Stories from the Italian Poets: with Lives of the Writers, Volume 1

THROUGH HEAV

e, or that of the Fixed Stars; of the Primum Mobile, or First Mover of them all round the moveless Earth; and of the Empyrean, or Region of Pure Light, in which is the Beatific Vision. Each of these ascending spheres is occupied by its proportionate degree of Fai

EY THROUG

n Purgatory, when Beatrice having fixed her eyes upon the sun, Da

the attraction of love, a

n, and heard the music of the spheres; yet he was only in th

out to speak, but not more distinct from the surrounding whiteness than pearls themselves are from the forehead they adorn.[1] Dante thought them only reflected faces, and turned round to see to whom they belonged, when his smiling companion set him right; and he entered into discourse with the spirit that seemed the most anxious to accost him. It was Piccarda, th

blest. The poet found by this answer, that every place in Heaven was Paradise, though the bliss might be of different degrees. Piccarda then shewed him the spirit at her side, lustrous with all the glory of the region, Costanza, daughter of th

; till one of them who addressed the poet became indistinguishable for excess of splendour. It was the soul of the Emperor Justinian. Justinian told him the whole story of the Roman empire up to his time; and then gave an account of one of his associates in bliss, Romèo, who had been minister to Raymond Beranger, Count of Provence. Four daughters had been born to Raymond Beranger, and every one became a queen; and all this had been brought about by R

Holy God o

ning with l

s of these thy

stinian; and then, turning as he sang, vanish

ven, or planet Venus, the abode of the Amorous.[7] He only kne

o the Troubadour, whose place was next Cunizza in Heaven; and Rahab the harlot, who favoured the entrance of the Jews into the Holy Land, and whose place was next Folco.[8] Cunizza said that she did not at all regret a lot which carried her no higher, whatever the vulgar might think of such an opinion. She spoke of the glories of the jewel who was close to her, Folco-contrasted his zeal with the inertness of her contemptible countrymen-and foretold the bloodshed that awaited the latter from wars and treacheries. The Troubadour, meanwhile, glowed in his aspect like a rub

ression to mortal fancy. The spirits composing the band were those of St. Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, Gratian the Benedictine, Pietro Lombardo, Solomon, Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, Paulus Orosius, Boetius, Isidore, the Venerable Bede, Richard of St. Victor, and Sigebert of Gemblours. St. Thomas was th

nity, the holy wrestler,-benign to his friends and cruel to his enemies;[11]-and so confined his reproofs to his own Franciscan order. He then, as St. Thomas had done with the doctors in the inner circle, named those who constituted the outer: to wit, Illuminato, and Agostino, and Hugues of St. Victor, and Petrus Comestor, and Pope John the Twenty-first, Nathan the Prophet, Chrysostom, Anselmo of Canterbury, Donatus who deigned to teach grammar, Raban of Mentz, and Joachim of Calabria. The two circles then varied their movement by wheeling round one another in counter directions; and after they had chanted, not of Bacchus or Apollo, but of Three Persons i

hes like lightning; and secondly, in addition to and across the Presence, innumerable sparkles of the intensest mixture of white and red, darting to and fro through the whole extent of the crucifix. The movement was like that of motes in a sunbeam. And as a sweet dinning arises from the multitudinous

ht horn of the Cross to the foot of it, one of the lights of this cluster

ened, as it Shall have been to thee?"[13] Dante, in astonishment, turned to Beatrice, and saw such a rapture of delight i

med to be returning thanks to God. This rapturous absorption being ended, the speaker expressed in more hu

than the wearers. Fathers were not then afraid of having daughters, for fear they should want dowries too great, and husbands before their time. Families were in no haste to separate; nor had chamberers arisen to shew what enormities they dared to practise. The heights of Rome had not been surpassed by your tower of Uccellatoio, whose fall shall be in proportion to its aspiring. I saw Bellincion Berti walking the streets in a leathern girdle fastened with bone; and his wife come from her looking-glass without a painted face. I saw the Nerlis and the Vecchios contented with the simplest doublets, and the

aptistery, I became, at once, Christian and Cacciaguida. My brothers were called Moronto and Eliseo. It was my wife that brought thee, from Valdipado, thy family name of Alighieri. I then followed the Emperor Conrad, and he made me a knight for my good service, and I w

ng to say nothing as to who they were, or the place they came from. All he disclosed was, that his father and mother lived near the gate San Piero.[17] With regard to Florence, he continued, the number of the inhabitants fit to car

of Sinigaglia too, and of Chiusi! And if cities perish, what is to be expected of families? In my time the Ughi, the Catellini, the Filippi, were great names. So were the Alberichi, the Ormanni, and twenty others. The golden sword of knighthood was then to be seen in the house of Galigaio. The Column, Verrey, was then a great thing in the herald's eye. The Galli, the Sacchetti, were great; so was the old trunk of the Calfucci; so was that of the peculators who now blush to hear of a measure of wheat; and the Sizii and the Arrigucci were drawn in pomp to their civic chairs. Oh, how mighty I saw them then, and how low has their pride brought them! Florence in those days deserved her name. She flourished indeed; and the balls of gold were ever at the top of the flower.[18] And now the descendants of these men sit in

eard, as he came through the nether regions, alarming intimations of the ill fortune that awaite

g that is dearest to thee in the world. That is the first arrow shot from the bow of exile. Thou shalt experience how salt is the taste of bread eaten at the expense of others; how hard is the going up and down others' stairs. But what shall most bow thee down, is the worthless and disgusting company with whom thy lot must be par

ey are not aware of him yet, by reason of his tender age; but ere the Gascon practise on the great Henry, sparkles of his worth shall break forth in his contempt of money and of ease; and when his munificence appears in all its lustre, his very enemies shall not be able to hold their tongues for admiration.[22] Look thou to this second benefactor also; for many a change of the lots of people shall he make, both rich and poor; and do t

endant question him, anxious to have the advice of one that saw s

y verses deprive me of every other refuge. Now I have been down below through the region whose grief is without end; and I have scaled the mountain from the top of which I was lifted by my lady's eyes; and I have come thus far through heaven, from luminary to luminary; and in

had found in heaven, first flashed at this speech like a

that deserve it. Thy bitter truths shall carry with them vital nourishment-thy voice, as the wind does, shall smite loudest the loftiest summits; and no little shall that redound to thy

as standing absorbed in the mingled feelings of his own, when Beatrice said to him, "Change t

k upon her eyes; but she said, with a smile, "Turn thee round again, and attend. I am no

in a stream. The light of Judas Maccabeus went spinning, as if joy had scourged it.[23] Charlemagne and Orlando swept away together, pursued by the poet's eyes. Guglielmo[24] followed, and Rinaldo, and Godfrey of

maiden's when it delivers itself of the burden of a blush,[25] knew that he was in another

an L, and so on, till the poet observed that they completed the whole text of Scripture, which says, Diligite justitiam, qui judicatis terram-(Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth). The last letter, M, they did not decompose like the rest, but kept it entire for a while, and glowed so deeply within it, that the silvery orb thereabout seemed burning with gold.

poke! It uttered many minds in one voice, just as one heat is given out by many embers; and pr

erplexities of its worldly reason respecting the Divine nature and government, an

bove it into the air, and claps its self-congratulating wings, answered nevertheless somewhat disdainfully, that it was impossible for man, in his mortal state, to comprehend s

read the desolation which Albert will inflict on Bohemia:[26]-in that book, the woes inflicted on Paris by that adulterator of his kingdom's money, who shall die by the hog's teeth:-in that book, the ambition which makes such mad fools of the Scotch and English kings, that they cannot keep within their bounds:-in that book, the luxury of the Spaniard, and the effeminate life of the Bohemian, who neither knows nor cares for any thing worthy:-in that book, the lame wretch of Jerusalem, whose value will be expressed by a unit, and his worthlessness by a million:-in that book, the avarice and cowardice of the warder of the Isle of Fire, in which old Anchises died; and that the record may answer the better to his

nd then break forth into innumerable stars which the sun lights up,[27] so the splendours within the figure

ardent was thy manifestation in the lustrous sparkles wh

he fires that composed its figure, those that sparkled in the eye were the noblest. The spirit (it said) which Dante beheld in the pupil was that of the royal singer who danced before the ark, now enjoying the reward of his superiority to vulgar discernment. Of the five spirits that composed the eyebrow, the one nearest the beak was Trajan, now experienced above all others in the knowledge of what it costs not to follow Christ, by reason of his having been in hell before he was translated to heaven. Next to Trajan was Hezekiah, whose penitence delayed for him the ho

ts, like the lark which, after quivering and expatiating through all its airy warble, be

d that Riphaeus, for the same reason, had been gifted with a prophetic knowledge of the Redemption; and then it ended with a rapture on the hidden mysteries of Predestination, and on the joy of ignorance itself when submitting to the divine will. The two

re. She told him that her beauty increased with such intensity at every fresh ascent among the stars, that he would no longer have been able to be

the lights of heaven must have been there poured forth; but not a sound was in the whole splendour. It was spared to the poet for the same reason that he missed the smile of Beatrice. When they came to a certain step in the ladder, some of the spirits flew off it in circles or other careers, like rooks when they issue from their trees in the morning to dry

ce of the olive, I forgot both heat and cold, happy in heavenly meditation. That cloister made abundant returns in its season to these granaries of the Lord; but so idle has it become now, that it is fit the world should know its barrenness. The days of my mortal life were drawing to a close, when I was besought and drawn into wearing the hat which descends ev

e beautiful. The whole dazzling body then gathered round the indignant speaker, and shouted something in a voice so tremendous,

the spirits of those who most combined meditation with love. One of them was Saint Benedict; and others Macarius and Romoaldo.[35] The light of St. Benedict issued forth from among its companions to address the poet; and after explaining how its occupant was unable farther to disclose himself, inveighed against the degeneracy of the religious orders.

