XXXVIII.

So filled is gentle Leo with amaze When he the stranger for Rogero knows, With lips and brow unmoved, with stedfast gaze And rooted feet, he like a statue shows; Like statue more than man, which votaries raise In churches, for acquittance of their vows. He deems that courtesy of so high a strain Was never done nor will be done again;

XXXIX.

And that he him doth for Rogero know Not only that goodwill he bore whilere Abates not, but augments his kindness so, That no less grieves the Grecian cavalier Than good Rogero for Rogero’s woe. For this, as well as that he will appear Deservedly an emperor’s son—although In other things outdone—he will not be Defeated in the race of courtesy;

XL.

And says, “That day my host was overthrown, “Rogero, by thy wond’rous valour, though “I had thee at despite, if I had known “Thou wast Rogero, as I know it now, “So me thy virtue would have made thine own, “As then it made me, knowing not my foe; “So hatred from my bosom would have chased, “And with my present love have straight replaced.

XLI.

“That I Rogero hated, ere I knew “Thou wast Rogero, will I not deny. “But think not that I further would pursue “The hatred that I bore thee; and had I, “When thee I from thy darksome dungeon drew, “Descried the truth, as this I now descry, “Such treatment shouldt thou then have had, as thou “Shalt have from me, to thine advantage, now;

XLII.

“And if I willingly had done so then, “When not, as I am now, obliged to thee; “How much more gladly should I now; and when, “Not doing so, I should with reason be “Deemed most ungrateful amid ingrate men; “Since thou foregoest thine every good for me! “But I to thee restore thy gift, and, more “Gladly than I received it, this restore.

XLIII.

“The damsel more to thee than me is due; “And though for her deserts I hold her dear, “If that fair prize some happier mortal drew, “I think not I my vital thread should shear: “Nor would I by thy death be free to woo: “That from the hallowed bands of wedlock clear “Wherein the lady hath to thee been tied, “I might possess her as my lawful bride.

XLIV.

“Not only Bradamant would I forego, “But whatsoe’er I in the world possess; “And rather forfeit life than ever know “That grief, through me, should such a knight oppress. “To me is thy distrust great cause of woe, “That since thou couldst dispose of me no less “Than of thyself, thou rather than apply “To me for succour wouldst of sorrow die.”

XLV.

These words he spake, and more to that intent, Too tedious in these verses to recite; Refuting evermore such argument As might be used in answer by the knight: Who said, at last, “I yield, and am content “To live; but how can ever I requite “The obligation, which by me is owed “To thee that twice hast life on me bestowed?”

XLVI.

Melissa generous wine and goodly cheer Thither bade carry, in a thought obeyed; And comforted the mourning cavalier, Who would have sunk without her friendly aid. Meanwhile the sound of steeds Frontino’s ear Had reached, and thither had he quickly made: Him Leo’s squires at his commandment caught, And saddled, and to good Rogero brought;

XLVII.

Who, though by Leo helped, with much ado And labour sore the gentle courser scaled. So wasted was the vigour which some few Short days before, in fighting field, availed To overthrow a banded host, and do The deeds he did, in cheating armour mailed. Departing thence, ere they had measured more Than half a league, they reached an abbey hoar:

XLVIII.

Wherein what of that day was yet unworn They past, the morrow, and succeeding day; Until the warrior of the unicorn His vigour had recruited by the stay. He, Leo, and Melissa then return To Charles’s royal residence; where lay An embassy, arrived the eve before, Which from the Bulgars’ land a message bore.

XLIX.

Since they that had for king proclaimed the knight Besought Rogero thither to repair Through these their envoys, deeming they would light On him in Charles’s court, where they should swear Fidelity, and yield to him his right; And he from them the crown receive and wear. Rogero’s squire who served this band to steer Has published tidings of the cavalier.

L.

He of the fight has told which at Belgrade Erewhile Rogero for the Bulgars won; How Leo and his sire were overlaid, And all their army slaughtered and undone; Wherefore the Bulgars him their king had made; Their royal line excluding from the throne: Then how Ungiardo took the warrior brave, And him to cruel Theodora gave.

LI.

He speaks with that of certain news, which say ‘How good Rogero’s jailer was found dead, ‘The prison broke and prisoner away:’ Of what became of him was nothing said. —Towards the city by a secret way (Nor was his visage seen) Rogero sped. He, on the following morning, and his friend, Leo, to Charles’s court together wend.

LII.

To Charles’s court he wends; the bird he bore Of gold with its two heads of crimson hue Its field and that same vest and ensigns wore, As was erewhile devised between the two; And such as in the listed fight before His bruised and battered armour was in shew. So that they quickly knew the cavalier For him that strove with Bradamant whilere.

LIII.

In royal ornaments and costly gown, Unarmed, beside him doth young Leo fare. A worthy following and of high renown Before, behind him, and about him are. He bowed to Charlemagne, who from his throne Had risen to do honour to the pair: Then holding still Rogero by the hand, So spake, while all that warrior closely scanned.

LIV.

“Behold the champion good, that did maintain “From dawn till fall of day the furious fight; “And since by Bradamant nor taken, slain, “Nor forced beyond the barriers was the knight, “He is assured his victory is plain, “Dread sir, if he your edict reads aright; “And he hath won the lady for his wife: “So comes to claim the guerdon of the strife.

LV.

“Besides that by your edict’s tenor none “But him can to the damsel lift his eyes, “—Is she deserved by deeds of valour done, “What other is so worthy of the prize? “—Should she by him that loves her best be won, “None passes him, nor with the warrior vies; “And he is here to fight against all foes “That would in arms his right in her oppose.”

LVI.

King Charlemagne and all his peerage stand Amazed, who well believed the Grecian peer With Bradamant had striven with lifted brand In fight, and not that unknown cavalier. Marphisa, thither borne amid the band, That crowded round the royal chair to hear, Hardly till Leo made an ending staid; Then prest before the listening troop, and said:

LVII.

“Since here Rogero is not, to contest “The bride’s possession with the stranger knight, “Lest he, as undefended, be opprest. “And forfeit so without dispute his right, “On his behalf I undertake this quest, “—His sister I—against whatever wight “Shall here assert a claim to Bradamant, “Or more desert than good Rogero vaunt.”

LVII.

She spake this with such anger and disdain, Many surmised amid the assistant crew, That, without waiting leave from Charlemagne, What she had threatened she forthwith would do. No longer Leo deemed it time to feign; And from Rogero’s head the helm withdrew; And to Marphisa, “For himself to speak, “Behold him here and ready!” cried the Greek.

LIX.

As looked old Ægeus at the accursed board , Seeing it was his son to whom—so willed His wicked consort—that Athenian lord Had given the juice from deadly drugs distilled; Whom he, if he had recognised his sword Though but a little later, would have killed; So looked Marphisa when, disclosed to view, She in the stranger knight Rogero knew;

LX.

And ran forthwith to clip the cavalier; Nor could unclasp her arms: with loving show Charlemagne, Roland, and Rinaldo, here And there, fix friendly kisses on his brow. Nor him Sir Dudon, nor Sir Olivier, Nor King Sobrino can caress enow: Nor paladin nor peer, amid the crew, Wearies of welcoming that warrior true.

