[1] Students who care to trace the thoughts and characters of this great poem to their sources, should read Pio Rajna's exhaustive essay, Le Fonti dell'Orlando Furioso, Firenze, Sansoni, 1876. The details of the Orlando are here investigated and referred with scientific patience to Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and other originals. If anything, Signor Rajna may seem to have overstrained the point of critical sagacity. It is hardly probable that Ariosto, reader of few books as Virginio says he was, should have drawn on stores so multifarious of erudition.

[2] See Ugo Foscolo's essay on the Narrative and Romantic Poems of Italy in the Quarterly Review for April, 1819.

[3] Especially in Morgante and Margutte.

[4] See Capitolo iii.

[5] Ariosto's method of introducing flattery is simple. He makes Merlin utter predictions from his tomb, Melissa prophesy to Bradamante and Atlante to Ruggiero; or he displays magic frescoes, statues, and embroideries, where the future splendors of the Este family are figured; or, again, in the exordia of his cantos he directly addresses his patrons. Omitting lesser passages, we may reckon fifteen principal panegyrics of the Este house: canto iii. 16 to end, the fabulous pedigree; viii. 62, 63, praise of Ippolito; xiii. 57 and on, praises of the women of the family; xiv. beginning, the battle of Ravenna and Alfonso; xv. 2, 29, Alfonso's defeat of the Venetians; xviii. 1, 2, Alfonso's justice; xxxv. 4-9, prophecy of Ippolito; xxxvi. 1-9, Ippolito and the Venetians; xl. 1-5, defeat of the Venetians again; xli. 1-3, general adulation; xli. 62-67, pedigree again; xlii. 3, Alfonso wounded; xlii. 83-92, women of the family again; xliii. 54-62, praises of Ferrara; xlvii. 85-97, life of Ippolito. The most extravagant flatteries are lavished upon Ippolito and Lucrezia Borgia. When we remember who and what these Este princes were—how brutal in his cruelty Alfonso, how coarse and selfish and sensual Ippolito, how doubtful in her life Lucrezia—we cannot but feel these panegyrics to be sickening in their impudence.

[6] See the ending of the ninth and the beginning of the eleventh cantos of the Furioso.

[7] What Ariosto thought about contemporary Italy may be gathered from these lines (xvii. 76):

[8] Those who are curious may compare the three lines in which Dante likens Piero delle Vigne's voice issuing from his tree of torment to the hissing of sap in a green log upon the fire (Inf. xiii. 40) with the eight lines used by Ariosto to expand the same simile (Orl. Fur. vi. 27); or, again, Dante's picture of the sick woman on her bed of fever (Purg. vi. 149) with Ariosto's copy (Orl. Fur. xxviii. 90).

[9] Canto x. 52 et seq.

[10] Canto xxxvii. 104 et seq.

[11] Cantos xxxviii. xxxi. xxi. xliii. xlv. xliv. xvi.

[12] Canto xxxiv. 76-85.

[13] Par. Lost, iii. 440.

[14] Canto xxxv. 4-9.

[15] Canto xiv. 68-73.

[16] Canto xxvii. 37.

[17] Canto xxxviii. 30, 33, 26.

[18] Canto x. 72; ix. 68; xxii. 16; xlv. 65; xiii. 36.

[19] Canto xx. 122.

[20] Canto xxvii.

[21] Ibid. 101.

[22] The comparison of Ariosto and Euripides is not wholly fanciful. Both were supreme artists in an age of incipient decadence, lacking the convictions of their predecessors, and depending for effect upon rhetorical devices. Both were τραγικώτατοι in Aristotle's sense of the phrase, and both were romantic rather than heroic poets.

[23] Canto x. 84.

[24] The whole scene, with all its gradations of emotion, is too long to quote. But see xxiv. 74-87.

[25] Canto xxix. 27.

[26] Canto x. 20-34.

[27] See above, Part i. p. 510.

[28] Canto xxxvi., especially stanza 50.

[29] Canto xxxix. 10-15; cp. ib. 67-72.

[30] Canto xxxvii. 15.

[31] Canto xxxix. 69.

[32] See especially iv. 63-67.

[33] Introductions to cantos xliii. xxviii. xxix. xxii. xxvi.; cp. xxvii. 123.

[34] Canto xlii.

[35] Stanzas 6-9.

[36] If this seems over-stated, I might refer the reader to the prologue of the Suppositi, where the worst vice of the Renaissance is treated with a flippant relish; or, again, to the prologue of the Lena, where the double entendre is worthy of the grossest Capitolo. The plots of all Ariosto's comedies are of a vulgar, obscene, bourgeois type.

