104 FOURTEENTH TO THE 



eighth, The Fowlers; and in the ninth, The Com- 

 plaints, or the Friends. This is a sort of familiar con- 

 ference between the poet and his friend. The whole is 

 descriptive of a condition of mind, produced by a series of 

 disappointments, under which it was written. 



" Proud Stella ! angel with a tyrant's heart, 

 Form'd for my wish, yet destin'd for my smart, 

 Once my lov'd hope, companion soft and kind, 

 Till false dividing friends unfix'd thy mind ; 

 Forbid thy sight, thy ever parting charms, 

 Torn from those true but vainly -doating arms, 

 Tho' doom'd my flame in silence to suppress, 

 Still the deep secret will thy looks confess ; 

 My stifled sigh, my softly- stealing tear, 

 Thro' each disguise the lover will appear." 



A few years after, Giovanni Villifranci published at 

 Venice, in 1614, his I? Armaranto Favola Pescatoria. 

 There is an edition of this work, dated 1612, but it is much 

 smaller, and printed on inferior paper. He has several 

 songs in his work full of sentiments of love. One of these, 

 commencing with the line, " La mia douzella ch'e casi 

 allegre e bella," we shall here insert, as a specimen of his 

 style and train of thought. 



" c My pretty maids, so blythe and gay, 



With crook and line, whence came you, pray ? ' 

 c We come, Sir, from the neighbouring hill 

 Close by the fount of this clear rill ; 

 There, in a little tuff of green, 

 Our father's angling cot is seen ; 



