360

They brought me into life again—
Me-one day o'er their realm to reign!
Thus the vain fool who strove to glut
His rage, refining on my pain,

Sent me forth to the wilderness,
Bound, naked, bleeding, and alone,

To the desert to a throne,—
pass

What mortal his own doom may guess?—
Let none despond, let none despair!
To-morrow the Borysthenes

May see our coursers graze at ease
Upon his Turkish bank,-and never

(1) "Charles, having perceived that the day was lost, and that his only chance of safety was to retire with the utmost precipitation, suffered himself to be mounted on horseback, and with the remains of his army fled to a place called Perewolochna, situated in the angle formed by the junction of the Vorskia and the Borysthenes. Here, accompanied by Mazeppa, and a few hundreds of his followers, Charles swam over the latter great river, and proceeding over a desolate country, in danger of perishing with hunger, at length reached the Bog, where he was kindly received by the Turkish pacha. The Kussian envoy at the Sublime Porte

Had I such welcome for a river

As I shall yield when safely there. (1)
Comrades, good night!”—The Hetman threw
His length beneath the oak-tree shade,
With leafy couch already made,
A bed nor comfortless nor new
To him, who took his rest whene'er
The hour arrived, no matter where:

His eyes the hastening slumbers steep.
And if ye marvel Charles forgot
To thank his tale, he wonder'd not,—

The king had been an hour asleep. (2)

demanded that Mazeppa should be delivered up to Peter, but the old Hetman of the Cossacks escaped this fate by taking a disease which hastened his death." Barrow's Peter the Great.

(2) The copy of Mazeppa sent to this country by Lord Byron is in the handwriting of Theresa, Countess Guiccioli; and it is impossible not to suspect that the Poet had some circumstances of his own personal history in his mind, when he portrayed the fair Polish Theresa, her youthful lover, and the jealous rage of the old Count Palatine.-E.

Morgante Maggiore;

TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN OF PULCI. (1,

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE Morgante Maggiore, of the first canto of which this translation is offered, divides with the Orlando Innamorato the honour of having formed and suggested the style and story of Ariosto. The

(1) This translation was executed at Ravenna, in February, 1820, and first saw the light in the pages of the unfortunate journal called The Liberal. The merit of it, as Lord Byron over and over states in his letters, consists in the wonderful verbum pro verbo closeness of the version. It was, in fact, an exercise of skill in this art; and cannot be fairly estimated, without reference to the

great defects of Boiardo were his treating too se- . riously the narratives of chivalry, and his harsh style. Ariosto, in his continuation, by a judicious mixture of the gaiety of Pulci, has avoided the one; and Berni, in his reformation of Boiardo's poem, has corrected the other. Pulci may be considered as the precursor and model of Berni altogether, as

him again on the morrow. This method of winding up each portion of the poem is a favourite among the romantic poets; who constantly finish their cantos with a distich, of which the words may vary, but the sense is uniform:

tion:

All' altro canto vi farò sentire,

Se all' altro canto mi verrete audire.'- Ariosto.

'I now cut off abruptly here my rhyme,
And keep my tale unto another time.'

original Italian. Those who want full information, and clear phi-Or at the end of another canto, according to Harrington's translalosophical views, as to the origin of the Romantic Poetry of the Italians, will do well to read at length an article on that subject, from the pen of the late Ugo Foscolo, in No. XLII. of the Quarterly Review. We extract from it the passage in which that learned writer applie‹ himself more particularly to the Morgante of Pulci. After showing that all the poets of this class adopted, as the groundwork of their fictions, the old wild materials which had for ages formed the stock in trade of the professed story-tellers, -in those days a class of persons holding the same place in Christendom, and more especially in Italy, which their brothers still maintain all over the East,-Foscolo thus proceeds:

"The customary forms of the narrative all find a place in romantic poetry: such are,-the sententious reflections suggested by the matters which he has just related, or arising in anticipation of those which he is about to relate, and which the story-teller always opens when he resumes his recitations; his defence of his own merits against the attacks of rivals in trade; and his formal leavetaking when he parts from his audience, and invites them to meet