[37] See xxxix. 10-72, xx. 113, xlvi. 137, and passim, for the carnage wrought by knights cased in enchanted armor with invulnerable bodies upon defenseless Saracens or unarmed peasants. It was partly this that made Shelley shrink with loathing from the Furioso.

[38] Cantos xxi. 1-3, xx. 143, xxxviii. introduction, xlv. 57, xxv. introduction.

[39] Cantos xliv. xlv.

[40] Canto vi. 80, vii. 41-44. The sentiments, though superficial, are exquisitely uttered.

[41] Canto vi. 73.

[42] Canto vi. 75.

[43] Notice, for example, the irony of the seventh line in vi. 71, and of the third and fourth in the next stanza.

[44] Canto x. 95, 96, xi. 65, 66. The one is Angelica, the other Olimpia.

[45] Canto vi. 62, 63, 75.

[46] Canto vi. 71, xxxiv. 51-53.

[47] Canto ix. 7.

[48] Canto x. 102-106.

[49] Canto xi. 34-38.

[50] Canto xviii. 11, 14, 19, 22, 35.

[51] Canto i. 65, ii. 5, ix. 78, xx. 89, xxi. 15, 16, xxiv. 63, xxxvi. 40.

[52] Canto xxxix. 17.

[53] Canto xliii. 169.

[54] Iliad, iv. 140.

[55] Canto xxiv. 66.

[56] Canto xviii. 153.

[57] Canto xli. 1.

[58] See Bandello's Introduction to Nov. xxxv. of Part i., where a most disgusting story is ushered in with ethical reflections; and take this passage from the opening of one of Il Lasca's least presentable novels: "Prima che al novellare di questa sera si dia principio, mi rivolgo a te, Dio ottimo e grandissimo, che solo tutto sai e tutto puoi, pregandoti divotamente e di cuore, che per la tua infinita bontà e clemenza mi conceda, e a tutti questi altri che dopo me diranno, tanto del tuo ajuto e della tua grazia, che la mia lingua e la loro non dica cosa niuna, se non a tua lode e a nostra consolazione."—Le Cene (Firenze, Lemonnier, 1857), p. 7.

[59] It may be mentioned that not all stories were recited before women. Bandello introduces one of his tales with the remark that in the absence of the ladies men may be less careful in their choice of themes (Nov. xxx. pt. i.). The exception is singular, as illustrating what was thought unfit for female ears. The Novella itself consists of a few jokes upon a disgusting subject; but it is less immodest than many which he dedicated to noble women.

[60] I Novellieri in Prosa, by Giambattista Passano (Milano, Schiepatti, 1864), will be found an excellent dictionary of reference.

[61] This motive may have been suggested by Folgore da S. Gemignano's sonnet on the month of January.

[62] These are the pair so nobly painted by Luini above the high-altar of S. Maurizio at Milan. See my Sketches and Studies in Italy.

[63] What we know about manners at the Courts of our Elizabeth and James, and the gossip of the French Court in Brantome's Dames Galantes, remind us that this blending of grossness and luxury was not peculiar to Italy.

[64] See Dedication to Nov. xi. of second part.

[65] Read, for example, the Novella of Zilia, who imposed silence on her lover because he kissed her, and the whole sequel to his preposterous obedience (iii. 17); or the tale of Don Giovanni Emmanuel in the lion's den (iii. 39); or the rambling story of Don Diego and Ginevra la Bionda (i. 27). The two latter have a touch of Spanish extravagance, but without the glowing Spanish passion. In quoting Bandello, I shall refer to Part and Novel by two numerals. References are made to the Milanese edition, Novellieri Italiani, 1813-1816.

[66] For instance, Parte ii. Nov. 14; ii. xlv.; iii. 2, 3, 4, 7, 20.

[67] See the description in ii. 36 (vol. v. p. 270); and again, iii. 61; ii. 45.

[68] ii. 2.

[69] ii. 24.

[70] See, for instance, ii. 20; ii. 7.

[71] I need not give any references to the Novelle of this groveling type. But I may call attention to i. 35; ii. 11; iv. 34, 35. These tales are not exceptionally obscene; they illustrate to what extent mere filth of the Swiftian sort passed for fun in the Italy of Bembo and Castiglione.

[72] i. 42; iii. 21; iii. 52; ii. 12.

[73] iii. 18; ii. 21; i. 36; iii. 55.

[74] ii. 35; cp. i. 37.

[75] The pictures of Milanese luxury before the Spanish occupation are particularly interesting. See i. 9, and the beginning of ii. 8. It seems that then, as now, Milan was famous for her equipages and horses. The tale of the two fops who always dressed in white (iii. 11) brings that life before us. For the Venetian and Roman demi-monde, iii. 31; i. 19; i. 42; ii. 51, may be consulted. These passages have the value of authentic studies from contemporary life, and are told about persons whom the author knew at least by name.

