XVI. A. D. 1518 A. Et. 43. CHAP. in which he seems to have alluded to the supposed healing power of the serpent, he exchanged in the next edition for one which he A. Pont. VI. perhaps thought would be more generally understood, and represented his lost labours by the emblem of a hive of bees, which are destroyed with flame for the purpose of robbing them of their honey.(a) Deprived pend by the In the year 1518, the cardinal Ippolito of his sti- d'Este undertook a journey to Hungary, on which he expected to be accompanied by the most eminent persons in his court and among the rest by Ariosto. The poet was not, however, inclined to make such a sacrifice of his time, of which he well knew the value, or of his health, which was then in a precarious state, to the gratification of a person who appears not to have merited his attachment. By his refusal, he not only lost the favour of the cardinal, but incurred his resentment, which he manifested by depriving the poet of the pitiful stipend of twenty-five crowns, which it seems the cardinal allowed him every four months, but cardinal Ippolito d' Este. (a) These emblems have been perpetuated on the reverse of two different medals, representing the effigies of the poet. They are both given in the Museum Mazzuchellianum. vol. i. p. 209. tab. 37. XVI. A. Et. 43. A. Pont VI. but which he had not always the good fortune CHAP. to obtain. This event supplied Ariosto with the subject of his first satire, in which he has A. D. 1518. treated it with the most severe pleasantry, the most attractive simplicity, and the most inimitable wit; avowing his resolution to maintain the independence both of his person and mind, and to withdraw from the vexations of a court, to the retirement of private life. He accordingly quitted Ferrara and took up his residence in his native district of Reggio, attending only to his own studies and amusements; where he remained until the death of the cardinal.(a) his resi The loss of his patron seems to have been Establishes the commencement of the good fortune of Ariosto. Immediately after that event he was again called to Ferrara by the duke Alfonso, who (a) To this happy period of his life he alludes in his fourth satire, "Già mi fur dolci inviti a empir le carte "I luoghi ameni, di che il nostro Reggio ** "Cercando hor questo et hor quel loco opaco, * dence at Ferrara. XVI. CHAP. who appears to have been desirous of repairing the neglect of his brother, and who appointed Ariosto to a respectable situation in his court, without requiring from him any attendance which might interfere with his studies.(a) The liberality of the duke soon enabled Ariosto to erect for himself a house in the city of Ferrara, in the front of which he placed an inscription suitable to the modest mansion of a poet, and consistent with the moderation and independence of his own character.(b) In this residence, A. D. 1518. A. t. 43. (a) "Il servigio del Duca, da ogni parte (b) The centre of the facciata of the house has the following inscription: PARVA, SED APTA MIHI; SED NULLI OBNOXIA; SED NON On the highest part of the front is inscribed, SIC. DOMUS. HEC. AREOSTEA. PROPITIOS. DEOS. HABEAT. OLIM. UT. PINDARICA. residence, and in the gardens attached to it, he devoted himself with fresh ardour to his literary pursuits; he composed the additional cantos of his Orlando, and versified his two comedies of the Cassaria and the Suppositi, which he had in his youth written in prose. Soon after the death of Leo X. his leisure was for a short time interrupted by a mission to the district of Garfagnana, a part of the territory of Ferrara, whither he was sent by the duke to appease by his discretion and authority, a tumult among the inhabitants, in which his efforts had the desired success ;(a) but the city of Ferrara continued to be his chief residence until the time of his death, which happened on the sixth day of June, 1533, after he had attained the fifty-ninth year of his age. On a work so well known, and so univer- (a) To this mission Ariosto alludes in his fourth satire, in which he laments the interruption which it had occasioned to his studies, and his absence from his mistress. He admits that his employment is both honourable and profitable, but alleges, that he is in the situation of the cock that found a diamond, or of the Venetian nobleman to whom the king of Portugal made a present of an Arabian horse. CHAP. XVI. A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. A. Pont. VI. 1 CHAP. sally read, as the Orlando Furioso,(a) any observations would now be superfluous, and of XVI. A. Et. 43. A. Pont. VI. Effects of A. D. 1518. the satirical and lyric productions of Ariosto, some specimens applicable to the events of the times have already been given.(b) Like most his writings of the eminent scholars of the age, he devoted on the taste a portion of his leisure to Latin composition; of Europe. but although some of his productions in this language (a) For an account of the various editions of this celebrated poem, after its first publication in Ferrara, per Lodovico Mazziocco, in 1515. 4to. I must refer to the bibliographers and literary historians of Italy, and particularly to Mazzuchelli, who has particularized no less than sixtyseven editions, down to the year 1753; of which the best is allowed to be that with the designs of Girolamo Porro, Venice, appresso Francesco di Franceschi, 1584. 4to. (b) The Satires of Ariosto were not published until after the death of their author, in 1534. This edition is entitled LE SATIRE di M. Ludovico Ariosto. volgari. In terza rima, di nuovo Stampate, del Mese di Octobre, M.D.XXXIIII. from which it might be inferred, they had before been printed, if it were not known that this is the frequent phraseology of the printers of this period, and that many instances occur where it has been used, when the work has never before undergone the press. These satires have been inserted in the lists of books prohibited by the Roman see, but this has not prevented the publication of many subsequent editions, some of which have been printed in Venice at different times, as well separately, as with his lyric pieces and other works. |