LXI.

Leo, who well can play the spokesman, now That warlike band hath ceased to clip the knight, Tells before Charles and all that audience, ‘how ‘Rogero’s daring, how Rogero’s might, ‘—Albeit to his good squadron’s scathe and woe— ‘Which at Belgrade he witnessed in that fight, ‘So moved him that they overweighed all harms ‘Inflicted on him by the warrior’s arms.

LXII.

‘So that to her Rogero being brought, ‘Who would all havoc of the youth have made, ‘He setting all his family at nought, ‘Had out of durance vile the knight conveyed; ‘And how Rogero, that the rescue wrought ‘By Leo might be worthily repaid, ‘Did that high courtesy; which can by none, ‘That ever were or e’er will be, outdone;’

LXIII.

And he from point to point continuing, said ‘That which Rogero had for him achieved; ‘And after, how by sorrow sore bested, ‘In that to leave his cherished wife he grieved, ‘He had resolved to die, and, almost dead, ‘Was only by his timely aid relieved;’ And this he told so movingly, no eye Remained, amid those martial many, dry.

LXIV.

So efficaciously he after prayed To the obstinate Duke Aymon, not alone The stubborn sire of Bradamant he swayed, And to forego his settled purpose won; But that proud lord in person did persuade To beg Rogero’s pardon, and his son And son-in-law to be beseech the knight; And thus to him his Bradamant was plight.

LXV.

To her, where, of her feeble life in doubt, She in a secret chamber made lament, Through many a messenger, with joyful shout And mickle haste, the happy tidings went. Hence the warm blood, that stagnated about Her heart, by her first sorrow thither sent, Ebbed at this notice in so full a tide, Well nigh for sudden joy the damsel died.

LXVI.

Of all her vigour is she so foregone, She cannot on her feeble feet rely: Yet what her force must needs to you be known, And what the damsel’s magnanimity. None doomed to prison, wheel or halter, none Condemned some other evil death to die, About whose brows the sable band is tied, Rejoices more to hear his pardon cried.

LXVII.

Joys Clermont’s, joys Mongrana’s noble house , Those kindred branches that fresh knot to view. With equal grief Count Anselm overflows, Gan, Falcon, Gini and Ginami’s crew: Yet they meanwhile beneath contented brows Conceal the dark and envious thoughts they brew. As the fox waits the motions of the hare, They wait their time for vengeance, and forbear.

LXVIII.

Besides that oftentimes before the rage Of Roland and Rinaldo on them fell, Though they were calmed by Charles’s counsel sage, And common danger from the infidel, They had new cause for grief in Bertolage Slain by their foemen and Sir Pinnabel: But they concealed their hatred, and endured Those griefs, as of the matter ill assured.

LXIX.

Those envoys of the Bulgars that had made For Charles’s court (as hath erewhile been shown), Hoping to find the knight, whose shield pourtrayed The unicorn, elected to their throne, Bless the good fortune which their hope repayed, Seeing that valiant warrior, and fall down Before his feet, and him in humble speech ‘Again to seek their Bulgary beseech;

LXX.

‘Where kept for him in Adrianople are ‘The sceptre and the crown, his royal due: ‘But let him succour to his kingdom bear; ‘For—to their further scathe—advices shew ‘Constantine doth a mighty host prepare, ‘And thitherward in person moves anew; ‘And they—of their elected king possest— ‘Hope the Greek empire from his hands to wrest.’

LXXI.

He accepts the realm, by their entreaties won; And, to afford them aid against their foes, Will wend to Bulgary when three months are done; Save Fortune otherwise of him dispose. When this is heard by that Greek emperor’s son, ‘He bids Rogero on his faith repose; ‘For since by him the Bulgars’ realm is swayed, ‘Peace between them and Constantine is made;

LXXII.

‘Nor needeth he depart in haste, to guide ‘His Bulgar bands against the Grecian foe; ‘For all that he had conquered far and wide, ‘He will persuade his father to. forego.’ None of the virtues, in Rogero spied, Moved Bradamant’s ambitious mother so, Or so to endear her son-in-law availed, As hearing now that son a sovereign hailed.

LXXIII.

The rich and royal nuptials they prepare As well befits him, by whose care ’tis done, ’Tis done by Charles; and with such cost and care As if ’twere for a daughter of his own. For such the merits of the damsel are, And such had all her martial kindred shown, Charles would not think he should exceed due measure If spent for her was half his kingdom’s treasure.

LXXIV.

He a free court bids cry; whither his way Securely every one that wills may wend; And offers open lists till the ninth day To whosoever would in arms contend; And bids build b9wers afield, and interlay Green boughs therein, and flowers and foliage blend; And make those bowers so gay with silk and gold, No fairer place this ample world doth hold.

LXXV.

Guested within fair Paris cannot be The countless foreign bands that thither fare; Who, rich and poor, of high and low degree, And Greeks and Latins and Barbarians are. There is no end of lord and embassy That thither from all ends of earth repair; All lodged conveniently, to their content, Beneath pavilion, booth, and bower and tent.

LXXVI.

The weird Melissa against the coming night With singular and matchless ornament Had for that pair the nuptial chamber dight; Whereon long time before she had been bent: Long time before desirous of the rite Had been that dame, presageful of the event; Presageful of futurity, she knew What goodly fruit should from their stem ensue.

LXXVII.

She had prepared the genial, fruitful bed, Under a broad pavilion; one more rich, Adorned, and jocund, never overhead (Did this for peace or war its master pitch) Was in the world, before or after, spread; And this from Thracian strand had borne the witch. The costly prize from Constantino she bore. Who for disport was tented on that shore.

LXXVIII.

She with young Leo’s leave, or rather so The Grecian’s admiration to obtain, And a rare token of that art to show, Which on Hell’s mighty dragon puts the rein, And at her pleasure rules that impious foe Of Heaven, together with his evil train, Bade demons the pavilion through mid air To Paris from Constantinople bear.

LXXIX.

From Constantino that lay therein, who swayed The Grecian empire’s sceptre, at mid-day This with its cordage, shaft whereby ’twas stayed, And all within and out, she bore away; And of the costly tent, through air conveyed, For young Rogero made a lodging gay. The bridal ended, this her demon crew Thither, from whence ’twas brought, conveyed anew.

LXXX.

Two thousand tedious years were nigh complete, Since this fair work was fashioned by the lore Of Trojan maid, warmed with prophetic heat; Who, ’mid long labour and ’mid vigil sore, With her own fingers all the storied sheet Of the pavilion had embroidered o’er; Cassandra hight; that maid to Hector brave (Her brother he) this costly present gave.

LXXXI.

The curtiest cavalier, the kindliest shoot That ever from her brother’s stock should grow (Albeit she knew fur distant from its root, With many a branch between, should be that bough) In silk and gold upon the gorgeous suit Of hangings had she wrought in goodly show. Much prized that gift, while living, Priam’s son, For its rare work and her by whom ’twas done.