"The forms and materials of these popular stories were adopted by writers of a superior class, who considered the vulgar tales of their predecessors as blocks of marble finely tinted and variegated by the hand of nature, but which might afford a masterpiece when tastefully worked and polished. The romantic poets treated the traditionary fictions just as Dante did the legends invented by the monks to maintain their mastery over weak minds. He formed them into a poem which became the admiration of every age and nation: but Dante and Petrarca were poets who, though universally celebrated, were not universally understood. The learned found employment in writing comments upon their poems; but the nation, without even excepting the higher ranks, knew them At the beginning of the fifteenth century, a few only by name. obscure authors began to write romances in prose and in rhyme,

pears to me, that such an intention would have been no less hazardous to the poet than to the priest, particularly in that age and country; and the permission to publish the poem, and its reception among the classics of Italy, prove that it neither was nor is so interpreted. That he intended to ridicule the monastic life, and suffered his imagination to play with the simple dulness of his con

he has partly been to Ariosto, however inferior to both his copyists. He is no less the founder of a new style of poetry very lately sprung up in England. Iallude to that of the ingenious Whistlecraft. The serious poems on Roncesvalles in the same language, and more particularly the excellent one of Mr. Merivale, are to be traced to the same source. It has never yet been decided entirely whether Pulci's intention was or was not to deride the re-verted giant, seems evident enough; but surely it ligion which is one of his favourite topics. It ap

taking for their subject the wars of Charlemagne and Orlando, or sometimes the adventures of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. These works were so pleasing, that they were rapidly multiplied but the bards of romance cared littie about style or versification,-they sought for adventures, and enchantments, and miracles. We here obtain at least a partial explanation of the rapid decline of Italian poetry, and the amazing corruption of the Italian language, which took place immediately after the death of Petrarch, and which proceeded from bad to worse until the era of Lorenzo de Medici.

were as unjust to accuse him of irreligion on this

whom are greatly edified at beholding an archbishop officiating
in the character of a finisher of the law. Before this adventure
took place, Caradoro had despatched an ambassador to the em-
peror, complaining of the shameful conduct of a wicked Paladin,
who had seduced the princess his daughter. The orator does not
present himself with modern diplomatic courtesy-

Macon t'abbatta come traditore,
O disleale e ingiusto imperadore!

A Caradoro e stato scritto, O Carlo,
O Carlo! O Carlo! (e crollava la testa)
De la tua corte, che non puoi negarlo,
De la sua figlia cosa disonesta.'

"O Charles,' he cried, Charles, Charles!'-and as he cried
He shook his head- a sad complaint I bring
Of shameful acts which cannot be denied:
King Caradore has ascertain'd the thing,
Which comes moreover proved and verified
By letters from your own side of the water
Respecting the behaviour of his daughter.'

"It was then that Pulci composed his Morgante for the amusement of Madonna Lucrezia, the mother of Lorenzo; and he used to recite it at table to Ficino, and Politian, and Lorenzo, and the other illustrious characters who then flourished at Florence: yet Pulci adhered strictly to the original plan of the popular story| tellers; and if his successors have embellished them so that they can scarcely be recognised, it is certain that in no other poem can they be found so genuine and native as in the Morgante. Pulci accommodated himself, though sportively, to the genius of "Such scenes may appear somewhat strange; but Caradoro's his age: classical taste and sound criticism began to prevail, and embassy, and the execution of King Marsilius, are told in strict great endeavours were making by the learned to separate historical conformity to the notions of the common people, and as they must truth from the chaos of fable and tradition: so that, though Pulci still be described, if we wished to imitate the popular story-tellers. introduced the most extravagant fables, he affected to complain of If Pulci be occasionally refined and delicate, his snatches of amethe errors of his predecessors. I grieve, he said, 'for my Em-nity resulted from the national character of the Florentines, and peror Charlemagne; for I see that his history has been badly

written and worse understood.'

E del mio Carlo imperador m'increbbe;
È stata questa istoria, a quel ch'io veggie,
Di Carlo, male intesa e scritta peggio.'

And whilst he quotes the great historian Leonardo Aretino with
respect, he professes to believe the authority of the holy Archbishop
Turpin, who is also one of the heroes of the poem. In another
passage, where he imitates the apologies of the story-tellers, he
makes a neat allusion to the taste of his audience. I know,' he
says, 'that I must proceed straight-forward, and not tell a single
lie in the course of my tale. This is not a story of mere invention:
and if I go one step out of the right road, one chastises, another
criticises, a third scolds-they try to drive me mad-but in fact they

are out of their senses.'

"Pulci's versification is remarkably fluent. Yet he is deficient in melody; his language is pure, and his expressions flow naturally; but his phrases are abrupt and unconnected, and he frequently writes ungrammatically. His vigour degenerates into harshness; and his love of brevity prevents the developement of his poetical imagery. He bears all the marks of rude genius; he was capable of delicate pleasantry, yet his smiles are usually bitter and severe. His humour never arises from points, but from unexpected situations strongly contrasted. The Emperor Charemagne sentences King Marsilius of Spain to be hanged for high treason; and Archbishop Turpin kindly offers his services on the

occasion.