[76] i. 8; i. 47.

[77] i. 26.

[78] i. 108.

[79] iii. 65.

[80] i. 44.

[81] ii. 41.

[82] ii. 37. It is clear that both followed the earlier version of Da Porto.

[83] ii. 36. This tale was fashionable in Italy. It forms the basis of that rare comedy, Gli Ingannati, performed by the Academy degli Intronati at Siena, and printed in 1538. The scene in this play is laid at Modena; the main plot is interwoven with two intrigues—between Isabella's father and Lelia, the heroine; and between Isabella's maid and a Spaniard. In spite of these complications the action is lucid, and the comedy is one of the best we possess. There is an excellent humorous scene of two innkeepers touting against each other for travelers (Act iii. 2). That Shakspere knew the Novella or the comedy before he wrote his Twelfth Night is more than probable.

[84] ii. 37. Historians will not look for accuracy in what is an Italian love-tale founded on an English legend.

[85] Take the description of the King's love-sickness (Nov. It. vol. v. p. 352), the incident of the King's offer to the Earl (pp. 353, 354), Edward's musings (p. 364), Alice alone in London (p. 376), the King's defiance of opinion (p. 379), the people's verdict against Alice (p. 380), Alice arming herself with the dagger (p. 398), the garden scene upon the Thames (p. 399). Then the discourses upon love and temperament (p. 325), on discreet conduct in love affairs (pp. 334-338), on real and false courtiers (pp. 382-388). Compare the descriptive passages on pp. 352, 354, 369, 393, 395, 398, with similar passages in Beaumont and Fletcher.

[86] Nov. It. vol. iv. p. 226. Compare the peroration of his Preface to the third part (vol. vii. p. 13).

[87] Vol. v. p. 38.

[88] Vol. iv. p. 226. Cp. vol. ix. p. 339.

[89] Vol. vi. p. 254.

[90] Vol. vii. p. 11.

[91] In the biography of Bandello he says, "Lo stile è piuttosto colto e studiato, che che taluno n'abbia detto in contrario, non però in guisa che possa mettersi a confronto di quello del Boccaccio."

[92] See Sonnet 79, Rime (ed. 1741).

[93] Founded respectively in 1540 and 1583. Grazzini quarreled with them both.

[94] Cena i. Nov. 3, is in its main motive modeled on that novel.

[95] The contrast between the amiable manners of the young men and women described in the introduction to Le Cene, and the stories put into their mouths; between the profound immorality, frigid and repellent, of the tales and Ghiacinto's prayer at the beginning; need not be insisted on.

[96] As I shall not dilate upon these novels further in the text, I may support the above censure by reference to the practical joke played upon the pedagogue (i. 2), to the inhuman novel of Il Berna (ii. 2), to the cruel vengeance of a brother (ii. 7), and to the story of the priest (ii. 8).

[97] See above, p. 56, note.

[98] Cena ii. 3.

[99] Cena ii. 4.

[100] See the Letters of Aretino, vol. ii. p. 239.

[101] All my references are made to the Opere di Messer Agnolo Firenzuola, 5 vols. Milan, 1802.

[102] Storia della Lett. It. lib. iii. cap. 3, sect. 27.

[103] In a letter to Aretino, dated Prato, Oct. 5, 1541, he says he had been ill for eleven years. It seems probable that his illness was of the kind alluded to in his Capitolo "In Lode del Legno Santo" (Op. Volg. iv. p. 204).

[104] Op. ii. pp. 94, 130.

[105] For example, Nov. iv. is the same as Bandello's II. xx.; Nov. vii. is the same as Il Lasca's ii. 10. and Fortina's xiv.

[106] Vol ii. p. 28. The poem put into Celso's mouth, p. 39, is clearly autobiographical.

[107] There is the usual reference to Boccaccio, at p. 32. I may take this occasion for citing an allusion to Boccaccio from the Introduction to Le Cene, which shows how truly he was recognized as the patron saint of novelists. See Le Cene (Firenze, Lemonnier, 1857), p. 4.

[108] Vol. i. pp. 1-97. I may here allude to a still more copious and detailed treatise on the same theme by Federigo Luigino of Udine: Il Libro della Bella Donna, Milano, Daelli, 1863; a reprint from the Venetian edition of 1554. This book is a symphony of grateful images and delicately chosen phrases; it is a dithyramb in praise of feminine beauty, which owes its charm to the intense sympathy, sensual and æsthetic, of the author for his subject.

[109] Selvaggia was the lady of Firenzuola's Rime.