The Romance of Biography (Vol 2 of 2)

ICA G

at the same time, and equally ornaments of their sex. They resembled each other in poetical talent, in their domestic sorrows and conjugal virtues: in every oth

nor fragran

oftness, sweetn

n the contr

e masculi

ars had seemed

ave been one of the most beautiful women of her time; but her features were irregular, and her grand commanding figure, which in her youth was admired for its perfect proportions, grew large and heavy as she advanced in life. Sh

and more vivacity of colouring. Their defects were equally opposed: the simplicity of Veronica sometimes borde

been attached with all the enthusiasm of her character, and by whom she was tenderly loved in return. After the birth of her second son, she was seized with a dangerous disorder, of what nature we are not told. The physicians informed her husband that they did not despair of her recovery, but that the remedies they sho

fully the various feelings they excited in her heart, whether clouded with thought, or serene with happiness, or sparkling with affection.[40] She devotes six Sonnets and a Madrigal to t

, superbi, u

in un punto;

mor m'

pathos in one of her poem

ato! del mio

m'allontani,

ch' io lo rive

that nothing but the fear of not meeting her beloved husband in Paradise prevented her from dying with him. She not only vowed herself to a perpetual widowhood, but to a perpetual mourning; and the extreme vivacity of her imagination was displayed in the strange trappings of woe with which she was henceforth surrounded. She lived in apartments hung and furnished with black, and from which every object of luxury was banished: her liveries, her co

mus qui me sib

abeat secum serv

ad my vows, s

h and worshippe

ith equal firmness and gentleness. Her husband had left a daughter,[43] whom she educated and married with a noble dower. Her eldest son, Hypolito, became a celebrated military commander; her youngest and favourite son, Girolamo, was created a cardinal. Wherever Veronica loved, it seems to have been with th

anazzaro, and Vittoria Colonna. Ariosto has paid her an elegant compliment in the last canto of the Orlando Furioso. She is one among the company of be

a Gambara

bo, e al sant

immortalize her, if she had n

ria Colonna, but among them, two which are reckoned superior to Vittoria's best,-one addressed to the rival monarchs, Charles the Fifth and Francis the First, exhorting them to give peace to Italy, and unite thei

a ventura a ve

in the collect

ied in 1550, and was

very sweet poems, which are to be found in various Scelte, married the Count del Verme, who died after a union of several years. She had flung herself, in a trans

ently, who so

ason's spite,

ce of passion

nt, I must allude to one or two names which cannot be entirely passed over, as belonging

gh far from being the best. The picture it presents, with all its affecting accompaniments, and the feelings commemorated, are obviously taken from nature and reality. The poet-the husband-approaches to contemplate the lifeless form of his Portia, and weeping, he draws from her pale cold hand the nuptial ring, which he had himself placed o

NE

pita in oro

me delle terrene cose! Donna! caro mio pregio,-a

l dì ch' il ciel nel mio pensier' t' asc

a t' invola-e

La mia, più assai che la tua, mano esang

molesto Ch' or di pianto

L TRAN

mutual love and mutual faith, even from that hour when Heaven bestowed on me all it could bestow of bliss. Now then-O now do I take it from thee! and thus do I withdraw it from the cold ivory of that hand which so adorned and honoured

ly, who were of Mantua, could not bear to part with her,[44] and that after her marriage, she remained in that city, while Castiglione was ambassador at Rome. This separation gave rise to a very impassioned correspondence; and the tender regrets and remonstrances scattered through her letters, he transposed into a very beautiful poem, in the form of an epistle from his wife. It may be found in the append

TNO

Zam

i che andavano cagionando nel di lei core, a misura che es

Sonne

o da Corregg

his first wife, Vio

ita di Baldassa