'E' disse: Io vo', Marsilio, che tu muoja
Dove tu ordinasti il tradimento.
Disse Turpino: lo voglio fare il boja.
Carlo rispose: Ed io son ben contento
Che sia trattata di questi due cani
L'opera santa con le sante mani.'

"Here we have an emperor superintending the execution of a king, who is hanged in the presence of a vast multitude, all of

the revival of letters. But, at the same time, we must trace to
national character, and to the influence of his daily companions,
the buffoonery which, in the opinion of foreigners, frequently
disgraces the poem. M. Ginguené has criticised Pulci in the usual
style of his countrymen. He attributes modern manners to an-
cient times, and takes it for granted that the individuals of every
other nation think and act like modern Frenchmen. On these
principles, he concludes that Pulci, both with respect to his sub-
ject and to his mode of treating it, intended only to write burlesque
poetry; because, as he says, sach buffoonery could not have been
introduced into a composition recited to Lorenzo de' Medici
and his enlightened guests, if the author had intended to be in
In the fine portrait of Lorenzo given by Machiavelli at
earnest.
the end of his Florentine history, the historian complains that he
took more pleasure in the company of jesters and buffoons than
beseemed such a man. It is a little singular that Benedetto Varchi,
a contemporary historian, makes the same complaint of Machia-
velli himself. Indeed, many known anecdotes of Machiavelli, no
less than his fugitive pieces, prove that it was only when he was
acting the statesman that he wished to be grave; and that he could
laugh like other men when he laid aside his dignity. We do not
think he was in the wrong. But, whatever opinion may be formed
on the subject, we shall yet be forced to conclude that great
men may be compelled to blame the manners of their times,
without being able to withstand their influence. In other respects,
the poem of Pulci is serious, both in subject and in tone. And
here we shall repeat a general observation, which we advise our
readers to apply to all the romantic poems of the Italians-That
their comic humour arises from the contrast between the con-
stant endeavours of the writers to adhere to the forms and
subjects of the popular story-tellers, and the efforts made at
the same time by the genius of these writers to render such
materials interesting and sublime.

"This simple elucidation of the causes of the poetical character of the Morgante has been overlooked by the critics; and they

account, as to denounce Fielding for his Parson Adams, Barnabas, Thwackum, Supple, and the Ordinary in Jonathan Wild,- -or Scott, for the exquisite use of his Covenanters in the Tales of my Landlord.

as it suits his convenience; so has the translator. In other respects the version is faithful, to the best of the translator's ability, in combining his interpretation of the one language with the not very easy task of reducing it to the same versification in the In the following translation I have used the li- other. The reader, on comparing it with the oriberty of the original with the proper names: as ginal, is requested to remember that the antiquated Pulci uses Gan, Ganellon, or Ganellone; Carlo, Car-language of Pulci, however pure, is not easy to the lomagno, or Carlomano; Rondel, or Rondello, etc. generality of Italians themselves, from its great

although, like the earth, it has the form of a globe. Mankind in those ages were much more ignorant than now. Hercules would blush at this day for having fixed his columns. Vessels will soon pass far beyond them. They may soon reach another hemisphere, because every thing tends to its centre; in like manner, as by a divine mystery, the earth is suspended in the midst of the stars; here below are cities and empires, which were ancient. The inhabitants of those regions were called Antipodes. They have piants and animals as well as you, and wage wars as well as you.' Morgante, c. xxv. st. 229, etc.

"The more we consider the traces of ancient science, which break in transient flashes through the darkness of the middle ages, and which gradually re-illuminated the horizon, the more shall we be disposed to adopt the hypothesis suggested by Bailly, and supported by him with seductive eloquence. He maintained that all the acquirements of the Greeks and Romans had been transmitted to them as the wrecks and fragments of the knowledge once possessed by primæval nations, by empires of sages and philosophers, who were afterwards swept from the face of the globe by some overwhelming catastrophe. His theory may be considered as extravagant; but if the literary productions of the Romans were not yet extant, it would seem incredible that after the lapse of a few centuries, the civilisation of the Augustan age could have been succeeded in Italy by such barbarity. The Italians were so ignorant, that they forgot their family names; and before the eleventh century individuals were known only by their Christian names. They had an indistinct idea, in the middle ages, of the existence of the antipodes: but it was a reminiscence

