1832.] Ugo Foscolo, and the ItaUan Poets. 83 



heart and the vanity of his eyes ; and thus expresses himself in one of the son- 

 nets written at the time : 



" Color d'amore, e di pieta sembianti 

 Non preser mai'cosi mirabilmente 

 Viso di donna per veder sovente 

 Occhi gentili, e dolorosi pianti ; 

 Come lo vostro qual' hora davanti 

 Vedetevi la mia labbia dolenti ; 

 Si che per voi mi vien cosi a la mente 

 Ch' io temo forte ho lo cor si schianti 

 lo non posso tener gli occhi distrutti, 

 Che non riguardin voi molte fiate, 

 Per desidero di pianger ch' egli hanno : 

 E voi crescete si lor volontate, 

 Che de la voglia si consuman tutti ; 

 Ma lagrimar dinanzi a voi non sanno." 



*' The form of pity and the hue of love, 



Never before did beauteous lady's face, 



From gentle looks and sighs deep sorrows move. 



Take with such perfect and such wondrous grace 



As thine, who late beheld me while I went, 



With looks that only pity did bespeak ; 



But now my thoughts, on thee too frequent bent, 



Teach me to fear that with a heart so weak 



My eyes will ever seek thee, and intent 



Rest fondly on thy pale and sadden'd brow 



Sad with that love of grief which in thee dwells ; 



Thus you their wish increase that tears would flow, 



But with that wish my heart so anxious swells, 



That in thy presence, captive held, in vain 



I seek by tears to mitigate its pain." 



What may have added not a little to the great poet's regret for her 

 loss, he is said to have subsequently married a perfect Xantippe, a 

 woman of violent temper, who made sad inroads upon his peace. In 

 describing the public career of Dante, his exile and misfortunes, as in 

 estimating his poetical genius and works, his biographer displays a 

 liberal and enlightened criticism, which marks the scholar and the 

 observer of human life. In the lives of Petrarch, Boccaccio, Ariosto, 

 Tasso, together with the minor luminaries who drew reflected lustre 

 from their brilliant course, we are presented with much interesting and 

 curious detail ; and the narrative, we think, increases in interest, as we 

 proceed, while the occasional versions from the original Italian confer 

 an additional spirit upon the work. 



These, however, we must pass over for the more anecdotical portions, 

 especially respecting the poets who have lived in our own times the 

 Alfieris, Pindemontes, and Foscolos, who have resided among us, and 

 whose adventures teem with singularity and interest. We must first 

 notice, however, the curious anecdote told both of Ariosto and Tasso, 

 as illustrating the immense influence exercised by their poetry over the 

 minds of all ranks of their countrymen. It is of Ariosto we here 

 speak : 



" Being obliged one day to pass over a wild part of the district, the forests of 

 which were known to be the resort of banditti, led by the celebrated chiefs 



G 2 



