Modern Italian Poets

valet appears, and throwing open the shutters asks whether he will have coffee or chocolate in bed, and when he has broken his fast and

tering

the thresho

then contracting

ttle, at the

in, and, with t

hat, lightly t

while to ask how the lady he serves has passed the night, and attending her response he may read Voltaire in a sumptuous Dutch or French binding, or he may amuse himself with a French romance; or it may happen that the artist whom he has engaged to paint the miniat

labor of the

nd the elegant

shaken hand a

their time thy

ake h

som of that w

sly. O brave!

ancestor throug

n his country'

ed, and shatter

ht. But he, his

e, and smirched wi

tossed wild, cam

ision, even

rescued; mild

o behold, in

resently to b

ountry, which

ther and thy

content and

ed for the visit to his lady,

ters, clasp th

ther, that n

t; down from th

nic fair, th

ely-fitting sleev

or of azure

color tinge. Th

h a soft and

atch

haste to go.

of tiny char

ous tinkling f

t there of fa

eds so marvel

every charger

ed with visitors when he calls to revere her, as he would have said, and he can therefore make the more effective a

and be pressed

aistcoat, and

owy linen r

rt; let the bre

roaden both, an

k; then at the

ttle, pointed

from thy month

dible. Meanwh

given, and no

m ivory a

n, and with one

s, while every t

ding slightly

isper secret n

mpany with m

ances that be

r tender pass

sat for it. The scene was sometimes heightened by the different humor in which the lady and the cavalier received each other, as for instance when th

a b

et, signor, an

, whom, tende

h thy strength,

le the guests

ll the husban

rat

he husb

of a generou

uent another

sit, whose

else beside

s likewise abs

the chain imm

ng, binds the w

ady seated a

her hand, and w

ir that not to

ar that her s

nst the table,

gather round

volume of her

down; for th

tted to fors

es, except the

occasion warr

great

o longer springs or hops in the service of beauty, or even dreams of doing it. But a passage which will touch the sympath

now th

polished at thy

th, and like t

the eyes of

hy finger-tips

ndle to her.

elicate playin

hand upon its

hat around t

in new forms, an

lying, flutt

cious rosy kn

the hollows

de her knuckle

cavalier watches over the wife with tender care, prepares her food, offers what agrees with her, and forbids what harms. He is virtually

ssages of the poem, the light irony of which it is hard to reproduce in a version. One of t

ourses; and

he speaks, into

calls

l day!-what ti

ap-dog, darling

youthful gay

rk of her iv

of a menial;

ious toe, fl

thrice she rol

lken coat, and

stril the thic

ring cries, and "

ll, while from t

e Echo answe

cloistral bas

shed, and from

dens trembling

ce was with r

she awakened

convulsed her

ance upon the

languid voice sh

er embrace and

her shrill te

r poodle, darli

nial trembled

ed his doom. Na

rs' desert; na

secret servi

ayer and promis

ivery that till

h the vulgar

her lord; the

ruck at his at

author. The fals

ualid brood, an

wife in tatt

nted to the

to such topics as may best serve to exploit his own accomplishments. As a man of the first fashion, he must be in the habit of seeming to have read Horace a little, and it will be a pretty ef

rtal is his f

dear to Natu

es thy carriag

thy field, tha

ignal to the cavalier that it

to th

ll, and drawin

air and offer

the other rooms,

reek of viand

nse. Thee with

odor of the

pon a small

Indian webs. T

le burn swee

osphere, and

traces of the

misery or who

the noonday

aked, and uns

d limbs and s

nd on crutch

ves, and with e

nectar of the

ble zephyrs

besiege these

y offering h

oathsome spec

'tis your off

that then s

ts liquor to t

nk thee wheth

verage much or

if perchance

arous spouse, th

of Persia, wit

isage of her

has already thought with which of the husband's horses they shall drive out; he has suggested which dress his lady shall wear and which fan she shall carry; he has witness

ent friends to

and pressing

brace, and with

und; then, claspi

down upon t

ed thus, one f

inted, at the

tain things th

urn the othe

ovely face of

s anger, and

lips a litt

nstant wax

agitation

e of Turpin,

well cased in

y, each cav

valor of the

eetings court

r lances and thei

together; th

fragments of th

generous fury,

ds and rushed u

stance throug

of a messen

l gallop to r

les, and th' o

Agramante. Da

cible youth, to

et, so exqui

rning, to th

iate fans; t

, and thus the

riculous en

interpretation of the scene is delightful; and those embattled f

walks and drives. The place is full of their common acquaintance, and the carriages are at rest for the exchange of greetings and gossip, in which the hero must take his part. All this is

the s

descent; and

creases from th

thy breast; a

owy stockings

ct thyself a

ce the prome

t please thee wal

arriages of

up, and thrust

houlders, half

or. There let t

from afar t

ear, and inte

roes who ha

sk to keep

t absent. O ye

ght, and let t

hero shine u

y! Nay, night m

iolable law

ades over one

moving on h

he varied co

order of her m

ing; the sist

aspect indist

es, to flowers, t

eat and to th

th the painted

of want, and go

he blind air

es depart, an

the shades; bu

aught, my he

enebrous and

same ironical reverence depicts them alighting from their carriage, arriving in the presence of the hostess, sharing in the gossip of the guests, supping, and sitting down at those games of chance with which every fashionable house was provided and at which the lady loses or doubles her pin-money. In Milan long trains were then the mode, and any woman might wear them, but only patricians were allowed to have them carried by servants; the rich plebeian must drag her costly skirts in the dust; and the nobi