LXXXII.

But when by treachery perished Priam’s heir , And Greeks the Trojans scathed in cruel sort, When her gates opened by false Sinon were, And direr ill was done than tales report, This plunder fell to Menelaüs’ share, Wherewith to Egypt’s land he made resort; There left it to King Proteus, Egypt’s lord, In ransom for his prisoned wife restored ;

LXXXIII.

She Helen hight: her Menelaüs to free, To Proteus the pavilion gave away; Which, passing through the line of Ptolemy, To Cleopatra fell; from her in fray Agrippa’s band on the Leucadian sea Bore off the treasure, amid other prey. Augustus and Tiberius heired the loom, Kept till the time of Constantine in Rome:

LXXXIV.

That Constantine, whom thou shalt ever rue Fair Italy, while the heavens above are rolled. Constantine to Byzantium, when he grew Weary of Tyber, bore the tent of old. Melissa from his namesake this withdrew, Its pole of ivory and its cords of gold, And all its cloth with beauteous figures fraught; Fairer Apelles’ pencil never wrought.

LXXXV.

Here the three Graces in gay vesture gowned Assisted the delivery of a queen . Not in four ages in this earthly round Was ever born a boy so fair of mien. Jove, Venus, Mars, and Mercury renowned For fluent speech, about the child are seen: Him have they strewed, and strew with heaven’s perfume, Ambrosial odours and ætherial bloom.

LXXXVI.

‘Hippolytus’ a little label said, Inscribed upon the baby’s swaddling clothes. By the hand him Fortune leads in age more staid; And Valour as a guide before him goes. An unknown band in sweeping vest arraid, With long descending locks, the tapestry shows, Deputed by Corvinus to desire The tender infant from his princely sire .

LXXXVII.

He reverently parts from Hercules’ side, From her, his lady mother, Eleanor; And to the Danube wends; where far and wide They meet the boy, and as a god adore. The prudent king of Hungary is descried, Who does due honour to his ripened lore, In yet unripe, yea, raw and tender years, And ranks the stripling above all his peers.

LXXXVIII.

One is there that in his green age and new Places Strigonia’s crozier in his hand. Him ever at Corvinus’ side we view; Whether he doth in court or camp command, Whether against the Turk, or German crew The puissant monarch loads his martial band, Watchful Hippolytus is at his side, And gathers virtue from his generous guide.

LXXXIX.

There is it seen, how he his blooming age Divides mid arts and wholesome discipline: The secret spirit of the ancient page There Fuscus well instructs him to divine: “This must thou shun, that follow”—seems the sage To say—“if thou immortally wouldst shine.” Fashioned withal with so much skill and care By her who wrought that work, their gestures were.

XC.

A cardinal he next is seen, though young In years, at council in the Vatican; Where for deep wisdom graced by eloquent tongue, With wonder him the assembled conclave scan. “What will he be”—they seem to say among Themselves—“when he is ripened into man? “Oh! if on him St. Peter’s mantle fall, “What a blest æra! what a happy call!”

XCI.

That brave youth’s liberal pastimes are designed In other place; on Alpine mountain hoar Here he affronts the bear of rugged kind; And there in rushy bottom bays the boar: Now on his jennet he outgoes the wind, And drives some goat or gallant hind before; Which falls o’ertaken on the dusty plain, By his descending faulchion cleft in twain.

XCII.

He is descried, amid a fair array Of poets and philosophers elsewhere. This pricks for him the wandering planets’ way; These earth, these heaven for his instruction square. Some chant sad elegies, some verses gay, Lays lyric or heroic; singers there He with rich music hears; nor moves a pace But what in every step is sovereign grace.

XCIII.

The first part of the storied walls pourtraied That noble prince’s gentle infancy. Cassandra all beside had overlaid With feats of justice, prudence, modesty, Valour, and that fifth virtue, which hath made With those fair sisters closest amity; I speak of her that gives and that best With all these virtues gilt, the stripling glows.

XCIV.

In this part is the princely youth espied With that unhappy duke, the Insubri’s head ; In peace they sit in council at his side, Together armed, the serpent-banner spread. The youth by one unchanging faith is tied To him for ever, well or ill bested; His follower still in flight before the foe, His guide in peril, his support in woe.

XCV.

Him in another quarter you descry, For his Ferrara and her duke in fear, Who by strange proofs doth sift, and certify To his just brother, vouched by tokens clear, The close device of that ill treachery, Hatched by those kinsmen whom he held most dear; Hence justly he becomes that title’s heir, Which Rome yet free bade righteous Tully bear.

XCVI.

Elsewhere in martial panoply he shone, Hasting to help the church with lifted blade; With scanty and tumultuous levy gone Against well-ordered host in arms arraid: And lo! the coming of that chief alone Affords the priestly band such present aid, Extinguished are the fires before they spread. He came, he saw, he conquered , may be said.

XCVII.

Elsewhere he stands upon his native strand, Fighting against the mightiest armament, That whensoever against Argive land, Or Turkish, from Venetian harbour went; Scatters and overthrows the hostile band, And—spoil and prisoners to his brother sent— Nothing reserves save that unfading bay; The only prize he cannot give away.

XCVIII.

Upon those figures gazed the courtly crew, But read no meaning in the storied wall: Because there was not any one to shew That these were things hereafter to befall. Those fair and quaintly fashioned forms they view With pleasure, and peruse the scrolls withal: But Bradamant, to whom the whole was known, By wise Melissa taught, rejoiced alone.

XCIX.

Though not instructed in that history Like gentle Brndmnant, the affianced knight Remembers how amid his progeny Atlanta often praised this Hippolyte. —Who faithfully could verse such courtesy, As Charlemagne vouchsafed to every wight? With various games that solemn feast was cheered, And charged with viands aye the board appeared.

C.

Who is a valiant knight, is here descried; For daily broke a thousand lances lay: Singly to combat or in troops they ride; On horseback or afoot, they mix in fray. Worthiest of all Rogero is espied, Who always conquers, jousting night and day; And so, in wrestling, dance, and every deed, Still from his rivals bears away the meed.

CI.

On the last day, when at their festive cheer Was seated solemnly the assembled band, Where at Charles’ left was placed the wedded peer, And Bradamant upon his better hand, Across the fields an armed cavalier, Of semblance haughty, and of stature grand, Was seen to ride towards the royal table; Himself and courser wholly clothed in sable.

CII.

The King of Argier he; that for the scorn Received from her, when on the bridge he fell, Never to clothe himself in arms had sworn, Nor draw the faulchion nor bestride the sell, Till he had like an anchoret outworn A year and month and day in lowly cell. So to chastise themselves for such like crimes Were cavaliers accustomed in those times.

CIII.

Albeit of Charles and Agramant the Moor Had heard the several fortunes while away, Not to forswear himself, he armed no more Than if in nought concerned in that affray: But when the year and month were wholly o’er, And wholly past was the succeeding day, With other courser, harness, sword, and lance, The king betook him to the court of France.

CIV.

