POE 
wonder of the prefent day. His countrymen, preferving 
the title conferred by the poet on his work, yet call it 
the Divine Comedy; and a name which has no refem- 
blance to any other is properly bellowed on a work with¬ 
out an equal.” 
Though the glory of Petrarca during his life-time was 
principally owing to the immenfity of his literary re- 
l^arches, yet fubfequent ages have confidered his book of 
Sonnets and Canzoni as his bed title to renown. The 
triumph of tender poefy is poflibly the C/iiare, frejche, e 
dolci, aegue, of this impaflioned writer. His drength and 
weaknefs both confided in his love; a love attributing 
all excellence to the objedt that infpired it, and refem- 
bling that which the mydics feel and exprefs for the 
Divinity; which encircles his Laura, and every place 
that Ihe frequented, with fomething of heaven from the 
recollections that they excite. The Valle che de’ lamenti 
fei piena, and the S'una fede amorofa, fyc. afford a firiking 
illuffration of the mydic purity and beauty with which his 
imagination painted her perfon and the place where Ihe 
loitered. 
Boccaccio, the friend of Petrarca, although more known 
by his Decamerone than by his verfes, has ever held a 
high rank among the poets of his country. Indeed, the 
evening fongs attached to each day’s entertainment may 
be numbered with the mod beautiful and enchanting 
productions of Southern poetry; but are difgraced by a 
vein of fenfuality which the light character of his midrefs 
probably infpired. In this refpeCt he is drikingly con- 
traded with the delicate Petrarch. Befides his Ihort 
poems, Boccaccio left two in the heroic dyle, called the 
“ Thefeide” and “ Filodrato,” which are of no reputa¬ 
tion, but of which the narrative was adopted afterwards 
by Chaucer. He has the merit of inventing the “ Ottava 
Rima” fince fo famous in Italy. 
Pulci lived at the court of Lorenzo de Medici, for the 
amufement of whofe mother he compofed his “ Morganti.” 
This poem, like mod of the romantic fpecies, is filled 
with perpetual wars, fingle combats, enchantments, 
and giants. It has very little love. The characters are 
not finely drawn ; and the tale is prolix and unconnected. 
It turns upon the hatred which Ganellon, the felon- 
knight of Maganza, bears towards Orlando and the red 
of the Chridian Paladins. He praCtifes accordingly on the 
worthy but confiding Chas'lemagne, and induces him to 
fend Orlando and his friends to dangerous fervice in the 
war againd France. Ganellon, being difpatched to 
the king of Spain to obtain the cefiion of a kingdom, 
caufes Orlando by a treacherous device to be flain at the 
battle of Roncefvalles. This man’s character is the 
fined {ketch in the poem. Malice, patience, obdinacy, 
diflimulation, affeCted humility, and powers of intrigue, 
fkilfully colour his picture in the darked and mod drik- 
ing colours. Orlando is chade, pious, warlike, and 
ditintereded. He baptizes the giant Morgante, who 
afterwards ferves him as a faithful fquire. Anothergiant, 
a friend of Morgante, is a very amufing character. He 
is a very infidel, and very ready to confefs all his failings 
He fets every one a-laughing, and ultimately laughs him- 
felf till he burds. 
The Morgante has many important philofophical re¬ 
marks contained in it; fuch as the exidence of anti¬ 
podes, the form of the earth, &c. and it appears that 
thofe fublimeand beautiful forms of the devils of Milton 
have been partly borrowed from Pulci, with whofe works 
the Englidi bard was certainly acquainted- Their defpair, 
their ill-concealed repentance, their loft) fentiments, 
and the principle that they never entirely lofe the angelic 
nature, are fet forth in the Morgante as in Paradife Lod. 
Pulci has given fome pretty free fceptical remarks on the 
church, and hence has been accufed of impiety; but the 
cudom which he obferved of irreverently introducing 
fcripture phrafes was in his time fo common, that he had 
probably no evil intent in fo doing. Like his contem¬ 
poraries and predecefiors, he was fond of buffoonery ; and 
TRY. 779 
this breaks forth fometimes in the mod ferious and exqui- 
fite parts of his work. 