earance. Wisest, thought he, is the man that esteems it least; and truly worthy he that sets his thoughts on the world to come. He now saw the moon without those spots in it which made him formerly attribute the variation to dense and rare. He sustained the brightness of the face of the sun, and discerned all the si

f night, yearning for the coming of the morning, that she may again behold her young, and have light by which to seek the food, that renders her fatigue for them a joy. So stood Be

ce exclaimed, "Behold the armies of the triumph of Christ!" Her face appeared all f

s the stars, that paint every gulf of the great hollow with beauty;[38] so brightest, above myriads of splendours a

Dante, overpowered, "s

can compare. What thou hast seen is the Wisdom and the Power, b

instead of rising according to the wont of fire-had grown too great for his stil

e me now indeed. Thou hast beheld things

like one who has suddenly waked up from a d

were fed with the richest milk of Polyhymnia and her sisters, they could not express one thousandth part of the

e beautiful guide, blossoming beneath the beams of Christ? Behold the rose, in which the

battle to the sight w

f the light had drawn itself higher up within the heaven, to accommodate the radiance to his faculties. He then beheld the Virgin herself bodily present,-her who is fairest now in heaven, as she was on earth; and while his eyes were being painted with her beauty,[42] there fell on a sudden a seraphic light from hea

pe abided; and ever, O Lady of Heaven, must I thus attend thee, as long as thou art

urned his eyes to the angelical callers on the name of Mary, who remained yearning after her with their hands outstretched, as a babe yearns after the bosom withdrawn

idea expressive of its sweetness. Mortal imagination cannot unfold such wonder. It was Saint Peter, whom she had besoug

's giving the poet the benediction, and encircling his forehead thrice with

that shut me out of the sweet fold in which I slept like a lamb, wishing harm to none but the wolves that beset it,-with another voice, and in another guise than now, will I return, a poet, and s

pleted the catechism with the topic of Charity. Dante acquitted himself with skill throughout; the spheres resounded with songs of "Holy, holy," Beatrice joining in the warble; and the poet suddenly found Adam beside him. The parent of the human race knew by intuition what his descendant wished to learn of him; and manifesting his assent before he spoke, as an animal sometimes

anet Jupiter might assume, if Mars and it were birds, and exchanged the colour of thei

He who usurps my place on earth,-my place, I say,-ay, mine,-which before God is now vacant,-has converted the city in which m

sunset; and Beatrice changed colour, like a maiden that shrinks in alarm from the report of bl

voice not less awfully ch

the holy chair should divide one half of Christendom against the other; should turn my keys into ensigns of war against the faithful; and stamp my very image upon mercenary and lying documents, which make me, here in Heaven, blush and turn cold to think of. Arm of God, why sleepest thou? Men out of Gascony and Cahors are even now making ready to drink our blood. O loft

elical spirits that had been gathered in the air of Saturn streamed away after the Apostle, as he tur

ant the two companions found themselves in the ninth Heaven or Primum Mob

the positive bathos, and I fear almost indecent irrelevancy of the introduction of Beatrice at all on such an occasion, much more under the feeb

and nature, hung from it. Beatrice explained many mysteries to him connected with that sight; and then vehemently denounced the false and foolish teachers that qu

d that he doubts whether the sight can ever be thoroughly enjoyed by any save its Maker.[51] Her look carried him upward as before, and he was now i

light, as the lightning sometimes enwraps and dashes against the blinded eyes; but the

eyond its time; and his eyelashes had no sooner touched it, than the length of the river became a breadth and a circle, and its real nature lay unveiled before him, like a face when a mask is taken off. It was the whole two combined courts of Heaven, the angelical and the human, in circumference larger than would hold the sun, and all blazing beneath a light, which was reflected downwards in its turn upon the sphere of the Primum Mobile below it, the mover of the universe. And as a green cliff by the water's side seems to delight in seeing itself reflected from head to foot with all its verdure and its flowers; so, round about on all sides, upon thousands of thrones, the blessed spirits that once lived on earth sat beholding themselves in the light. And yet even all these together formed but the lowest part of the spectacle, which ascended above them, tier upon tier, in the manner of an immeasurable rose,-all dilating itself, doubling still and doubling, and all odorous with the praises of an ever

n the rose like bees; now descending into its bosom, now streaming back to the source of their affection. Their faces were all fire, their wings golden, their garments whiter than snow. Whenever they descended on the flower, they went from fold to fold, fanning their loins

gnificence of Rome, thinking they saw unearthly greatness in the Lateran, what must I have thought, who had

s round about him, hoping some day to relate what he sees. He gazed upwards and downwards, and on every side round about, and saw movements g

out. She sat in the third circle from the top, as far from Dante as the bottom of the sea is from the region of thunder; and yet he saw her as plainly as if she had

intense redness of light, like another dawn. Thousands of angels were hanging buoyant around her, each having its own distinct splendour and adornm

[55] and so other Hebrew women, down all the gradations of the flower, dividing, by the line which they made, the Christians who lived before Christ from those who lived after; a line which, on the opposite side of the rose, was answered by a similar one of Founders of the Church, at th

her on earth now hailed her above with "Ave, Maria!" singing till the whole host of Heaven joined in the song. St. Bernard then prayed to her for help to his companion's eyesight. Beatrice, with others of the blest, was seen joining in the prayer, their

ning only a sense of sweetness

rished had he faltered, that his eyes, unblasted, attained to a perception of the Sum of Infinitude. He beheld, concentrated in one spot-written in one volume of Love-all which is diffused, and can become the subject of thought and study throughout the universe-all substance and accident and mode-a

e remembered would fall as short of right speech as the sounds of an infant's tongue while it is murmuring over the nipple; for the more he had looked at that light, the more he found in it to amaze him, so that his brain toiled with the succession of the

alone understandest thyself, and art by thyself understood,

round, seemed to be painted by its own col

to the same state of bewilderment as the mathematician experiences when he vain

power to impart the discernment; nor did he feel any longer impatient for the gift. Desire became absorbed in submissi

A curious and

nostri vis

he perla in

tosto a le no

iù facce a par

rcibly to his own house; and then, tearing off her religious habit, compelled her to go in a secular garment to her nuptials. Before the spouse of Christ came together with her new husband, she knelt down before a crucifix, and recommended her virginity to Christ. Soon after, her whole body was smitten with leprosy, so as to strike grief and horror into the

A lovely si

to l

ea d'amor nel

more at the time" (says Mr. Cary, quoting from Muratori and others); "and because it was not credited that she could have a child at that age, she was delivered in a pa

y an allusion to Dan

tnot

Sanctus D

strans cl

nes horum

Hebrew,

too strong, as will be seen by

have become acquainted with Dante during the poet's youth, when the prince met his royal father in the

ompany of Sordello (see Purg. canto vi. and vii.); with whom she is supposed to have cohabited before her marriage: then lived with a soldier of Trevigi, whose wife was living at the same time in the same city; and, on his being murdered by her brother the tyrant,

persecutor of the Albigenses. It is of him the brutal anecdote is related, that, being asked, during an indiscriminate at

a, chap. ii. and vi.

eological disclosures in the whole of the preceding passage, nor yet to consid

lmen, whose names and obsolete writings are, for the most part, no longe

time to their ecstatic anilities with voices tinkling like church-clocks. You may invest them with as much light or other blessed indistinctness as you please; the beards and the old ages will break through. In vain theologians may tell us that our imaginations are not exalted enough. The answer (if s

tnot

suoi, ed a'

ments, down other people's throats! St. Dominic was a Spaniard. So was Borgia. So was Philip the Second. There seems to have been an inherent semi-barbarism in the character of Spain, which it has never got rid of to this day. If it were not for Cervantes, and so

rter of this advice had not humili

tnot

meus, o s

i, sicut

coeli jan

ompliment to the poet in "the obscurity of a learn

tnot

gli occhi suoi

nsai co' miei

azia e del m

nd imparadised" (Pensai che non potessero gli occhi miei essere graziati ed impa

times in Florence, which Dante eulogises at the expense of his own

d specially hated by him, was a personage who appears to have exhibited the rare combination of judge and fop. An old commentator, in recording his attention to his hair, seems to intimate that Dante alludes to it in contrastin

tnot

uro, e onde

che ragion

xvi., Paradise, in the original), that while he claimed for them a descent from the Romans (see Inferno, canto xv. 73, &c.), he knew them to be] poor in fortune, perhaps of humble condition. What follows, in the text of our abstract, about the purity of the old Florentine blood, even in the veins of th

aid in the presence of a vi

re), and the Balls or (Palle d'oro), were arms of old families. I do not trouble

popular opinion that the peace of Florence was bound up with the statu

ut to marry a young lady of the Amidei family, when a widow of one of the Donati, who had designed her own daughter for him, contrived

tnot

ai ogni co

; e questo e

de l'esilio

i sì come

rui, e com'