He neither lighted from his horse, nor bowed His head; and, without sign of reverence due, His scorn for Charlemagne by gestures showed, And the high presence of so fair a crew. Astound and full of wonder stood the crowd, Such licence in that haughty man to view. All leave their meat, all leave their talk, to hear The purpose of the stranger cavalier.

CV.

To Charles and to Rogero opposite, With a loud voice, and in proud accent, “I “Am Rodomont of Sarza," said the knight, “Who thee, Rogero, to the field defy; “And here, before the sun withdraws his light, “Will prove on thee thine infidelity; “And that thou, as a traitor to thy lord, “Deserv’st not any honour at this board.

CVI.

“Albeit thy felony be plain and clear, “Which thou, as christened, canst not disavow; “Nathless to make it yet more plain appear, “This will I prove upon thee; and, if thou “Canst find a knight to combat for thee here, “Him will accept;—if one be not enow— “Will four, nay six accept; and will maintain “My words against them all in listed plain.”

CVII.

Rogero, with the leave of Pepin’s Uprose at that appeal, and thus replied; “That he—nor he alone—but every one, “Who thus impeached him as a traitor, lied; “That so he by his king had ever done, “Him none could justly blame; and on his side, “He vas prepared in listed field to shew “He evermore by him had done his due.

CVIII.

“He can defend himself; nor need he crave “Another warrior’s help that course to run; “And ’tis his hope to show him he would have “Enough, perhaps would have too much, of one.” Thither Orlando and Rinaldo, brave Olivier, and his white and sable son , Thither good Dudon and Marphisa wend; Who fain with that fierce paynim will contend.

CIX.

They tell Rogero that, ‘as newly wed ‘The combat he in person should refuse.’ “Take ye no further pains,” the warrior said, “For such would be for me a foul excuse.” The Tartar’s arms were brought, which cut the thread Of more delay and of all further truce: With spurs Orlando deck’d the youthful lord, King Charlemagne begirt him with the sword.

CX.

Marphisa and Bradamant in corslet case His breast, and clothe him in his other gear. Astolpho led his horse of noble race: Sir Dudon held his stirrup: far and near Rinaldo and Namus made the mob give place, Assisted by the Marquis Olivier. All from the crowded lists they drive with speed, Evermore kept in order for such need.

CXI.

The pale-faced dames and damsels troop, in guise Of pigeons round the lists, a timid show; When, homeward bound, from fruitful field they rise, Scared by wide-sweeping winds, which loudly blow, Mid flash and clap; and when the sable skies Threat hail and rain, the harvest’s waste and woe: A timid troop, they for Rogero fear, Ill matched they deem with that fierce cavalier.

CXII.

So him deemed all the rabble; and so most Of those bold cavaliers and barons thought; In that they had not yet the memory lost Of what that paynim had in Paris wrought, When singly fire and sword the warrior tost, And much of that fair town to ruin brought; Whose signs remained, and yet will long remain: Nor ever greater havoc plagued that reign.

CXIII.

Bradamant’s heart above those others’ beat: Not that she deemed the Saracen in might, Or valour which in the heart-core hath its seat, Was of more prowess than the youthful knight; Nor (what oft gives success in martial feat) That with the paynim was the better right. Yet cannot she her some ill misgivings quell. But upon those that love such fear sits well.

CXIV.

Oh! in her fear for him, how willingly She battle for Rogero would have done! If lifeless on the listed field to lie Surer than sure,—in fight with Ulien’s son . More than one death would she consent to die, If she withal could suffer more than one, Rather than she in that unhappy strife Would see her cherished consort risk his life.

CXV.

But prayer availed not on the damsel’s part To make Rogero leave to her the quest: She then with mournful face and beating heart Stood by to view that pair to fight addrest. From right and left the peer and paynim start, And at each other run with lance in rest. The spears seem ice, as they in shivers fly, The fragments birds, that mount through middle sky.

CXVI.

Rodomont’s lance which smote in the career Upon mid-shield, yet harmed it little; so Perfect was famous Hector’s iron gear, Hardened by Vulcan’s hand, and safe from blow. As well against the shield his levelled spear Rogero guides, and that good buckler—though Well steeled within and out, with bone between, And nigh a palm in thickness—pierces clean;

CXVII.

And—but his lance resists not that fierce shock, And at the first assault its splinters fly. And bits and fragments of the shivered stock Seem fledged with feathers they ascend so high; Were his arms hewn from adamantine rock, The spear would pierce the paynim’s panoply; And end that battle: but it breaks withal, And on their croups both staggering coursers fall.

CXVIII.

With bridle and with spur the martial pair Raise their proud horses nimbly from the ground; And having broke their spears, with faulchions bare Return, to bandy fierce and cruel wound. Wheeling with wondrous mastery, here and there, The bold and ready coursers in a round, The warriors with their biting swords begin To try where either’s armour is most thin.

CXIX.

Rodomont had not that hard dragon-hide Which heretofore had cased the warrior’s breast; Nor Nimrod’s trenchant sword was at his side; Nor the accustomed helm his temples prest. For on that bridge which spanned the narrow tide, A loser to Dordona’s lady , vest And arms suspended from the votive stone He left; as I, meseems, erewhile have shown.

CXX.

Clad was the king in other goodly mail; Yet not like that first panoply secure: But neither this, nor that, nor harder scale Could Balisarda’s deadly dint endure; Against which neither workmanship avail, Enchantment, temper, nor prime steel and pure. So here so there Rogero plied his sword, He more than once the paynim’s armour bored.

CXXI.

When Rodomont beholds in that fierce close His widely crimsoned arms, nor can restrain The greater portion of those griding blows From biting to the quick, through plate and chain, He with more fury, with more rage o’erflows, Than in mid winter the tempestuous main, Flings down his shield, and with both hands outright Lays at Rogero’s helm with all his might.

CXXII.

With that excessive force, wherewith the gin, Erected in two barges upon Po, And raised by men and wheels, with deafening din Descends upon the sharpened piles below, With all his might he smote the paladin With either hand; was never direr blow: Him the charmed helmet helped, or such its force The stroke would have divided man and horse.

CXXIII.

As if about to fall, the youthful lord Twice nodded, opening legs and arms; anew Rodomont smote, in that he would afford His foe no time his spirits to renew: Then threatened other stroke; but that fine sword Bore not such hammering, and in shivers flew; And the bold Saracen, bereft of brand, Was in the combat left with unarmed hand.

CXXIV.

But not for this doth Rodomont refrain: He swoops upon the Child, unheeding aught: So sore astounded is Rogero’s brain; So wholly overclouded is his thought. But him the paynim well awakes again. Whom by the neck he with strong arm has caught, And gripes and grapples with such mighty force, He falls on earth, pulled headlong from his horse.

CXXV.

Yet leaps from earth as nimbly, moved by spleen Far less than shame; for on his gentle bride He turned his eyes, and that fair face serene Now troubled the disdainful warrior spied. She in sore doubt her champion’s fall had seen; And well nigh at that sight the lady died. Rogero, quickly to revenge the affront, Clutches his sword and faces Rodomont.

CXXVI.

