language have considerable merit,(a) it is on his writings in his native tongue that his permanent reputation is founded. On taking a general view of the poets of this period, we immediately perceive that Ariosto occupies the first station, and that had it been deprived of the splendour of his talents, a considerable diminution must have been made from the glory of the age. The fertility of his invention, the liveliness of his imagery, the natural ease and felicity of his diction, give a charm to his compositions which arrests the attention and interests the feelings of the reader, in a degree not experienced from the productions of any of his contemporaries. Whilst the other writers of Italy were devoting their talents to the close imitation of Petrarca, and to the mere elegances of expression, he allowed himself a wider range, and poured forth the ideas of his creative fancy VOL. III. X (a) The Latin poems of Ariosto, divided into two books, were collected and published by Giov. Batt. Pigna, together with his own poems, and those of Celio Calcagnini, at Venice, ex Officina Erasmiana, by Vincentio Valgrisi, in 1553, 8vo. Giraldi denominates them, ingeniosa sed duriuscula. De Poet. suor. temp. dial. i. Some of them appear in various collections, and particularly in the Carm. illust. Poet. Ital. i. 342. CHAP. XVI. A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. A Pont. VI. XVI. CHAP. fancy in his own attractive and forcible language. Hence the genius of Ariosto is not presented to us in the fashionable garb of the day, but in its own natural and becoming dress, which appears equally graceful and appropriate at all times and in all places. By the example of Bembo, the Italians would have written with correctness and with elegance, but they would have been read only by their own countrymen. The delicate and attenuated sentiment which gives its faint animation to their writings, is lost when an attempt is made to transfuse it into another language; but the bold and vigorous ideas of Ariosto bear without injury all change of climate; and his works have contributed more than those of any other author to diffuse a true poetical spirit throughout Europe. A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. The applause bestowed upon those whose labours contributed to restore the purity of the Italian tongue, must not, however, be confined to one sex only. At no former period of society had the spirit of literature been so generally diffused; and at no period have its female admirers proved themselves more accomplished proficients or more formidable rivals. Among those who at this time distinguished themselves by their talents, two are conspicuously. A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. conspicuously eminent; not only for their high rank, extraordinary acquirements, and excellent literary productions, but for the unsullied purity of their character and for all A. Pont, VI. the virtues which add lustre to their sex. These are Vittoria Colonna marchioness of Pescara, and Veronica Gambara countess of Correggio.(a) (a)" Fuere penè non viris inferiores duæ illustres principes et poëtriæ, Victoria Columna Piscariæ, et Veronica "Gambara Corrigiensis, quarum utriusque, pro sexûs qua"litate divina leguntur poemata; quæ eò cupidius a ple"risque leguntur, quo sunt ab illustribus Matronis com"posita." Lil. Greg. Gyraldus, de Poet. suor. temp. dial. ii. p. 571. แ Vittoria Colonna was the daughter of Vittoria the celebrated commander Fabrizio Colonna Colonna. grand constable of the kingdom of Naples, by Anna di Montefeltro, the daughter of Federigo duke of Urbino. She was born about the year 1490, and when only four years of age was destined to be the future bride of Ferdinando d'Avalos marquis of Pescara, then little further advanced in life. The exvery traordinary endowments both of person and of mind with which she was favoured by nature, aided by a diligent and virtuous education, rendered her the object of general admiration, X 2 CHA P. XVI. XVI. CHAP. miration, and her hand was repeatedly sought in marriage by several of the independent Sovereigns of Italy. Happily, however, the early choice of the parents was confirmed by the mutual attachment of their offspring, and at the age of seventeen she became the wife of a man, who by his great endowments, unshaken fidelity, and heroic valour, merited such a partner. A perfect conformity of temper and of excellence was the pledge of their conjugal affection; but the contests which distracted Italy soon called the marquis from his domestic enjoyments, and at the battle of Ravenna, where he had the command of the cavalry, he was dangerously wounded, and led, with the cardinal de Medici afterwards Leo X. a prisoner to Milan. Whilst confined in the castle of that place and prevented by his wounds from bodily exercise, he devoted his hours to study; the result of which appeared in a dialogue on Love, addressed to his wife, which has not been preserved to the present times, but which we are assured was replete with good sense, eloquence, and wit.(a) He A. D. 1518. A. At. 43. (a) "Dum esset in arce, vulneraque curaret, nec ex"ercendi corporis ulla daretur facultas, ingenium literis "amonioribus ex doctrina Musephili præceptoris haud me diocriter XVI. He was at length liberated from his confine- CHAP ment by the friendly interference of the marshal Trivulzio; and by the active part which he afterwards took in the military affairs of the time, and the many engagements in which he was victorious, acquired the highest character among the Italian leaders. Having entered into the service of the emperor, he commanded at the battle of Pavia, in which Francis I. was made prisoner; where he distinguished himself no less by his magnanimity and humanity, than by his prudence and intrepidity, to which the success of the Imperialists has usually been attributed.(a) This event he did not, however, long survive, having fallen a sacrifice to his military fatigues and the consequences of his wounds. He died at Milan in the month of December, 1525, after a short but glorious. life, "diocriter imbutum, ita exercuit, ut paucis diebus summæ "jucunditatis Dialogúm de Amore, ad Victoriam uxorem "conscripserit, qui libellus adhuc extat, cum gravibus tum "exquisitis salibus atque sententiis, ad admirationem ejus "ingenii refertus." Jovius, in vitá Ferdin. Daval. Pisc. lib. i. (a) His generosity and attention to the celebrated chevalier Bayard, who fell in an engagement, at Biagrassa, in the year 1524, is recorded by Dr. Robertson, in his life of Charles V. book iii. ii, 203. • A. D. 1518. A. Et. 43. |