'l salir per l

iù ti graver

agnia malvag

tu cadrai in

rata, tutta m

tra te: ma

, n'avrà ros

ialitate il

va, sì ch' a

a parte per

eagle. These are the a

ro

nown of Can Grande della Scala, wh

"Letizia era f

on. Mr. Cary thinks the former; and the mention of his kinsman Rinaldo (Ariosto's Paladin?) seems to confirm his opinion; yet the situation of the name in the text brings it nearer to G

Exquisitely be

beautiful is this

ndo, e poi t

dolcezza c

cely worth the beautiful triad of this divine poet on the lark [and then he repeats them]. In the first of them, do you not s

third there is a redundance. Is not contenta quite enough without _che la sazia?_The pict

of your remark; and yet beauties in poetry must be ex

expresses the satiety itself, so that the

tnot

on cantor bu

to guizzo

piacer lo ca

he parlò, mi

le due luci

ter d'occhi

e muover le

e has left writings, the eloquence of which, according to Tiraboschi, is "worthy of a better age." Petrarch also makes honourable mention of him. See Ca

2: The card

che duo bestie van

tnot

sta (voce) venn

rido di sì

rebbe qui a

si, sì mi vin

ce they flocked

out so huge, th

keness for a

the words, it s

nte, he would have put this passag

the founder of the ord

monk and moralist. R

ald

English poetry will be rem

mount;

est parts of earth

find the noble

t a northern

the sea

a grain o'

ill any si

ars is thi

this, alas

rds! do call Gr

y finely, and with a beautiful intimation of the all-inclusivenes

ow? angels an

the appearance of Saint Peter, i

tnot

ello intra l

ido de' suo

e le cose c

er gli aspe

lo cibo ond

vi labor gli

empo in su l'

e affetto il

do pur che l

na mia si s

involta in

e il sol most

ndola io sos

le è quei

, e sperando

tnot

' plenilu

e tra le N

'l ciel per

seen Christ in his ow

40: The Vi

tnot

re

lia de' deb

tnot

luci mi

tnot

melodia più

più a se l'

e che squar

l sonar di

ronava il

el più chiaro s

tnot

cendomi

nse me, sì c

co lume, al

; sì nel dir

335-338; and the preface of the Milanese Editors to the "Convito" of Dante,-Opere Minori, 12mo, vol ii. p. xvii. Foscolo's conjecture seems hardly borne out by the context; but I think Dante had boldness and self-estimation enough to have advanced an

the twenty-fourth canto of Paradise; and those, of which the

inga, che 'l

posto mano e

fatto per p

udeltà che

ile ov' io d

pi che gli d

ce omai, con

poeta, ed

esmo prender

e la fede

io, quiv' en

i sì mi girò

in te." Psalm ix. 10. T

thy name will put th

tnot

n animal cov

fetto convie

che face a lui

a former one, in which the greetings of St. Peter and St. James are compared to those of doves murmuring and sidling round abou

tnot

sembianza s

be Giove, s'

lli e cambia

is fantastical image would suppose the author was a gre

the positive bathos, and I fear almost indecent irrelevancy of the introduction of Beatrice at all on such an occasion, much more under the feeb

ide of his genius? To the St. John or the St. Peter of his own poem? St. Francis or St. Dominic?-I am afraid, all things considered, we should have ha

e same reason the denouncement itself is out of its place. The preachers brou

tnot

o io

uo fattor tut

at the close of whose brief and inefficient appearance in I

Boniface, was now dead, and of course in Tartarus, in

thrust down Pope Boniface into a gulf still hotter. So says the g

te 55:

56: The

57: The In

st to notice (not long since, I presume) the curious circumstance of Dante's having terminated the three portions of his poem with the word "stars." He thinks that

LC

cal N

LIFE AND

rnine countryman with a peculiar propriety of contrast, much of his liveliest banter being directed against the absurdities of Dante's theology. But hasty and most erroneous would be the conclusion that he was nothing but a banterar. He w

zzi; journeyed in Lombardy and elsewhere; was one of the most intimate friends of Lorenzo de Medici and his literary circle; and apparently led a life the most delightful to a poet, always meditating some composition, and buried in his woods and gardens. Nothing is known of his latter days. An unpublished work of little credit (Zilioli On the Italian Poets), and an earlier printed book, which, according to Tiraboschi, is of not much greater (Scardeone De Antiquitatibus Orbis Patavin?), say that he died miserably in Padua, and was refused Christian burial on account of his impieties. It is not improbable that, during the eclipse of the fortunes of the

e their friends-a perilous speculation. Besides his share in these verses, he is supposed to have had a hand in his brother's romance, and was certainly the author of some devout poems, and of a burlesque panegyric on a country damsel, La Beca, in emulation of the charming poem La Nen

tter's youth, probably from his birth-is spoken of in a tone of domestic intimacy by his wife-and is enumerated by him among his companions in a very special and characteristic manner in his poem on Hawking (L

ndò dianzi in quel boschetto, Che qualche fantasia ha

re. Gone, depend upon it, To vent some fancy in his brain-

ays muttering some verse or other betwixt my teeth; but I say to myself, 'My Lorenzo is not here-he who is my only hope and refuge;' and so I suppress it." Such is the first, and of a like nature are the latest accounts we possess of the sequestered though companionable poet. He preferred one congenial listener who understood him, to twenty critics that were puzzled with the vivacity of his impuls

mescolassi una bugia, Che questa non è storia

de, e chi rampogna: Ognu

itaria vita, Che la tur

' Affrica e l' Asia: Vengon le Ninfe con lor canestretti, E portanmi o narciso o colocasia; E così fu

fiction, And that the moment that I quit some flat, Folks are all puff, and blame, and contradiction, And swear I nev

dream; And the Nymphs bring me baskets full of flowers, Arums, and sweet narcissus from the stream; And thus m

encouraging the Greek language, doubtless with the laughing approbation of the found

ith some, as to whether he intended to write a serious or a comic poem, or on any one point was in earnest at all. One writer thinks he cannot have been in earnest, because he opens every canto with some pious invocation; another asserts that the piety itself is a banter; a similar critic is of opinion, that to mix levities with gravities proves the gravities to have been nought, and the levities all in all; a fourth allows him to have been serious in his description of the battle of Roncesvalles, but says he was laughing in all the rest of his poem; while a fifth candidly gives up the question, as one of those puzzles occasioned by the caprices of the human mind, which it is impossible for reasonable people to solve. Even Sismondi, who was well acquainted with the age in which Pulci wrote, and who, if not a profound, is generally an acute and liberal critic, confesses himself to be thus confounded. "Pulci," he says, "commences all his cantos by a sacred invocation; and the interests of religion are constantly intermingled with the adventures of his story, in a manner capricious and little instructive. We know not how to reconcile this monkish spirit with the semi-pagan character of society under Lorenzo di Medici, nor whether we ought to accuse Pulci of gross bigotry or of profane derision." [1] Sismondi did not consider that the lively and impassioned people of the south take what may be called household-liberties with the objects of their worship greater than northerns can easily conceive; that levity of manner, therefore, does not always imply the absence of the gravest belief; that, be this as it may, the belief may be as grave on some points as light on others, perhaps the more so for that reason; and that, although some poems, like some people, are altogether grave, or the reverse, there really is such a thing as tragi-comedy both in the world itself and in the representations of it. A jesting writer may be quite as much in earnest when he professes to be so, as a pleasant companion who feels for his own or for other people's mis

poetess, who wrote a number of sacred narratives, and whose virtues he more than once records with the greatest respect and tenderness. The Morgante concludes with an address respecting this lady to the Virgin, and with a hope that her "devout and sincere" spir

ystery of the Trinity appear to have been more like those of Sir Isaac Newton than of Archdeacon Travis. And assuredly he agreed with Origen respecting eternal punishment, rather than with Calvin and Mr. Toplady. But a man may accord with Newton, and yet be tho

persecuted for so doing, whose memories, for the same identical reason, are loved, perhaps adored, by the descendants of the calumniators! In a public library, in Pulci's native place, is preserved a little withered relic, to which the attention of the visitor is drawn with reverential complacency. It stands, pointing upwards, under a glass-case, looking like a mysterious bit of parchment; and is the finger of Galileo;-of that Galileo, whose hand, possessi

e, and not to be compared to that sublime monstrosity in point of genius and power, is as superior to it in liberal opinion and in a certain pervading lovingness, as the author's affectionate disposition, and his country's advance in civilisation, combined to render it. The editor of the Parnaso

gery, and became such a jest with the wits, that they took a delight in palming upon it their most incredible fictions. The title (Morgante the Great) seems to have been either a whim to draw attention to an old subject, or the result of an intention to do more with the giant so called than took place; for though he is a conspicuous actor in the earlier part of the poem, he dies when it is not much more than half completed. Orlando, the champion of the faith, is th

her Paladins, his cousin Rinaldo especially, have their separate adventures, all more or less mixed up with the treacheries and thanklessness of Gan (for they assist even him), and the provoking trust reposed in him by Charlemagne; and at length the villain crowns his infamy by luring Orlando with most of the Paladins into the

nd magnanimity, Rinaldo by his vehemence, Ricciardetto by his amours, Astolfo by an ostentatious rashness and self-committal; but in all these respects they appear to have been made to the author's hand. Neither does the poem exhibit any prevailing force of imagery, or of expression, apart from popular idiomatic phraseology; still less, though it has plenty of infernal magic, does it pre

ow or over-familiar forms of speech (so the graver critics allege, though, perhaps, from want of animal spirits or a more comprehensive discernment); and lastly (to say nothing of the question as to the gravity or levity of the theology), the strange exhibition of whole successive stanzas, containing as many questions or affirmations as lines, and commencing each line with the same words. They me

un tempo giacqui? E' questo il padre e 'l mio dolce fratello? E' questo il popol dov' io tanto piacqui? E' ques

tturne feste? Ove son or le mie delicatezze? Ove son or le mie compagne oneste? Ove son or