He at Rogero rode, who that rude shock Shunned warily, retiring from his ground, And, as he past, the paynim’s bridle took With his left hand, and turned his courser round; While with his right he at his rider struck, Whom he in belly, flank and breast would wound; And twice sore anguish felt the monarch, gored In flank and thigh, by good Rogero’s sword.

CXXVII.

Rodomont, grasping still in that close fight The hilt and pommel of his broken blade, Layed at Rogero’s helmet with such might, That him another stroke might have dismaid: But good Rogero, who should win of right, Seizing his arm, the king so rudely swayed, Bringing his left his better hand to speed, That he pulled down the paynim from his steed.

CXXVIII.

Through force or skill, so fell the Moorish lord, He stood his match, I rather ought to say Fell on his feet; because Rogero’s sword Gave him, ’twas deemed, advantage in the fray. Rogero stands aloof, with wary ward, As fain to keep the paynim king at bay. For the wise champion will not let a wight So tall and bulky close with him in fight;

CXXIX.

Rogero flank and thigh dyed red beheld, And other wounds; and hoped he would have failed By little and by little, as it welled; So that he finally should have prevailed. His hilt and pommel in his fist yet held The paynim, which with all his might he scaled At young Rogero; whom he smote so sore, The stripling never was so stunned before.

CXXX.

In the helmet-cheek and shoulder-bone below The Child was smit, and left so sore astound, He, tripping still and staggering to and fro, Scarce kept himself from falling to the ground. Rodomont fain would close upon his foe; But his foot fails him, weakened by the wound, Which pierced his thigh: he overtasked his might; And on his kneepan fell the paynim knight.

CXXXI.

Rogero lost no time, and with fierce blows Smote him in face and bosom with his brand; Hammered, and held the Saracen so close, To ground he bore that champion with his hand. But he so stirred himself, again he rose: He gripes. Rogero so, fast locked they stand. Seconding their huge vigour by address, They circle one another, shake, and press.

CXXXII.

His wounded thigh and gaping flank had sore Weakened the vigour of the Moorish king: Rogero had address; had mickle lore; Was greatly practised in the wrestlers’ ring: He marked his vantage, nor from strife forbore; And, where he saw the blood most freely spring, And where most wounded was the warrior, prest The paynim with his feet, his arms, and breast.

CXXXIII.

Rodomont filled with spite and rage, his foe Takes by the neck and shoulders, and now bends Towards him, and now pushes from him; now Raises from earth, and on his chest suspends; Whirls here and there and grapples; and to throw The stripling sorely in that strife contends. Collected in himself, Rogero wrought, To keep his vantage taxing strength and thought.

CXXXIV.

So shifting oft his hold, about the Moor His arms the good and bold Rogero wound; Against his left flank shoved his breast, and sore Strained him with all his strength engirdled round. At once he past his better leg before Rodomont’s knees and pushed, and from the ground Uplifted high in air the Moorish lord; Then hurled him down head foremost on the sward.

CXXXV.

Such was the shock wherewith King Rodomont With battered head and spine the champaign smote, That, issuing from his wounds as from a font, Streams of red blood the crimsoned herbage float. Rogero, holding Fortune by the front, Lest he should rise, with one hand griped his throat, With one a dagger at his eyes addrest; And with his knees the paynim’s belly prest.

CXXXVI.

As sometimes where they work the golden vein Within Pannonian or Iberian cave, If unexpected ruin whelm the train By impious avarice there condemned to slave, So with the load they lie opprest, with pain A passage can their prisoned spirit have: No less opprest the doughty paynim lay, Pinned to the ground in that disastrous fray.

CXXXVII.

Rogero at his vizor doth present His naked poniard’s point, with threatening cry, ‘That he will slay him, save he yields, content ‘To let him live, if he for grace apply.’ But Rodomont, who rather than be shent For the least deed of shame, preferred to die, Writhed, struggled, and with all his vigour tried To pull Rogero down, and nought replied.

CXXXVIII.

As mastiff that below the deer-hound lies, Fixed by the gullet fast, with holding bite, Sorely bestirs himself and vainly tries, With lips besmeared with foam and eyes alight, And cannot from beneath the conqueror rise, Who foils his foe by force, and not despite; So vainly strives the monarch of Argièr To rise from underneath the cavalier.

CXXXIX.

Yet Rodomont so twists and strives, he gains The freedom of his better arm anew; And with the right hand, which his poniard strains, For he had drawn his deadly dagger too, Would wound Rogero underneath the reins: But now the wary youth the error knew Through which he might have died, by his delay That impious Saracen forthwith to slay;

CXL.

And smiting twice or thrice his horrid front, Raising as high as he could raise in air His dagger, buried it in Rodomont; And freed himself withal from further care. Loosed from the more than icy corse, to font Of fetid Acheron, and hell’s foul repair, The indignant spirit fled, blaspheming loud; Erewhile on earth so haughty and so proud.

NOTES TO CANTO XLVI.

What fair dames and sage, &c .

Stanza iii. line 1.

Harrington has left out the first fifteen stanzas of this canto. Hoole apparently undertook them, with the intention to do what he could with them, and, where he was puzzled, to “skip and go on.” My first disposition, on undertaking this work, was in all such passages to adopt what has been done by Harrington; but I changed my mind upon a second consideration of the subject. In this I was influenced by more reasons than one. In the first place I observed that circumstances in some descriptions, like that before us, often threw light on something in others. Thus in canto iii. stanza 56. referring to the Cardinal Ippolito d’Este,

the English reader, unless more than usually conversant with the biography of those times, understands Ariosto as guilty of a monstrous piece of self-conceit, in designating himself by Maro as Augustus by Alphonso of Este. The thirteenth stanza, however,of the present canto seems to free him from such a suspicion, making it clear that he simply referred to Andrew Maro ( Andrea Marone ) a poet, living under the protection of the House of Este, and here classed by him with Vida and many other distinguished persons. Now if this observation applies to all Ariosto’s galleries of portraits, many of the originals of which, bating their rank and riches, cannot certainly deserve the attention of any age but their own, how much more deserving of regard is the group before us, consisting of the wits and learned men who shed their splendor on the age of the Medici! Besides this consideration, I observed that there were generally many beauties scattered through the catalogues of persons which the poet has given us, and I thought it a pity to throw away sand when grains of gold were contained in it. Thus in stanza Iv. canto iii. we have as fine a burst of martial music as is often to be heard in the Furioso .

We have again a beautiful imitation of Virgil’s luctus ne quære tuorum in the same canto: but it is unnecessary to multiply illustrations. At any rate, the reader will not think, I imagine, that I have made versions of such parts of the Furioso , as those to which I have alluded, for my own pleasure, unless he be one of those who finds amusement in untying a knot, or in re-packing clothes in a trunk of the same dimensions as that in which they were before contained.

