ffia EXAMINATION of nil [IISTORICAL IDFO THE SIS' 



while flie was unmarried, as they prove, that he had formerly 

 feen her while fhe wore no ornaments on her head, but appeared 

 with her hair loofe, unbraided, and quite unadorned, as the 

 Abbe fuppofes to have been the fafliion of the young unmarried 

 women. Thus, in the i62d fonnet, above quoted, the poet 

 fays : " The ferenity of the air, and the return of fpring, bring 

 " to my remembrance the time when I firll felt the power of 

 " love ; when I firfl: beheld that beautiful countenance, and faw 

 " thofe golden locks loofely waving in the wind, which are now 

 " braided and adorned with pearls and jewels *." And fo like- 

 wife, in the 69th fonnet, P. i. defcribing the time when he firfl: 

 faw Laura, he fays : " Thofe golden trefles were then loofely 

 " fcattered by the wind, which twifted them into a thoufand 

 " beautiful ringlets :" 



Erano i capei d'oro aVaura fparfi, 

 Che '« inille dolce nodi gli avvolgea. 



If, therefore, as the Abbe de Sade maintains, this braiding and 

 adorning of the hair marked the di{lin<5lion between the mar- 

 ried and unmarried women in the age of Petrarch, he muft 

 admit, on the evidence of thofe paffages where her headdrefs is 

 fo defcribed, that, at the time when the poet was at firft ac- 

 quainted 



* L' aura ferena, chefra verdi fronde 

 Mormorando aftrir nd volte vtemme 

 Fammi rifuvvenir, quand ' Amor diemme 

 Le prime piaghe, it dolce e profonde ; 



E 7 bel vifo veder, cb' altri m'afcondt 

 Che fdegno e gelnjia celato tiemme ; 

 , Eh chiome lor avuolie in perle e'n gemme, 



Alhora fciolte, e fovra or terfe bionde ! 



Le quali clla fpargea si dolcemente, 

 E raccoglica con si leggiadri mo ■■ 

 Che ripenfando ancor trema la mente.— 