, every morn? Is this my father's and my brother's kiss? Is this the land they bred me to adorn? Is this the g

ight feasts and measures? Where now are all the delicate delights? Where now are all the partners of my pleasures? Where

ffered husbands," and "romances," and ending with the startli

pi adesso, E gli orsi, e i dra

forests drear, Wolves, tigers,

andour of desolation; but the mechanical iteration of her mode of putting them renders them irresistibly ludicrous. It remin

o a roar of pins, Th

ges? Or did he flatter himself, that the comprehensive mind of his hearer could at one and

ers of Paladins conceives her affection for one of them, and persuades a vehemently hostile suitor quietly to withdraw his claims by presenting him with a ring and a graceful speech, is in a taste as high as any thing in Boiardo, and superior to the more animal passion of the love in their great successor.[10] Yet the tenderness of Pulci rather shews itself in the friendship of the Paladins for one another, and in perpetual little escapes of generous and affectionate impulse. This is one of the great charms of the Morgante. The first adventure in the book is Orlando's encounter with three giants in behalf of a good abbot, in whom he discovers a kinsman; and this goodness and relationship combined move the Achilles of Christendom to tears. Morgante, one of these giants, who is converted, becomes a sort of squire to his conqueror, and takes such a liking to him, that, seeing him one day

ith devi

holds: men on

kes no notice of the advice, except with a waving of the recollection of happier times. He bids the hero farewell, and says he has only to summon him in order to receive his aid. This retention of a sense of his former angelical dignity has been noticed by Foscolo and Panizzi, the two best writers on these Italian poems.[12] A Calvinist would call the expression of the sympathy "hardened." A humani

s." The stones, while the abbot is speaking, come thundering down, and he exclaims, "For God's sake, knight, come in, for the manna is falling!" This is exactly in the style of the Dictionnaire Philosophique. So when Margutte is asked what he believes in, and says he believes in "neither black nor blue," but in a good capon, "whether roast or boiled," the reader is forcibly reminded of Voltaire's Traveller, Scarmentado, who, when he is desired by the Tartars to declare which of their two parties he is for, the party of the black-mutton or the white-mutton, answers, that the dish is "equally indifferent to him, provided it is tender." Voltaire, however, does injustice to Pulci, when he pretends that in matters of belief he is like himself,-a mere scoffer. The friend of Lucrezia Tornabuoni has evidently the tenderest veneration for all that is good and lovely in the Catholic faith; and whatever liberties he might have allowed himself in professed extravaganzas, when an age without Church-authority encouraged them, and a reverend canon could take part in those (it must be acknowledged) unseemly "high jinks," he never, in the Morgante, when speaking in his own person, and not in that of the worst characters, intimates disrespect towards any opinion which he did not hold to be irrelevant to a right faith. It is observable that his freest expressions are put in

cts exemplar, of Ariosto, and, in Milton's opinion, a poet worth reading for the "good use" that may be made of him. It has been strangely supposed that his friend Politian, and Ficino the Platonist, not merely helped him with their books (as he takes a pride in telling us), but wrote a good deal of the latter part of the Morgante, particularly the speculations in matters of opinion. As if (to say nothing of the difference of style) a man of genius, however lively, did not go through the

é, as below); Crescimbeni, Commentari Intorno all' Istoria della Poesia, &c. lib. vi. cap. 3 (Mathias's edition), and the biographical additions to the same work, 4to, Rome, 1710, vol. ii. part ii. p. 151, where he says that Pulci was perhaps the "modestest sad most temperate writer" of his age ("il pin modesto e mode

The passage will be foun

3: Id. And

: Canto xxv

uto qui non

gedía la ist

commedía p

l mio Carlo

osì mi prom

tnot

Ariosto, tu ammirerei i

. Ital. vol.

l. ii. p. 287; and Panizzi's Essay on the Romantic Narrative Poetry o

d the strength of forty men, and was twenty cubits high. During the suspension of a mortal combat with Orlando, they discuss the mysteries of the Christian faith, which its champion

8: Canto x

tautology, the look is still more extraordinary. Orlando is

aldo, la tu

do, il tuo s

do, il tuo s

ldo, il tuo

aldo, la t

, l' arme e 'l

do, la tua g

o, il tuo cor

xvi. s

naldo, is th

aldo, is thy

aldo, thy rep

naldo, thy s

ldo, thy free-

ldo, thy good

aldo, thy ren

aldo, thou?-I

drama were nothing to it. Yet there is a still more extraordinary play upon words in canto xxiii. st. 49, consisting of the description of a hermi

o era tutto: Del pane appena ne dette ta' dotte. Pere avea pure, e qualche fratta frutta; E svina e sven

was a vile th

st; the night no

tars the rude

upper was no s

r fare, and suc

-their butt all

h instead of f

isk al-fresco,

h them even in tragi-comedy. Did Pulci find these also in his ballad-authorities? If his Greek-loving critics made objections here, they had the advantage of him: unless indeed they too, in their Alexandrian pr

aladins, and engaged by her own heart to Uliviero; and in he despair of his discomfiture, expresses a wish to die by her hand. Meridiana, with graceful pity, begs his acceptance of a jewel, and recommends him

n plainly partial; first to correct him for grave Cicero, and not for scurrile Plautus, whom he confesses to have been reading not long before; next, to correct him only, and let so many more ancient fathers wax old in those pleasant and florid studies without the lash of such a tutoring apparition; insomuch that Basil teaches how some good use may be ma

in his admirable article on the Narrative and Romantic Poems

*

RS OF

lando. It is of him I am about to speak, and of his friend Morgante, and of Gan the traitor, who begu

s also Avolio and Avino, and Otho of Normandy, and Richard, and the wise Namo, and the aged Salamon, and Walter of Monlione, and Baldwin who was the son of the wretched Gan. The good emperor was too happy, and oftentimes fairly groaned for joy at seeing all his Paladins together. Now Mor

ks there?

your brothers. Divine Providence has sent me to avenge the wrongs of the monks upon the whole set

Morgante, "do me no

l me in courte

lied Orlando; "I adore Christ; and if

serpent, and called upon Mahomet in vain; then I called upon your God who was crucified, and

, and I will love you with perfect love. Your idols are false and vain; the true God is the God of the Christians.

ent," said

him, and said, "I will

rgante, for he was impatient to

, you must ask pardon of the abbot; for God has enlightened y

eforth be my God. Tell me your name, and afterwards dispo

a thousand times. Orlando has a great deal too much presumption. Here are we, counts, dukes, and kings, at your service, but not at his; and we have resolved not to be governed any longer by one so much younger than ourselves. You began in Aspramont to give him to understand how valiant he was, and that he did great things at that fountain; whereas,

but at last he went from Paris by himself, raging with scorn and grief. He borrowed, as he went, of Ermillina the wife of Ogier, the Dane's sword Cortana and his horse Rondel, and proceeded on his way to Brava. His wife, Alda the Fair, hastened to embrace him; but while she was saying, "Welcome, my Orlando,"

rode, he thought, every step of the way, of the traitor Gan; and so, riding on wherever the road took him, he reached

en to. At last the abbot came himself, and opening the door bade him welcome. The good man told him the reason of the delay, and said that since the arrival of the giants they had been so perplexed that they did not know what to do. "Our ancient fathers in the desert," quoth he, "were rewarded according to their holiness. It is not to be supposed that they lived only upon locusts; doubtles

" said the abbot, "come in

s to cure him of being restive; the stone seems as if it came from a good arm." "Yes," replied the hol

e present that has been made to my horse." The abbot with great tenderness endeavoured to dissuade him, but

d stay with him for a page, promising to make him comfortable. "Stupid Saracen," said Orlando, "I come to you, according to the will of

here?" said he, as he turned away. But Christ never forsakes his followers. While Passamonte was going away, Orlando recovered, and cried aloud, "How now, giant? do you fancy you have killed me? Turn back, for unless you have wings, your escape is out of the question, dog of a renegade!" The giant, greatly marvell

d Orlando, "you too are for throwing stones, are you?" Then Alabastro took his sling, and flung at him so large a fragment as forced Orlando to defend himself, for i