have therefore disputed with great earnestness during the last two centuries, whether the Morgante is written in jest or earnest; and whether Pulci is not an atheist, who wrote in verse for the express purpose of scoffing at all religion. Mr. Merivale inclines, in Lis Orlando in Roncesvalles, to the opinion of M. Ginguené, that the Morgante is decidedly to be considered as a burlesque poem, and a satire against the Christian religion. Yet Mr. Merivale himself acknowledges that it is wound up with a tragical effect, and dignified by religious sentiment; and is therefore forced to leave the question amongst the unexplained, and perhaps inexplicable, phenomena of the human mind.' If a Similar question had not been already decided, both in regard to Shakspeare and to Ariosto, it might be still a subject of dispute whether the former intended to write tragedies, and whether the other did not mean to burlesque his heroes. It is a happy thing that, with regard to those two great writers, the war has ended by the fortunate intervention of the general body of readers, who, on such occasions, form their judgment with less erudition and with less prejudice than the critics. But Pulci is little read, and his age is little known. We are told by Mr. Merivale, that the points of abstruse theology are discussed in the Morgente with a degree of sceptical freedom which we should imagine to be altogether remote from the spirit of the fifteenth century.' Mr. Merivale follows M. Ginguené, who follows Voltaire. And the philosopher of Ferney, who was always beating up in all quarters for allies against Christianity, collected all the scriptural passages of Pulci, upon which he commented in his own way. But it is only since the Council of Trent, that any doubt which might be raised on a religious dogma exposed an author to the charge of impiety; of ancient knowledge. Dante has indicated the number and powhilst, in the fifteenth century, a Catholic might be sincerely sition of the stars composing the polar constellation of the Austral devout and yet allow himself a certain degree of latitude in theo-hemisphere. At the same time he tells us, that when Lucifer was logical doubt. At one and the same time the Florentines might hurled from the celestial regions, the arch-devil transfixed the well believe in the Gospel and laugh at a doctor of divinity: for it globe; half his body remained on our side of the centre of the was exactly at this era that they had been spectators of the me-earth, and half on the other side. The shock given to the earth morable controversies between the representatives of the eastern by his fall drove a great portion of the waters of the ocean to the and western churches. Greek and Latin bishops from every southern hemisphere, and only one high mountain remained uncorner of Christendom had assembled at Florence, for the purpose covered, upon which Dante places his purgatory. As the fall of of trying whether they could possibly understand each other; and Lucifer happened before the creation of Adam, it is evident that when they s parated, they hated each other worse than before. At Dante did not admit that the southern hemisphere had ever been the very time when Pulci was composing his Morgante, the inhabited; but, about thirty years afterwards, Petrarch, who was better versed in the ancient writers, ventured to hint that the sun clergy of Florence protested against the excommunications pronounced by Sixtus IV., and with expressions by which his holiness shone upon mortals who were unknown to us:was anathematised in his turn. During these proceedings, an archbishop, convicted of being a papal emissary, was hanged from one of the windows of the government palace at Florence: this event may have suggested to Pulci the idea of converting "In the course of half a century after Petrarch, another step another archbishop into a hangman. The romantic poets sub- was gained. The existence of the antipodes was fully demonstituted literary and scientific observations for the trivial digres-strated. Pulci raises a devil to announce the fact; but it had sions of the story-tel ers. This was a great improvement: and although it was not well managed by Pulci, yet he presents us with much, curious incidental matter. In quoting his philosophical friend and contemporary Matteo Palmieri, he explains the instinct of brutes by a bold hypothesis-he supposes that they are animated by evil spirits. This idea gave no offence to the theologians of the lifteenth century; but it excited much orthoox indignation when Father Bougeant, a French monk, brought it forward as a new theory of his own. Mr. Merivale, after observing that Pulci died before the discovery of America by Columbus, quotes a passage which will become a very interesting document for the philosophical historian.' We give it in his prose translation:-'The water is level through its whole extent,

Nella stagion che il ciel rapido inchina.
Vers' occidente, e che il di nostro vola
A gente che di là forse l'aspetta.'

been taught to him by his fellow-citizen Paolo Toscanelli, an ex- |
cellent astronomer and mathematician, who wrote in his old age
to Christopher Columbus, exhorting him to undertake his expedi-
tion. A few stanzas have been translated by Mr. Merivale, with
some slight variations, which do not wrong the original. They may
be considered as a specimen of Pulci's poetry, when he writes
with imagination and feeling. Orlando bids farewell to his dying
horse:-

His faithful steed, that long had served him well
In peace and war, now closed his languid eye,
Kncel'd at his feet, and seem'd to say "Farewell!
I've brought thee to the destined port, and die."
Orlando felt anew his sorrows swell