line of Pepin, father of Charlemagne; and from Clovis came Rogero, who married Galaciella, daughter of Agolant. Rogero being cruelly murdered and his city destroyed, his wife fled to the coast of Africa, where she was delivered of two children, a boy and a girl, and died soon after; the boy, called Rogero, was brought up by Atlantes, a magician.”—See Orlando Innam . b. II . c. i., &c.

Take his further account of Rogero of Risa and Galaciella, the father and mother of Ariosto’s hero:

“When Almontes left the dominions of his father Agolant to revenge the death of King Garnieri on the Christians, he took with him his sister Galaciella, a female warrior of great courage, but his brother Troyano remained behind with his father. Almontes and Galaciella alternately fought with Rogero of Risa, without victory to any party. Galaciella turned Christian and married Rogero; but Bertram, elder natural brother to Rogero, having conceived a passion for his sister-in-law, but, unable to corrupt her chastity, he in revenge betrayed the town of Risa to Almontes, who entering by night, put all to the sword. Rogero and his father Rampaldo were killed: but Almontes afterward, repenting of the part which he had acted, caused Bertram to be put to death. Galaciella, then big with child, was put on board a vessel with eight attendants, whom she afterwards killed, and landing at a castle, was delivered of two children, and died.”—Aspramonte, c, iv. vi. ix. &c.

“The latter part of this story is differently told by Boardo and Ariosto, who relate that she was exposed alone in an open boat by her brothers, and cast on the coast of Africa.”— Hoole .

END OF VOL. VI.

Layout 2

THE

ORLANDO FURIOSO

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE

FROM THE ITALIAN OF

LUDOVICO ARIOSTO

WITH NOTES

BY

WILLIAM STEWART ROSE

VOL. VII.

LONDON

JOHN MURRAY ALBEMARLE-STREET

MDCCCXXIX

Layout 2

THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

CANTO XXXVII.

ARGUMENT.

Lament and outcry loud of some that mourn,

Attract Rogero and the damsels two.

They find Ulania, with her mantle shorn

By Marganor, amid her moaning crew.

Upon that felon knight, for his foul scorn,

A fierce revenge Marphisa takes: a new

Statute that maid does in the town ordain,

And Marganor is by Ulania slain.

THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

CANTO XXXVII.

I.

If , as in seeking other gift to gain, (For Nature, without study, yieldeth nought) With mighty diligence, and mickle pain, Illustrious women day and night have wrought; And if with good success the female train To a fair end no homely task have brought, So—did they for such other studies wake— As mortal attributes immortal make;

II.

And, if they of themselves sufficient were Their praises to posterity to show, Nor borrowed authors’ aid, whose bosoms are With envy and with hate corroded so, That oft they hide the good they might declare, And tell in every place what ill they know, To such a pitch would mount the female name, As haply ne’er was reached by manly fame.

III.

To furnish mutual aid is not enow, For many who would lend each other light. Men do their best, that womankind should show Whatever faults they have in open sight; Would hinder them of rising from below, And sink them to the bottom, if they might: I say the ancients; as if glory, won By woman, dimmed their own, as mist the sun.

IV.

But hand or tongue ne’er had, nor has, the skill, Does voice or lettered page the thought impart, Though each, with all its power, increase the ill, Diminishing the good with all its art, So female fame to stifle, but that still The honour of the sex survives in part: Yet reacheth not its pitch, nor such its flight, But that ’tis far below its natural height.

V.

Not only Thomyris and Harpalice, And who brought Hector, who brought Turnus aid, And who, to build in Lybia crost the sea, By Tyrian and Sidonian band obeyed; Not only famed Zenobia, only she Who Persian, Indian, and Assyrian frayed; Not only these and some few others merit Their glory, that eternal fame inherit:

VI.

Faithful, chaste, wise, and bold, the world hath seen In Greece and Rome not only, but where’er The Sun unfolds his flowing locks, between The Hesperides and Indian hemisphere; Whose gifts and praise have so extinguished been, We scarce of one amid a thousand hear; And this; because they in their days have had For chroniclers, men envious, false, and bad.

VII.

But ye that prosper in the exercise Of goodly labours, aye your way pursue; Nor halt, O women, in your high emprise, For fear of not receiving honour due: For, as nought good endures beneath the skies, So ill endures no more; if hitherto Unfriended by the poet’s pen and page, They now befriend you in our better age.

VIII.

Erewhile Marullo and Pontane for you Declared, and—sire and son—the Strozzi twain; Capello, Bembo, and that writer, who Has fashioned like himself the courtier train; With Lewis Alamanni, and those two, Beloved of Mars and Muses, of their strain Descended, who the mighty city rule, Which Mincius parts, and moats with marshy pool .

IX.

One of this pair (besides that, of his will, He honours you, and does you courtesies; And makes Parnassus and high Cynthus’ hill Resound your praise, and lift it to the skies) The love, the faith, and mind, unconquered still, Mid threats of ruin, which in stedfast wise To him his constant Isabel hath shown , Render yet more your champion than his own.