I have always heard you called a perfect knight;

ctors of our Church," continued he, "are all agreed, that if those who are glorified in heaven were to feel pity for their miserable kindred who lie in such horrible confusion in hell, their beatitude would come to nothing; and this, you see, would plainly be unjust on the part of God. But such is the firmness of thei

elves. I will cut off their hands, all four of them, and take them to these holy monks, that they may be sure they are dead, and not fear to go out alone into the desert. They will then be certain also t

fer this giant to come in?" And when the abbot saw the giant, he changed countenance. Orlando, perceiving him thus disturbed, made haste and said, "Abbot, peace be with you! The giant is a

se," said he; and placing a great tub on his shoulders, he went towards a spring at which he had been accustomed to drink, at the foot of the mountain. Having reached the spring, he suddenly heard a great noise in the forest. He took an arrow from the quiver, placed it in the bow, and raising his head, saw a great herd of swine rushing towards the spring where he stood. Morgante shot one of them clean through the head, and laid

imal to whom food comes amiss. They let their breviaries therefore go to sleep a while, and

gone long ago, my good father; but I cannot tell you what I feel within me, at the content I have enjoyed here in your company. I shall bear in mind and in heart with me for ever the abbot, the abbey, and this d

be with you still wherever you go; and, on the other hand, you will always be present here with me. This seems a contradiction; but you are wise, and will take my meaning discreetly. You have saved the very life and spirit within us; for so much perplexity had those giants cast about our place, that the way to the Lord among us was blocked up. May He who sent you into these woods reward the justice and piety by which we are delivered from our trouble. Thanks be to him and to you. We shall all be disconsolate at your departure. We shall grieve that we

suit my companion," replied Orlando

as killed there of old by Orlando's father, Milo of Angrante. There was a painting on the wall which told the whole story: how the giant had laid cruel and long siege to the abbey; and how he had been overthrown at last by the great Milo. Orlando s

admiration of what is painted in this chamber. You must know that I am of high descent, though not through lawful wedlock. I believe I may say I am nephew or sister's son to no less a man than that Rinaldo, who was so great a Paladin i

rms, weeping on both sides with a sovereign affection, too high to be expressed. The abbot was so over-joyed, that he seemed as if he would never have done embracing Orlando. "By w

ough if we all arrive safely at one and the same place, the last as well as the first. We are all pilgrims through many kingdoms. We all wish to go to Rome, Orlando; but we go picking out our journey through different roads. Such is the trouble in body and soul brought upon us by that sin of the old apple. Day and night

magnificent castle, the door of which stood open. They entered, and found rooms furnished in the most splendid manner-beds covered with cloth

dering but the feast. "Who cares for the host," said he, "when there's such a dinner? Let us eat

ood things before them, eating with all the vigour of health, and drinking to a pitch of weakness.

hat they could not get out of the place! There was no door.

dreaming," s

," said the giant. "As for the rest

b in it; and out of the tomb came a voice, saying, "You must encounter wi

if it's the devil himself. Perhaps it's two devils, F

e is, even were it as many devils as wer

devil grappled with Orlando. Morgante was for joining him, but the Paladin bade him keep back. It was a hard struggle, and the devil grinned and laughed, t

" said the devil, "if

inquired

wered the devil. "If he is not baptised, you can have no deliverance; a

hen issued forth, and hearing a mighty noise in

't we do it? We'd set free all the poor souls there. Egad, I'd cut off Minos's tail-I'd pull out Charon's beard by the roots-make a sop of Phlegyas,

ando, "and get worsted besides. Better keep the straight

her of troublesome work, such as a slaughter of some thousands of infidels. Now he chucked a spy into a river-now felled a rude ambassador to the earth (for he didn't stand upon ceremony)-now cleared a space round

lost his master for a time; but the office being at an end, he set out to rejo

ng somewhere. Morgante, who had the great bell-clapper in his hand above-mentioned, struck it on the ground with astonish

raveller?" said Morg

to be a giant myself, but altered my mind, you see, and

quoth his brother-giant

? Do you believe in

then concerned in a brawl in a mosque, in which the old bishop somehow happened to be killed; so I tied a sword to my side, and went to seek my fortune, accompanied by all the possible sins of Turk and Greek. People talk of the seven deadly sins; but I have seventy-seven that never quit me, summer or winter; by which you may judge of the amount of my venial ones. I am a gambler, a cheat, a ruffian, a highwayman, a pick-pocket, a glutton (at beef or blows); have no shame whatever; l

g else, I'd have you believe in this bell-clapper of mine. So now, as you have been can

crocodiles. Morgante, who was the braver of the two, delighted to banter, and sometimes to cheat, Margutte; and he ate up all the fare; which made the other, notwithstanding the credit he gave himself for readiness of wit and tongue, cut a very sorry figure, and seriously remonstrate: "I

e; "you gain upon me very much. You a

n he slept: and next day he cheated his great scoundrelly companion at drink, as he had done the day before at meat; and

. The companions, in the course of their journey, delivered a damsel from the clutches of three other giants. She was the daughter of a great lord; and when she got home, she did honour to Morgante as to an equal,

h a frying-pan in his hand, demanded "something for the cook." The fair hostess gave him a jewel; and the vagabond skewed such a brutal eagerness in seizing it with his filthy hands, and maki

at sort of fellow I was? Didn't I tell you I had every sin and shame und

shes. The sleeper awoke in good time, and, looking and searching round about, suddenly burst into roars of laughter. A monkey had got the boots, and sat pulling them on and off, making the most ridiculous gestures. The monkey busied himself, and the light-minded drunkard laughed; and at every fresh gesticulation of the new boot-wearer, the laugh grew louder and more tremendous, til

in joining his master. He helped him to take Babylon; he killed a whale for him at sea that obstructed his passage; he played the part of a main-sail during a storm, holding out his arms an

said Orlando; "and the bit

s, weak, and

ourably interred; and, after many an adventure, in which he regretted h

rved rescues of him by the warrior he betrayed, could not shame or soften? How mourn the weakness of Charles, always deceived by him, and always trusting? How dare to present to my mind the good, the great, the ever-generous Orlando, brought by the traitor into the doleful pass of Roncesvalles a

lso their kinsman; and they were loyal and loving men, and knew that the wretch envied them for the greatness of their achievements, and might do the state a mischief; so they allowed themselves to take a kind of scornful pleasure in putting up with him. Their cousin Malagigi, the enchanter, had himself assisted Gan, though he knew him best of all, and had proph

ked him on one side, and the knight on the other. He snatched an axe from one, and turned to the kn

tnot

stri dottor

tutti una

son nel cie

nel pensier

parenti c

ferno in gra

licità nu

ui ingiusto

posto in Gesù

a lor, quan

ch' e' fu, ch

ssi in nessu

adre è ne l'

on si posso

iace a Dio, so

serva ne l'

ol bastar p

te: tu il po

elli, Orlando

ordero di Di

e in ciel ser

rti; or pens

ar le mani a

e a que' mo

e Deity's actions a necessity from some barbarous assumption, then square them according to a dictum of the Councils, then compliment him by laying a

tnot

re infermi, al

s passage. Perhaps Pulci means to say, that they had th

rello. Libicocco, and Malaco

o di color che sanno."

raise of

vita nostra, deb

H

OF RONC

ti

s i

story Of the Ro

d deeply on the popular mind of Europe. Hence Italian roman

in with all hi

ntara

by the dying Orlando: hence the peasant in Cervantes, who is met by Don Quixote singing the battle as he comes along the road in the mo

or three only of his nobles perished, among whom was his nephew Roland, the obscure warden of his marches of Brittany. But Charlemagne was the temporal head of Christendom; the poets constituted his nephew its champion; and hence all the glories and superhuman exploits of the Orlando of Pulci and Ariosto. The whole assumption of the wickedness of the Saracens, particularly of the then Saracen king of Spain, whom Pulci's authority, the pseudo-Archbishop Turpin, strang