Most indeed must admit that I have here (as in other similar cases) undertaken a painful as well as an ungrateful task. Nor was it a less unprofitable labour to Ariosto, as it would appear. Ugo Foscolo once told me that, so ill was his praise appreciated at the time, that some of those commemorated in this canto were indignant at having been mentioned by him. I do not know on what he founded this statement, unless he inferred it from the conduct of one who has repaid Ariosto’s praise with censure, or spoke from a confused remembrance of letters of other worthies which I shall cite; but (however this may be) Ariosto certainly displeased, and in one instance at least made a bitter enemy, by his omissions. This was the famous critic Sperone Speroni, not mentioned in the present catalogue, who writes thus to Bernardo Tasso:—“The poem of Ariosto may be likened to a woman, who has few really beautiful features, and is pleasing through a certain je ne sais quoi , which makes her only recommendation; and perhaps that je ne sais quoi which we feel and acknowledge in him is none of his own, but borrowed. That is to say, the invention and disposition of his work, together with the names of the knights, were his, whom he has not deigned, (or, to speak more properly,) has not dared, to name, fearing lest the world should find out that he had done by Boiardo as Mariano did by Gryphon; and whoever doubts this may go and hear the miserable screech of five or six cantos which he has set up, and in which he has wretchedly stopt short, because he had no other dependence than that weak and worthless wind of his which breathes through them. He has died more like a goose than a swan,” &c.

A curious contract to this letter is to be found in another from a much more distinguished person, the famous Machiavel, whom (strange to say!) Ariosto has also omitted in his list of distinguished friends. In this letter, addressed to Alamanni in 1517, he says, “I have lately read Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso , and really the poem is beautiful throughout, and in many places admirable. If he is where you are, commend me to him, and tell him, I only grieve that, having recorded so many poets, he should not have given me a place as one; and that he has done by me in his Orlando what I will not do by him in my Golden Ass.” Machiavel, however, has neither mentioned Ariosto nor any one else in bis Golden Ass, having been probably deterred from doing so by the objections which, upon consideration, offered themselves to such a practice.

These are well put in a letter from Bernardo Tasso, himself named in this canto, to Andrea Gallo. “Heaven pardon Ariosto,” he says, “who by the introduction of this abuse into poems has obliged those who write after him to follow in his steps. He dwells so much upon the thing, and will make mention of so many , that he wearies us.”

The objection of Bernardo Tasso will necessarily hare yet greater force with the modern reader, who will take less interest in this catalogue; for it must be confessed that out of those who figure in it there are some who do not seem to have deserved their place; and who indeed, but for this mention of them, would be unknown to posterity. There is, however, nothing in this that should occasion us surprise; for sympathising, as everyone does more or less with the opinions of those by whom he is surrounded, who can be an impartial judge of cotemporary merit? But if present praise is never a security for posthumous fume, it must have been yet less so in the case of many of those eulogized by Ariosto, who were of all poets the most ephemeral, to wit, improvvisatori . Maffei, the author of the Storia della Letteratura Italiana , says, “I am of opinion that these poets pleased from being accustomed to accompany their verses with the lute, singing them extempo rarily. How otherwise can we account for the excessive applause bestowed upon Bernardo Accolti?”—one of the worthies celebrated in this canto.—“He was overwhelmed with encomiums in the court of Urbino, where he sighed for the duchess, as may be gathered from a letter of Bembo. He lived to enjoy the munificence of Leo X.; and when it was rumoured that he was about to recite his verses, the shops used to be shut; and the most learned men crowded to hear him: but considering one of his triplets, which was the wonder of the court of Leo, I find nothing in it but a thought for which he was indebted to scripture, and that expressed without elegance.”

I was disposed to do by these persons in my notes what 1 have done with respect to other cotemporaries celebrated by Ariosto; that is to say, to use such notices of them as had been furnished by Hoole, correcting his sins of omission and commission as I could. But when I came to examine his commentary upon this canto, I found such a task impossible, from his utter confusion of places and persons. A single example of this may suffice. Not knowing that Aretino simply means ‘of or belonging to Arezzo,’ (a mistake, however, in which it must be confessed that he has many companions) he has confounded the Unico Bernardo Accolti Aretino lately mentioned with the infamous Pietro Aretino , though the two persons are separately commemorated by Ariosto in the same page. Under such circumstances, I thought there would be less trouble in writing a commentary myself than in attempting to correct one which appeared to be incorrigible. I found, however, that I was utterly incompetent to the task; for the execution of which I have in consequence resorted to my friend Mr. Panizzi , of the London University, who has furnished me with the following notes. But notwithstanding his learning and industry, well proved by his excellent work on the romantic narrative poetry of the Italians, some of the names of those celebrated have escaped even his researches. I am, however, disposed to consider these as flies preserved in amber.

Mamma, Ginevra, with the rest I see, Correggio’s seed .

Stanza iii. lines 5 and 6.

“Of these ladies I know nothing.”— Panizzi .

Veronica de Gambara .

Stanza iii. line 7.

“ Veronica da Gambera was daughter of Count Giann-Francesco Gambera, and married to Giberto X. Lord of Correggio, whom she lost nine years after their marriage, when she was scarcely 33 years of age. She ranted to be engraved on the door of her apartment the two beautiful lines,

‘ Hic meos primus qui me sibi junxit amores Abstulit, ille habeat secum servetque sepulcro.’

And she was more firm of purpose than Dido. She governed Correggio during the minority of her two sons, Girolamo and Ippolito. Her letters are remarkable for their easy elegance; and her poetry for its loftiness and vigour of ideas. Her conduct was irreproachable ; and she held a literary correspondence with the greatest men of her age, of whom she was a generous patroness. Charles V. visited her twice at Correggio.”— Panizzi .

With Julia, a new Ginevra is in sight .

Stanza iv. line 1.

“Of these ladies I know nothing.”— Panizzi .

Hippolita Sforza, and Trivultia bright .

Stanza iv. line 3.

“ Hippolita Sforza married to Alessandro Bontivoglio of Ferrara, and is praised by Bandello (who dedicated to her the first of his novels) as a beautiful and learned woman, capable of appreciating the merit of Latin poetry. He also mentions the literary meetings which were held in her gardens at Milan, her native place.

“ Damigella or Domitilla Trivulcia was wife of Francesco Torello, Lord of Montecchiarugolo. She was renowned for her talents, her sweet voice, her knowledge of music, her grace, and her learning, as well as for her rare beauty. I suspect it is to her that the epigram of Ariosto

Quod genere et censu præstes Trivultia multis

is addressed. Ariosto wrote another epigram,

Sis dives, generosa, bella, casta,

which cannot have pleased her so much, as he accuses her of being proud.”— Panizzi .

Emilia Pia, and thee, Margherite, Angela Borgia, Graziosa, see, And fair Richarda d’Este .

Stanza iv. lines 5, 6, 7.

“ Emilia Pia was one of the brightest ornaments of the court of Urbino when it was the asylum of the muses under the Duke Guidobaldo da Montefeltro. Pia was married to Antonio, Count of Montefeltro, the duke’s brother, who left her a widow when very young. She continued to reside at the duke’s court in the most intimate friendship with Elizabetta his wife, who also was left early a widow. Of the elegance of that refined court, of the accomplishments, beauty, and purity of morals of these two ladies, Castiglione’s Cortigiano may give an idea. See also above, canto xxvi. stanzas 49 and 50; and canto xliii. stanza 148.