Boyordo improved upon the Morgante of Pulci. 
With a dylelefs grammatical than that of the latter, and 
interfperfed with Lombardian provincialifms, he ne- 
verthelefs excelled his predecefiors in giving intered to 
his narratives, and in the delineation of pafiion. His 
great work is the “ Orlando Innamorato.” In this there 
are feveral perfonages of the fame kind as thofe in the 
Morgante. The giant of that name in Pulci’s poem, the 
page of Orlando, is here ufed to typify brute drength con¬ 
quered by religion ; while Orlando, the fymbol of heroifm 
and condancy, yields to the charms of woman. Angelica 
of Carthage, the heroine, arrives at the court of Charle¬ 
magne, falls in love with Rinaldo, who defpifes her, and 
enamours Orlando to fo great a pitch, that he is ready to 
leave his wife, his glory, and his country, for her. She 
defpifes him ; but he is a ufeful champion, and defeats 
lovers lefs refpedled than himfelf. Rinaldo and Orlando 
quarrel, though the greated friends, on her account; and 
the quarrels of thefe coufins furnifli mod beautiful poetry. 
Boyordo introduces an amazing multitude of perfonages 
into his poem; and his monders, giants, and enchant¬ 
ments, though very numerous, are fo varied with imagery 
and ornament, that we never are fatigued by their pre¬ 
fence. His bullies are as numerous, but not fo (kilfully 
didinguidied from one another. His Angelica is a very 
fuperior character to the Angelica of Ariodo. She is a 
fweet devoted maid, who loves without pafiion, and does 
good without the profpedl of recompence. The poem 
confids of fixty-nine cantos, the lad being imperfect. 
From the abundant materials which the above-men¬ 
tioned authors had left, and from the purer fources of 
the Latin poets, Ariojio, endued with a truly-poetical 
imagination, a fine fade, and a never-failing command of 
language, (the elements of which he drew from all fources, 
clalfic and barbaric, but refined and purified them by his 
confummate art,) compofed the mod delicious narrative 
poem that ever was written. The “ Orlando Furiofo” 
is formed exactly on the model of the romantic poets 
which had preceded our author. To our tade this plan 
feems erroneous; but it was the prevailing tade of Ariodo’s 
age; and heexprefsly faid, in a letter to a friend, that he 
W'ould not give up the pradtice of introducing many fe- 
condary tales into the great fable of the poem. It is to 
be regretted, that in the execution of his tade he intro¬ 
duced thefe fecondary tales where they had no bear¬ 
ing on or reference to the main dory. Knights who are 
killed in the fird fight again in the fecond parts of this 
poem. In the profufion of battles and enchantments 
the reader is perplexed and confuted ; and fo long and fo 
delightfully intereding are the digrefiions, that we return 
to the main dory with pain. Ariodo v.-as not a learned 
man, yet he had read much. He did not know Greek ; 
and hence his imitation of Homer could only be obtained 
through trandations. He took much from the Latins, 
but he never robbed them however without adding 
fomething of his own to the dolen property which 
enhanced its value : nor was he compelled to the courfe 
of borrowing by any derility of invention. When he 
truds to his own imagination, he is infufferable in beauty 
and force. Knowing geography only from books and 
hidory, or rather from legends than authentic documents, 
he introduced more countries and nations than almod 
any other poet. Ariodo deferibes charadters excellently ; 
he elevates human nature, but in fo doing he keeps fo 
much confidency, and fuch a fudained excellence, that 
we never can difbelieve their reality. His humour is 
exquifite, and ever pointed againd the vice and folly of 
men; but he is never bitter or cenforious. The progrels 
of Ariodo is a fine lefion to the youthful poet. His fird 
efforts at comedy were futile. In 1516 appeared the fird 
edition of “ Orlando Furiofo.” Another was publifhed 
in 1532. On comparing thefe two editions, thofe who 
fay “ poeta nafeitur, non fit,” will meet with the mod 
7 daggering 