H

OF RONC

, and there, as well as afterwards, to have avenged his death, was far away from the seat of slaughter, in Egypt; and how was I to suppose that he could arrive soon enough in the valleys of the Pyrenees? But an angel upon earth shewed me the secret, even Angelo Poliziano, the glory of his age and country. He informed me how Arnauld, the Proven?al poet, had written of this very matter, and brought the Paladin from Egypt to France by means of the wonderful skill in occult science possessed by his cousin Malagigi-a wonder to the ignorant, but not so marvellous to those who know that all the creation is full

sador into Spain, where he put a final seal to his enormities, by plotting the destruction of his employer, and the special overthrow of Orlando. Charles was now old and white-haired, and Gan was so too; but the one was only confirmed in his credulity, and the other in his crimes. The traitor embraced Orlando over and over again at taking leave, praying him to write if he had any thing to say before the arrangements with Marsilius, and taking such pains to seem loving and sincere

and then conducted him into the city amid tumults of delight. There was nothing for several days but balls, and games, and exhibitions of

began to understand, from one another's looks, that the real object of the ambassador was yet to be discussed. Marsilius accordingly assumed a more than usually cheerful and confidential aspect; and, ta

of their thoughts, Gan, without appearing to look him in the face, was enabled to do so by contemplating the royal visage in the water, where he saw its expression become more and more what he desired. Marsilius, meantime, saw the like symptoms in the face of Gan. By degrees, he began to touch on that dissatisfaction with Charlemagne and his court, which he knew was in both their minds: he l

foul blow at court. Is it treachery to punish affronts like those? I have planned every thing-I have settled every thing already with their besotted master. Orlando could not be expected to be brought hither, where he has been accustomed to look for a crown; but he will come to the Spanish border

rcast; it thundered and lightened; a laurel was split in two from head to foot; the fountain ran into burning blood; there was an earthquake, and the carob-tree unde

of the C?sars; though one of them renewed the consternation of Gan, by saying that he did not understand the meaning of the tree of Judas, and intimating that perhaps the ambassador could e

of a garland which had a carbuncle in it that gave light in darkness; two lions of an "immeasurable length, and aspects that frightened every body;" some "lively buffalos," leopards, crocodiles, and giraffes; arms and armour of all sorts; and apes and monkeys seated among the rich merchandise that loaded the backs of the camels. This imaginary treasure contained, furthermore, two enchanted spirits, called

elieve that Gan had not some new mischief in contemplation. Little, nevertheless, did they imagine, after the base endeavours he had but lately made against them, that he had immediately plotted a new and

into the passes of Roncesvalles no less than three armies, who were successively to fall on the Paladin, in case of the worst, and so extinguish him with numbers. He had also, by Gan's advice, brought heaps of wine and good cheer to be set before his victims in the first instance; "for that," said the traitor, "will render the onset the more effective, the feasters being unarmed; and, supposing

ereign all round, with the air of a man who had brought them nothing

d be. I must find out where he is, and Ricciardetto too, and send for them with all speed, and at any price." Malagigi called up, by his art, a wise, terrible, a

ruly of Rinaldo," said

. His aspect was clouded and violent. He wished to see

e signs indicative of a disposition to resort to angrier compulsion; and the devil, apprehending that he would confin

as been doing, and where he

e world, east and west," said the demon,

with Marsilius," inquired Malagi

ture. Had we done so, we had not been so willing to incur the danger of falling. All I discern is, that, by the signs and comets in the heavens,

Rinaldo and Ricciardetto into the pass of Roncesvalles.

trust themselves with

and bring him, whether

il Foul-Mouth, or Fire-Red, shall enter the horse of Riccia

hquake, and Ashta

assigned him by his liege lord. The device on his flag was an "Apollo" on a field azure. King Falseron, whose son Orlando had slain in battle, headed the first army, the device of which was a black figure of the devil Belphegor on a dapple-grey field. The third army was under King Balugante, and had for ensign a Mahomet with golden wings in a field of red. Marsilius made a speech to them at night, in which he confessed his ill faith, but defende

their lives. He could only avenge the dreadful tragedy, and prevent still worse consequences to the whole Christian court and empire. The Paladins had in vain begged Orlando to be on his guard against treachery, and send for a more numerous body of men. The great heart of the Champion of the Faith was unwilling to think the worst as long as he could help it. He refused to summon aid that might be superfluous; neither would he do any thing but what his liege lord had desired. And yet

th to reconnoitre, and see if he could discover the peaceful pomp of the Spanish court in the distance. Guottibuoffi was with him, a warrior who had expected the very worst, and repeat

here I see the arms of the traitors around us. I feel Paris tremble all the way through France, to the ground beneath

is horse, and galloped

la

d the hero,

usin; "such as you woul

arms, and all the wor

d his horn, in token that he needed help. His only answer was

e turned in sorrow, and looked down into Roncesvalles, and said, "O valley, misera

n people. He said, "If C?sar and Alexander were here, Scipio and Hannibal, and Nebuchadnezzar with all his flags,

chbishop Turpin went from rank to rank, exhorting and encouraging the warriors of Christ. Accoutrements and habiliments were put on the wrong way; words and deeds mixed in confusion; m

fairly groaned for sorrow, and at first had not a word to say; so w

pportunity of comforting himself a little in hi

rsilius was nothing but an anointed scoundrel. Yet forsooth, he was to bring us tribute! and Charles is this moment expecting his mummeries at St. John Pie

pable of this kind of virtue on a good opportunity, saving, indeed, such base-hearted wretches as can never forgive their very forgivers; and of these I certainly did not suppose him to be one. Let us die, if we must die, like honest and gallant men; so that it shall be said of us, it was only our bodies that died. It becomes our souls to be invincible, and our glory immortal. Our motto must be, 'A good heart and no hope.' The reason why I did not sound the horn was, partly because I thought it did not become us, and

ns!" but he had no sooner turned his face than he wept bitterly, and said, "O holy

eir sins, so that every body took comfort in the thought of dying for Christ, and thus they embraced one another

neighing, and a thousand pennons flying in the air. King Falseron led them on, saying to his officers, "Now, gentlemen, recollect what I said. The first battle is for the leade

himself, and St. Michael for us all. There

the gentle Berlinghieri, and his brother, and Sansonetto, and the good Duke Egibard, and Astolfo the Englishman, and Angiolin of Bayona, and all the other Paladins of France, excepting those two whom I have mentioned. And so the captains of the little troop and of the great arra

Malducco; and Mazzarigi the Renegade came against Avino; and Uliviero was borne forth by his h

emselves; and the new colour extended itself to the bucklers, an

a terrible blow with Malducco; but his horse bore him onward; and Avino had something of the like encounter with Maz

if the forge of Vulcan had been thrown open. Falseron beheld Orlando coming so furiously, that he thought him a Lucifer who had burst his chain, and was quite of another mind than when he proposed to have him all to himself. On the contrary, he recommended himself to his gods; and turning away, begged for a

addle. The hero himself, as he rushed onwards, was fain to see the end of a stroke so perfect, and, turning his horse back, he touched the carcass with his sword, and it fell on the instant. They say, that it had no sooner fallen than it disappeared. People got off their horses t

into the thick of them, with Count Anselm by his side. He rushed like a tempest; and wherever he went, thunderbolts fell upon helmets. The Paladins drove here and there after them, each making a whirlwind round about him, and a bloody circle. Uliviero was again in the mêlée; and Walt

e dead without stopping. Marsilius, from his anxious and raging post, constantly pours them

thin them, till off they flew through the air over the pyramids, crowds of spirits going like a tempest before them. Ricciardetto shut his eyes at first, on perceiving himself so high in the air; but he speedily became used to it, though he looked down on the sun at last. In this manner they passed the desert, and the sea-coast, and the ocean, and swept the tops of the Pyrenees, Ashtaroth talking to them of wonders by the way; for he was one of the wi

"and may I ask whethe

r the whole world, Antipodes and all. Perhaps not one soul will be left out the pale of salvation at last, but the whole human race adore the tr

hing the end of their journey, and began to hear the noise of the battle; and he could no longe

lost among us people below. You know what the proverb says, 'There's never a fruit, however degenerate, but will taste of its stock.' I was of a different orde

ou were a brother; and I certainly do believe that nobleness of spirit exists, as you say, among your people below. I shall be glad to see you both sometimes, if you can

suade Malagigi to free me from his service, and I am yours for ever. To serve you will be a pleasure t

t merely a letter, but a whole packet-full of your praises; and so I will to Orlando;

Ashtaroth, and vanished with

did not

the souls of the infidels as they died, and so carry them off to the infernal regions. Guess if their wings had plenty to do that day! Guess if Minos and Rhadamanthus were busy, and

a bloody circle about him; and stories say, that he sheared off twenty heads in the whirl of it. He then dashed through the astonished beholders towards the battle of Orlando, who guessed it could be no other than his cousin, and almost dropped from his horse, out of desire to meet him. Ricciardetto followed Rinaldo; and Uliviero coming up at the same moment, the rapture of the whole party is not to be expressed. They almost died for joy. After a thousand embraces, and questions, and explana

villany intercepted our letters. Tell me what to do, my d

poor old man, is waiting to receive his homage at the town of St. John! I have never seen a lucky day since you left us. I belie

exclaimed Rinaldo;

s as it was, had not only held aloof, but turned about to fly like herds before the lion; so he was forced to drive them back,

pled wheresoever they went; Rinaldo fatiguing himself with sending infinite numbers of souls to Ashtarot

good as to resist the blow, but at the same time flew off; and Orlando seized him by the hair to kill hi

, his father; and he let go the youth's hair, and embraced and kissed him. "O Bujaforte!" said he

r Marsilius. I had no friend left me in the world, and he took me into his court, and has brought me here before I knew what it was for; and I have made a shew of fighting, but have not hurt a single Christ

as you have done. Never will your father's friend be an e

aldwin, who was hastening towards him at t

yet no body will come against me. I have slain right and left, and ca

will soon discover the secret, if you wish to know it. Your

g any longer, by God! I will plunge this sword through his heart. But I am no traitor, Orlando; and you do m

ndo, but constantly crying out, "You have done me dishonour;" and Orlando was

ance, was thrust down by Marsilius, and Angiolin of Bellonda by Sirionne; and Berlinghieri and Ottone are gone; and then Astolfo went, in revenge of whose death Orlando turned the spot on which he died into a gulf of Saracen blood. Rinaldo met the luckless Bujaforte, who had just begun to explain how he seemed to be fighting on the side which his father hated, when the impatient hero exclaimed, "He who is not with me is against me;" and gave him a volley of such horrible cuffs about the head and ears, that Bujaforte died without being able to speak another word. Orlando, cutting his way to a spot in which there was a great struggle and uproar, found the poor youth Baldwin, the son of Gan, with