“I do not know who Margherite, Angela Borgia }}, and Graziosa were.

“ Richarda here named is not the same lady mentioned above, canto xiii. stanza 67. This was Ricciarda, Marchioness of Saluzzo, wife of Niccolo III. d’Este. She died in 1474.”— Panizzi .

Blanche and Diana, with their sister train .

Stanza iv. line 8.

“ Diana and Bianca (Blanche) were daughters of Sigismondo of Este; the former married to Ugnccione de’ Contrari, and the latter to Alberigo Sanscverino, both knights of Ferrara. Sigismondo was son of Niccol III. and of Ricciarda of Saluzzo, his third wife, and from him descended the branch of the Estes, Lords of San Martino iu Rio. Diana of Este was mentioned above, canto xlii. stanza 90.”— Panizzi .

I Barbara Turca, linked with Laura, know .

Stanza v. line 2.

“I know nothing of this Barbara . The family of the Turchi was, however, an ancient and powerful family at Ferrara.

“ Laura I suspect to be Laura Danti, afterwards Laura Eustochia, first the mistress then the third wife of Alfonso I., Duke of Ferrara. Her marriage has been indisputably proved by Muratori; yet on the plea that this lady was never lawfully wedded to Alfonso, the Popes robbed the House of Este of Ferrara.”— Panizzi .

Behold Ginevra! that rich gem and rare Which gilds the house of Malalesta, &c .

Stanza v. lines 5 and 6.

“This is, I think, Ginevra Malatesta , celebrated for her beauty and for the vehement affection which Bernardo Tasso bore to her. She was married to a knight of the family of Obizzi of Ferrara, and ou her marriage Tasso wrote a most elegant sonnet. The Malatestas were lords of Rimini or Arimino.”— Panizzi .

The consort of my lord of Bòzzolo Behold! the mother, sisters, cousinhood .

Stanza vii. lines 1 and 2.

“I suppose that Ariosto alludes to the lady of Federigo Gonzaga , lord of Bozzolo, whose mother, Francesca Fieschi, as well as the sister, Cammilla Gonzaga, married to the Marquis Tripalda, and the relations, Isabella and Cammilla Gonzaga da Gazzuolo, are celebrated as very accomplished ladies by cotemporary authors. It is, however, difficult to ascertain who were the ladies meant, as the house of Gonzaga, then divided into the branches of Mantova, Bozzolo, Gazzuolo, Luzzara, San Martino, Sabbioneta, &c. counted several ladies of very prominent merits, many of whom bore the same Christian name.”— Panizzi .

Them of Torello, Bentivòglio, Pallavigìni’s and Visconti’s brood .

Stanza vii. lines 3 and 4.

“Four of the noblest families of Italy, and the former one of the oldest in the world. They are still existing, except the last. They were all related to Este, Gonzaga, Montefeltro; and many ladies of those families were celebrated for their accomplishments and beauty in the poet’s time.”— Panizzi .

Julia Gonzaga .

Stanza viii. line 1.

“This lady, celebrated for her learning, and still more for her extraordinary beauty, was married, when very young, to Vespasiano Colonna, duke of Trajetto and earl of Fondi, who was old and infirm, and very soon afterwards died. Julia, after his death, refined the most splendid offers of marriage, and lived in a secluded manner at Fondi. Ariadeno Barbarossa, the famous pirate, afterwards dey of Tunis, on hearing her beauty so much praised, landed 2000 men at Fondi one night, in 1534, to carry her off to the Sultan Solyman II. She had scarcely time to jump out of a window and fly from her brutal enemies, and, undressed as she was, succeeded in making her escape to the neighbouring mountains.”— Panizzi .

With her is paired her brother’s wife .

Stanza viii. line 5.

“ Isabella Colonna , married to Luigi, brother of Giulia Gonzaga, surnamed Rodomonte on account of his bravery. The pope opposed their marriage, but the steady attachment of Isabella triumphed over all obstacles. To this Ariosto has alluded more at length in canto xxxvii. stanza 9, et seq. Rodomonte Gonzaga was a great friend of Ariosto, and wrote some stanzas in praise of the Furioso . He was lord of Gazzuolo, and is mentioned also canto xxvi. stanza 50.”— Panizzi .

Lo! Arragonian Anna, Vasto’s light .

Stanza viii. line 8.

“ Anna , daughter of Ferrante d’ Arragona, duke of Montalto, married to Alfonso Davalo, Marquis Vasto—a great general, a good poet, and a splendid patron of literature, who, on the 18th of October, 1531, settled an annuity of one hundred golden ducats on Ariosto. He is praised more than once in the poem: see canto xv. stanza 28; canto xxxiii. stanza 24, et seq.; and canto xxxiii. stanza 47.”— Panizzi .

With her, the sister dims all beauty, where Her radiance shines. Lo! one that hath set free Her conquering lord from Orcus’ dark repair .

Stanza ix. lines 3, 4, 5.

“ Giovanna d’ Arragona , married to Ascanio Colonna.

“ Vittoria , daughter of Fabrizio Colonna, married to Ferdinando Francesco, son of Alfonso Davalo (not the one just mentioned, but an older one), marquis of Pescara. He was one of the greatest generals of his day, and died of the wounds which he received at the battle of Pavia, where he had a great share in the capture of King Francis I. of France. There was a scheme set on foot for making him king of Naples. He pretended to acquiesce in some proposals concerning this, only to betray the conspirators and the Italian powers who were privy to it to Charles V. The reciprocal love of Vittoria and Francesco has never been surpassed. In her thirty-third year Vittoria lost her husband; a loss for which she was inconsolable all her life. Her poems are very good, and no lady has ever written better. She was as beautiful and virtuous as accomplished. Hence the infamous Aretino calumniated her. She was in correspondence with all the great geniuses of her age, more particularly with Veronica Gambara, mentioned above. She, as well as her husband, is always mentioned by Ariosto in the highest terms of praise: see canto xxxiii. stanzas 47 and 53, and canto xxxvii. stanza 16, et seq.”— Panizzi .

The shining light Of his Arezzo, and Accolti hight .

Stanza x. lines 7 and 8.

“ Bernardo Accolti , surnamed l’Unico Accolti or l’Unico Aretino, son of the historian Benedetto Accolti, than whom no poet was ever more popular. The poetry he has left does not answer the high reputation he enjoyed. As an improvvisatore he must have been much distinguished, since he was admired at the court of Urbino.”— Panizzi .

His nephew Benedict, &c .

Stanza xi. line 2.

“ Benedetto Accolti , bishop of Cadiz, next of Cremona, and afterwards archbishop of Ravenna. He was, together with Sadoleto, secretary to Clement VII. when only twenty-five years of age, and cardinal when thirty years old. He was long imprisoned by order of Paul III without anyone knowing why, and was liberated by the intercession of the cardinal of Mantua, here mentioned, on paying a large fine. Not only was he a good poet, hut the liberal patron and warm friend of the greater men of his days.”— Panizzi .