Orlando; "have you too

can see nothing-I am dying. The traitor Arcaliffe has stabbed me in the back; but I killed him

ost all hope, all pride, all wish to live any longer; but not my love for Uliviero. Come-let us give them a f

his half-dying companion. They made a street, through which they passed out of the battle; and Orlando led his co

came from him imperfectly, like those of a man in a dream; only his cousin gathered that he meant to commend to him his sister, Orlando's wife, Al

wished that Charles at St. John Pied de Port should hear how the case stood before he went; and so he took up the horn, and blew it t

fell dead at it, and that the whole Saracen army drew back in terror. But fearfuller still was its effect at St. John Pied de Port.

to his nobles. "Did you he

stened; and Gan felt

unded the s

eaning of this

the stag is killed. He is at the old past

my very heart, and, I confess, makes me tremble. I am awakened out of a great dream. O Gan! O Gan! Not for thee do I blush, but for myself, and for nobody else. O my God, what is to be done! But whatever is to be done, must be done quickly. Take this vill

ding the emperor of all which they had foretold. But it was no time for words. They put the traitor i

as long as he could sit his horse, and the Paladins were now reduced to four; and though the Saracens suffered themselves to be mowed down like grass by them and their little band, he

s feet. Orlando cast water on him from the fountain, not wishing to believe him dead; but when he found it to no purpose, he grieved for him as if he had been a human being, and addressed him by nam

, thinking to shiver the steel in pieces, and so prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy; but though the rock

sword, had I known thee from the first, as I know the

ed his eyes on the hilt of his sword as on a crucifix, and embraced it, and said, "Lord, vouchsafe that I may look on this poor instrument as on the symbol of the tree upon which Thou sufferedst thy unspeakable martyrdom!" and so adjusting the sword to his bosom, and embracing it closer, he raised his eyes, and appeared like a creature seraphical and transfigured; and in bowing his head he breathed out his pure soul. A thunder was then heard in the heavens, and the heavens opened and seemed to stoop to the earth, and a flock of an

l that had occurred; but in spite of what he had just seen, he lay for a time overwhelmed with grief. He then rose, and mount

Charles for anguish began tearing his white locks; but Terigi comforted him against so doing, by giving an account of the manner of Orlando's death, and how he had surely gone to heaven. Nevertheless, the squire himself was broken-hearted with grief

ort. Cursed be Gan, and cursed this horrible day, and this place, and every thing. Let us go on, like blind miserable men

ampion of Christendom and the martyrs that died with him, the sun stood still

left on it dead, and the slaughtered heaps among which they lay made the whole valley like a great dumb slaughter-house, trampled up into blood and

curse, and wished that never grass might grow within it again, nor seed of any kind, neither within it, nor on any of its mo

kissed the dead body, and said, "I bless thee, Orlando. I bless thy whole life, and all that thou wast, and all that thou ever didst, and thy mighty and holy valour, and the father that begot the

y; and it pleased God that the dead body of Orlando should rise on its feet, and kneel as he was wont to do at the feet of his liege lord, and gladly, and with a smile on its face, return the sword to the Emperor Charles. As Orlando rose, the Paladins and Turpin knelt down out of fear and horror, espec

d sent with majestic cavalcades to their respective counties and principalities, and every Christ

moment; and they fell upon the Saracens with a new and unexpected battle, and the old emperor, addressing the sword of Orlando, exclaimed, "My strength is little, but do thou do thy duty to thy master, thou famous sword, seeing that he returned it to me

glory of the old time! thou hast cut off the other ear of Malchus, and shown ho

rdetto and the good Turpin; and they took and fired Saragossa; and Marsilius was hung to the carob-tree under which he had pl

at it was because the good old emperor, with all his faults, was a divine man, and believed in ot

END

.

PAULO AND

ebbi il mio

ne antiche e

se, e fui qu

ai: Poeta,

ue' duo the

al vento es

: Vedrai, qu

noi: e tu all

ch' ei mena; e

'l vento a n

ce: O anime

parlar, s' al

be dal disi

erte e ferme,

' aer dal v

de la schie

do per l' a

u l' affet

grazioso

do vai per

mmo it mondo

ico il Re d

mmo lui per

età del nostr

ire e che par

o, e parle

l vento, com

erra, dove

a, dove 'l

ace co' se

r gentil ratt

ui de la b

a, e 'l modo a

ull'amato a

costui piac

di ancor no

sse noi ad

e chi 'n vit

le da lor c

esi quell'an

o, e tanto 'l

eta mi disse

osi, cominc

i pensier,

ro al dolo

lsi a loro,

Francesca,

mi fanno tr

tempo de' d

ome conced

ste i dubbi

: Nessun mag

arsi del t

; e ciò sa 'l

oscer la p

or to hai cot

olui the pi

mo tin giorn

to, come am

, e senza al

te gli occh

ra, e scolor

unto fu quel

gemmo il d

ato da cot

ai da me non

baciò tutt

l libro, e ch

iù non vi leg

'uno spirto

ngeva si, c

n cosi com'

me corpo m

*

the terza rima

arnt the names

dames, than I

wits for ve

id, "fain would

h yonder pair,

re the dreadful

uide, "until then

n beg them, by t

ome, and hover

ind flung them

ed, "Oh, if I

s, have speech

leave some bevy

open wings, and

wafted by their

Dido's flock t

here we stood,

bring them had

oke. "O livin

s, in this los

d stain'd the sw

nd in heaven'

h him keep thy

nguish thou do

aseth thee to

so, till this

w, will speak a

e I was born i

gs all his ri

use them with t

n kindleth in

look'st on for t

haunts me like

love will be

nsport in my

with me, even

to one grave. Th

ourn us in the

ords that told

ood, looking

hard and sad

sk'd what held

oused me; and

houghts then, all

ught them to thi

y sad eyes to

e-these human

der tears wer

the time when

strive no longe

p where bliss a

reater sorrow,

eacher here kno

g to mind j

wish be great

ll but love,

ars will let

ad how Lancelo

ed, and what

, thinking of

eyes suspende

eks the colour

assage struck

lover, moth-li

eet smile, kiss

mine are now f

ble, on the m

l. Our hearts w

one. That day n

spoke, the othe

woful, that a

h I should have

to the ground f

.

IRCUMSTANCES RELATING TO PAULO AND FRANCESCA

CIO'S

his Commentary

elationship; and the matter of this relationship was so discoursed, that the said Messer Guido agreed to give his young and fair daughter in marriage to Gianciotto, the son of Messer Malatesta. Now, this being made known to certain of the friends of Messer Guido, one of them said to him, 'Take care what you do; for if you contrive not matters discreetly, such relationship will beget scandal. You know what manne

which discovery moved her to such disdain, that she became not a whit the less rooted in her love for Polo. Nevertheless, that it grew to be unlawful I never heard, except in what is written by this author (Dante), and possibly it might so have become; albeit I take what he says to have been an invention framed on the possibility, rather than any thing which he knew of his own knowledge. Be this as it may, Polo and Madonna Francesca living in the same house, and Gianciotto being gone into a certain neighbouring district as governor, they fell into great companionship with one another, suspecting nothing; but a servant of Gianciotto's noting it, went to his master and told him how matters looked; with the which Gianciotto being fiercely moved, secretly returned to Rimini; and seeing Polo enter the room of Madonna Francesca the while he himself was arriving, went straight to the door, and finding it locked inside, called to his lady to come out; for, Madonna Francesca and Polo having descried him, Polo thought to escape suddenly through an opening in the wall, by means of which there was a descent into an

en. He will ignore as much of the business as a gentleman can; boldly doubts any guilt in the case; says nothing of the circumstance of the book; and affirms that the husband loved his wife, and was miserable at having slain her. T

has left the prevailing impression on the minds of posterity, which is this:-that Francesca was beguiled by her father into the marriage with the deformed and unamiable Giovanni, and that the unconscious medium of the artifice was the amiable and handsome Paulo; that

s party-prejudice. But a romance may be displaced, only to substitute perhaps matters of fact more really touching, by reason of their greater probability. The following is the whole of what modern inquirers have ascertained respecting Paulo and Francesca. Future enlargers on the story may suppress what they please, as Dante did; but if any one of them, like the writer of the present remarks, is anxious to speak nothing bu

*

EALLY ASCERTAINED RESPECTING TH

of Guido Novello da P

vanni, surnamed the La

Verrucchio, l

r named Paulo the Handsome, wh

r of a son who died, and of a daughter who survived her, she and her brothe

pened, and the bodies found lying together in

an in the half-concealed and misleading circumstances of the received

have been a mere heartless

probability is, that the marriage was an affair of state, the

as younger; and this renders more than probable what the latest biographers have asserted-namely, that the lord of Ravenna, at

*

.

OF U

partiti g

duo ghiaccia

capo a l'altr

an per fame

an li denti

el s'aggiunge

menti Tid

Menalippo

a 'l teschio e

tri per sì b

colui che

è, diss' io, p

ragion di lu

voi siete, e

so ancor io

ch' i' parlo

ollevò dal

r, forbendol

egli avea d

tu vuoi ch'

lor the 'l c

ndo, pria ch'

e parole es

amia al tradit

agrimar ved

i tu sei, nè

qua giù: ma

ramente, qua

ch' i' fu 'l

Arcivescov

erch' i' son

fetto de' suo

i lui, io f

rto, dir no

e non puoi a

la morte mi

aprai se m

gio dentro

me ha 'l tit

ne ancor ch' al

trato per l

quand' i' feci

ro mi squarc

va a me mae

lupo e i lupi

an veder Luc

magre stud

Sismondi e

si dinanzi

corso mi pa

figli, e con

veder fende

desto innan

fra 'l sonno

meco, e diman

el, se uo gi

h' al mio cuor

ngi, di che

ti, e l'ora

ne soleva es

ogno ciascu

chiavar l'u

e torre: on

ei figliuoi s

eva, sì dent

elli; ed An

ardi sì, pad

agrimai nè

orno nè la no

altro sol ne

o di raggio

o carcere,

isi il mio as

ni per dol

do ch' i 'l f

r, di sub

re, assai ci

di noi: tu

e carni, e t

per non farg

altro stemmo

ra, perchè n

mmo al quart

gittò dist

re mio, che

: e come t

car li tre

i, e 'l sesto:

brancolar so

chiamai poich

e 'l dolor, po

tto ciò, con g

eschio miser

osso come d'

vituperio

se là dove

ini a te pun

Capraja e

epe ad Arno

nnieghi in te

onte Ugolin

ita te de l

figliuoi porr

facea 'l e

, Uguccione,

o che 'l canto

*

in the her

raitor Bocca's

re, so iced u

visage capp'd t

ish'd man de

p one's teeth

brain. Tydeus,

brain of Men

ed, "showing su

arest, read us

ause be juster

n I return, kn

ory have the

ifted from his

wiping it wit

ad laid waste; a

hing thou aske

k of. Yet, t

to him on

:-ay, and thin

all the whil

be, I know not

hither; but thy

, of a suret

at I was once

as Ruggieri, t

'st wonder at

snares be known

n my trust, a

rder was, of wh

w have had th

dge.-In the tower

Famine, I had

n fade through

am one night,

future with it

man led a gre

and cubs, acr

Lucca from the

nds, high-bred, a

in the press

nd Sismondi.

his sons, those

the hounds all

ry awoke me

s, the while t

ith me), wail, a

it move thee

oughts then rush

ou weep at, wee

ed, and somethi

ime they used t

eams had grown

d a key, down

readful turre

ook'd my child

ed, so firml

hey did; and m

k so!-Won't they

ept not, nor

next night. And

ld without,

ght there cam

ith the gloom o

my children's

faces mine o

hands for mise

inking I did

'Father, we sh

eed on us. Chi

ther's flesh. St

saw me shake no

next, we all c

rth!-why opene

as the fourth

hed him at my f

on't you help m

thou seest m

three childre

th day and the

lind; and

r them, as I kn

; and for thre

, as though they

what grief had

hus, he seiz'd

ain, his feast

on the skull,

strong as mast

u that shame

d that speaks th

spareth thy vil

very isles woul

nd drown eve

walls. What

traitor, and

ns) thy castl

right to put t

. Childhood

nnocence, and t

ee, Pisa, to a

*

ORY OF

FEELING RESPEC

heart to finish it. He refers for the conclusion to his original, hight "Dant," the "grete poete of Itaill

ed countryman, who tel

at c

or to put in

our of one of the children, which Da

day this child

her's barme (la

ewell, father,

father, and die

traitor, who did actually deliver up the fortified places, as Dante acknowledges; and that his rivals, infamous as he, or more infamous, prevailed against him, and did shut him up and starve him and some of his family. But the "little" children are an invention of

cumstances of the case, as he advanced in years; but if charity is bound to hope that he would have altered the passage accordingly, had he revised his poem, it is forced to admit that he left it unaltered, and that his "will and pleasure" might hav

haron row his boat over the river Styx, and their payment a piece of mouldy bread and a fillip on the nose. Somebody should write a burle

*

.

CE IN THE TIME OF

tro da la ce

lie ancora e

pace sobri

atenella,

ontigiate,

veder più ch

nascendo

adre, che 'l t

quindi e qui

ase di fam

iunto ancor

ò che 'n cam

nto ancora

cellatojo, ch

su, così sa

erti vid' io

osso, e venir

a sanza 'l

e' Nerli e qu

nti a la pe

e al fuso ed

! e ciascun

epoltura, e

ncia nel lo

ava a studio

ndo usava

adri e le mad

ndo a la roc

va con la

e di Fiesol

a allor tal

lla, un Lap

a Cincinnato

*

on in bla

e she broke the

eard the chimes

in modesty

had she-no c

dals-no rich

eye more than

red no daughter'

ing wealth; nor

xile. Chambere

are, to prove the

ng uplands then

me's, only to k

ncion Berti

ong of leather

glass without

and Vecchios

out cloaks; and

e they spun. B

ce where they sho

beds deserted w

babies; lull'd t

words of the

drew the dist

bosoms of t

Troy, and Fies

then as marv

apo Salter

e Cianghella

tus or Cor

*

.

S AND TH

LC

chiamava

gue disceso

badia v'era

a alcun fie

no avea nom

tro, e 'l terz

rombe gitta

facevan qua

ti non pot

, o per legne

hia, e non v

bate a la fin

nto cominci

che di Mari

ra cristian

era a la bad

ate: Il ben

o ho, volenti

redi al figl

, cavalier,

on l'imputi

ntrar resist

le aprir que

en chi vive

nni al princ

gne, benchè

di, pur si

to, ch' ell'

iere t'avev

esso di br

na, se vogl

e dimestich

n piutosto s

iti tre fie

al paese o d

n feroci tu

malvoler giunt

tutto; e noi no

rban si l'or

che far, s'al

padri nostri

re sante era

r da Dio n'av

ol vivessin

el la manna,

n che spesso

iovon di sop

Alabastro

è Morgante, a

i e faggi e ce

fin quì; ques

r che d'ira

parlan così

che Rondel

anti giù ve

prese sotto il

to, cavalie

te, che la

lando: Car

l che 'l mio c

o guarebbe

r che di buon

to padre: Io n

monte un gior

*

.

HE BATTLE OF

SA

and Bu

ia veniva

arte appari

à e in là, com

caso trovò

esta gli det

lmo è temper

tato era, al

sta gli bal

se costui p

i, se non ch'

adimento app

i', de la mo

mi dica pre

n rispose co

jaforte io

na del Vegli

ndo intese i

adre suo ra

ma, e poi l'ab

a, e con l'e

jaforte, il v

io: e da ca

radimento d

la fortuna

dico per l

ter con mie g

adre tuo, dov

ona questo,

piangeva

lando mio, da

re a forza q

onvien quel

mia patria

corte sua m'

rimetterm

ndo consigl

on da ognuno

a cagion qu

stri far gran

nessun ne l

nto per fam

tto il mondo

ebbi: e mi p

dre mio l'a

nto tu tel

e Marsilio

crezion tu i

nte per tua

di Marsilio

vostro Gano

non gli pon l

nostro ce l'

: Rimetti l'e

battaglia a

segnirà: ta

sempre come i

etta un poco,

nga qualche s

li è ne la z

l nome per n

sse in quell

e' da la pa

ochi netto, d

a aver quì gl

aforte: Ben

glia passer

che amico

dre mio, ch'

through the fight, and unfo

trovò quel

, che sarebb

sse trovat

ebbe a parla

io, e di star

i rispose

eco, avverso

i a trassina

mandiretto

a, e quattro e

e agio a do

dde sanza

o and

i che lasci

'anni trova

re e non tru

e il caval

glia, e va c

ndo, e diceva

ho fatto oggi

e nessun m

i ho pur fa

ciò sia pens

o veggo la g

ndo: Tu ti f

tto stu ti v

esta ti cav

Gan, come t

i a Marsilio

ldwin: Se

ondotti com

ggi campar, p

pada passero

e, Orlando,

seguito con p

ti dir maggio

iò la vesta c

tornerò ne l

hai per trad

raditor, se

i più oggi s

'oste de' pa

re: Tu m' ha

pentea d'av

to vide il

aglia corne

quel crude

se' qui, c

ger la gent

rinnegato

sto giù ne'

la spada in m

dov' egli d

n with Baldwin, wh

e a le grida

ldovino il

presso a l'u

ce avea pass

non son io p

terra morto

osa duolsi O

er cagion de

r to the reader in the word "Languedoc," meaning langue d'oc, or tongue of Oc,

the cruel stories in th

ave already carried the author of this book so far beyond his intended limits, that he is obliged to refer for evidence in the cases of Ugolino

OF V