With him Campeggio and Mantua’s cardinal .

Stanza xi. line 3.

“ Ercole Gonzaga , son of Francesco, last marquis, and brother of Federigo, first duke, of Mantua, one of the presidents of the Council of Trent, was ‘Mantua’s cardinal.’

“Campeggio was Lorenzo Campeggi , from whose family sprang so many learned civilians in the sixteenth century. Lorenzo was professor of law at Padua and Bologna, then (having lost his wife and become a priest) judge of the Rota at Rome, bishop of Feltre, and finally cardinal. Leo X. and Clement VII. sent him either as legate or as nuncio to the first potentates of Europe. He was twice legate in this country; first from Leo X., then from Clement VII. to judge with the validity of the marriage of Henry VIII. with Catherine of Arragon.”— Panizzi .

With them Lactantius is, Claude Ptolemy, Trissino, Pansa, and Capilùpi mine .

Stanza xii. lines 1 and 2.

“Of Lattanzio Tolommei , Giovio says, ‘Nihil enim vel aspectu arduum, vel reipsâ difficile, vel magnitudine immensum morari posse existimo Lactantium Ptolomeum Senensem, tum familiæ alque opum dignitate tum reconditis artibus atque animi virtute nobilissimum.’ I know nothing more of him.

“ Claudio Tolommei was a whimsical character. He was doctor of civil law, but for some unknown reason insisted on being undoctored and passing through the same formalities with which the degree had been conferred upon him. He tried to bring Italian hexameter and pentameter verses into fashion, and failed. He was of the court of Cardinal Ippolito of Este the younger, nephew of that Cardinal Ippolito to whom Ariosto dedicated his poem.

“Three brothers Capilupi were contemporaries of Ariosto—Lelio, Ippolito, and Cammillo, the first of whom was celebrated for his great skill in composing poems with verses studiously taken from other poets. The brothers Capilupi were considered good poets themselves, and Ippolito and Cammillo enjoyed the reputation of good statesmen and diplomatists.

“ Paulo Pansa , of whom Giovio says, ‘Veluti ab joco ad studia Latinorum carminum, in quibus serius atque felicius se exercet, ingenium traduxit.’ I know nothing more of him.

“ Giorgio Trissino (in the original Dresino), the author of Sofonisba and L’ Italia Liberata , was the first who attempted to write a tragedy and an epic poem after the classical models. He was not ashamed, in return for Ariosto’s compliment, of saying, in his poem,

L’Ariosto Coti quel Furioso suo che piace al volgo!!!”

— Panizzi .

Latino Giovenàl .

Stanza xii. line 3.

“ Latino Giovenale de’ Nanneti , praised by Bembo, his friend, as a writer of good Italian verses. His Latin verses are certainly very elegant. He was a learned antiquary and a distinguished diplomatic. After having been nuncio to several courts, he was appointed commissioner for the preservation of antiques at Rome.”— Panizzi .

Sasso .

Stanza xii. line 4.

“ Pamfilio Sassi who is said to have died in 1527. Giraldi says of him, ‘Extemporalis poeta . . . in faciendis versis promptissimus. . . . Illi memoria penè divina. . . . Minus omnino Sassio judicii ac limæ.’ Giovio (who wrote after the plunder of Rome in 1527) writes, ‘Retinet adhuc Pamphilus Saxius Mutinensis pristinum ilium volucris et exultantis ingenii furorem, et in hâc exactâ ætate Latinis etiam et Hetruscis epigrammatis cum florentissimis juvenitus colludit. ’ ”— Panizzi .

And Molza .

Stanza xii. line 4.

“ Francesco Maria Molza , celebrated for his fondness of the fair sex, his extensive learning, and his truly exquisite poetry, both Latin and Italian. He was the neatest imitator of Tibullus. His name occurs above, canto xxxvii. stanza 12. Bayle is mistaken when he thinks that upon him was written the following epitaph, which I transcribe for its singularity. It is still to be read in the cathedral of Modena. ‘Si animarum auctio fieret Franciscum Molzam licitarentur virtutes patria et Catharina, ejus uxor, quæ illi et sibi vivens hoc posuit.’ Our Francesco Maria was not married to a Catharina. He was, however, from Modena, where the family still exists.”— Panizzi .

And Florian hight Montine .

Stanza xii. line 4.

“To Floriano Montino , Manardo the physician, whom I shall presently mention, dedicated his book Epistolarum Medicinalium , ‘propter antiquam inter nos amicitiam, singularemque tuam eruditionem optimis moribus conjunctam.’ I suspect this Floriano to be Floriano de’ Floriani da Montagnana, who married a lady of the court Cornaro at Asola, on which occasion Bembo supposes the dialogues to have taken place which he wrote with the title of Asolani .”— Panizzi .

Julio Camillo .

Stanza xii. line 7.

“ Giulio Cammillo Delminio , who could talk much and say nothing. He boasted of having invented a certain Teatro (nobody ever understood what it was to be) by means of which in a month a person of rank (for Delminio protested he would not teach any other) might learn all that has ever been known, and easily equal the eloquence of Demosthenes and Cicero. Francis I. of France took two lessons from him. He imposed upon some, but was little valued by most of his cotemporaries.”— Panizzi .

The dialogue among the Erasmi colloquia , entitled Ars notoria , shows this to have been among the European follies of the day.

Berna, and Sanga, and Flamìnio spy .

Stanza xii. line 8.

“ Giovanni Battista Sanga was a good Latin poet, and secretary to Cardinal Bibiena, then to Giberti when Datario, then to Cardinal Salviati, then to Clement VII.

“ Francesco Berni , or Berna , or Bernia , a poet very well known. He succeeded Sanga as Giberti’s secretary; and when the latter retired to his diocese of Verona, Berni followed him thither. In the translation of Rose’s Orlando Innamorato (Introd. p. xxxix.) it is said by mistake that he was then in the service of Cardinal Bibiena. The cardinal died eight years before that, in 1520. To this cardinal Berni alluded when he spoke of

A cardinal allied to him by blood, And one that neither did him harm nor good.

See ibid. p. xlv.

“ Marc’ Antonio Flamminio , whose lyric Latin verses are by common Italian consent the most exquisite poems in that language written after the middle ages. Flamminio was one of the most amiable men that ever lived. He was a favourite of Leo X., of Giberti, whom he followed to Verona, of Alexander Farnese (Pope Paul III. mentioned next), and of Cardinal Polo, who glories in having prevented him from turning protestant. His death was considered a national calamity.”— Panizzi .

Lo! Alexander of Fornese .

Stanza xiii. line 1.

“ Alessandro Farnese and Marcello Cervini (afterwards Pope Marcello II.) formed the princely scheme of publishing, at their own expense, the Greek MSS. of the Vatican Library. They established a press, and called the printer Blado to Rome for that purpose. Farnese was a great patron of literature. When pope he created cardinals some of the greatest men of his age; amongst others, Contarini, Polo, Bembo, Pio, Sadoleto, his friend Cervini, &c.”— Panizzi .