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CANTO V

indeed so remarkable, that some pretend it was to denote it, that the fiction of his having been immersed in Styx entirely except the heel, was first invented (1). I know not, whether any stickler for the Classics may object to the introduction of the hero of the Iliad in this melancholy circle, instead of the Elysium of the former one: but let such re. collect the sorrowful plight of that sacred champion in the Odyssey, who is there made to aver that, rather than reign where he was., he would be "A slave to some poor hind who toils for bread (»). " Indeed it is not easy to form any notion of Homer's plan of future rewards and punishments; and such no doubt was one reason for Dante's preferring the philosophical Virgil, as his instructor in the creed of Antiquity. The placing of Achilles here maintains that dignity which is intended for Francesca; nor is her state so terrible, nor the punishments of this first circle of Tartarus so severe, as to be derogatory to him.

Q. LXVII.

If Dante made a classic selection with regard to the preceding heroes and heroines, he made a fashionable one in designating Tristram of the

(r) Quod thalus immersus non sit, physicum tegit mysterium. Volunt namque physici quod venæ quæ in thalo, sunt ad renum et fæmorum atque virilium rationem pertineant,; et ideo per thalum non mersum in Styge, invictam in Achille libidinem volueruat. Genealogia Deor. Lib. x. Cap. 52. (2) Pope's Iliad, Book xI.

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CANTO V.

Round table; which romance, along with Launcelot of the lake, composed a lady's library in those days. Arthur's chief favourite was the nephew to the king of Cornwall, Tristram ; who had the misfortune to become enamoured of his own royal aunt, Ysotta, a fair haired princess of Erin (1), while she played innocently on her harp; and the uncle, finding them thus together, took a fit of jealousy and wounded the youth with a poisoned arrow which he happened to have in his hand; so that he was thereupon carried away to bed: where the aunt coming in to visit him before he expired, they embraced each other with such affection and despair, that both their hearts burst together (2). Petrarch also gives Tristram a place in his Triumph of Love (3). So many illustrious personages force the reader to make a reflection (which the poet artfully omits), that, if so large a proportion of those, whom the world quote as examples of transcendant abilities and greatness of soul, were unequal to the conflict of love, we ought not to judge over-severely of a single fault of a very young

(1). la bionda figliuola del Re d'Irlanda. Bib. Ricc. M. S. Cod. 1016.

....

(2) . . . . dopo molto pianto, abbracciandosi insieme per grande passione ed amore, dice la favola che morirono l'una nelle braccie dell' altro - a story ( says the manuscript I am quoting ) taken from the Chronicle of Mantua. Id. Id. Id. and Boccaccio, Comento, Vol. 1. p. 310,

(3) Ecco quei che le carte empion di sogni

Lancilotto, Tristano, e gli altri, ec.

Trionfo d'Amore. p. 99.

SANTO

couple, whom peculiar circumstances exposed to the most trying temptations.

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Before proceeding further, it will be well to present the reader with the historical facts on which the poetic description he is about to peruse is founded; because without being perfectly aware of them it will be impossible to appreciate the poetry justly. Should my recital appear prolix, or should the quotations transcribed to support it be judged superfluously numerous, I alledge as an excuse that it is an oltremontano who undertakes to investigate a question of Italian antiquities, which is not accurately treated in the Italian editions of Dante, and who not only affirms that on this head all those editions (even not excepting the most voluminous ones) are strangely deficient, but that of the little they state a portion is to be invalidated; and that palpable errors are disse · minated in France and England in the most modern publications that profess information on this subject the Histoire Litteraire d'Italie, and the Story of Rimini'. Mr. Hunt indeed can quote Italian in his favour; and even were it otherwise, he could put in the triumphant plea of the beauty of his little poem: but the French critic has no such defence, and when he sets out by telling us that

CANTO V.

Paul and Francesca were cousins (1), he commits a blunder not discoverable in the most negligent copy ever printed of the Divina Commedia, and nearly disheartens one with his book.

Polenta and Malatesta were two feudal Lords, the former of Ravenna and Cervia, and the latter of Rimini; States which, according to the style of the time, were continually at bloody variance. It was on the cessation of one of their longest and most ruinous conflicts, that a union between their two most potent families was projected as the only expe dient to insure a peace; which to Ravenna, as having fared the worst in the campaign, was supposed to be very desirable, if not absolutely necessary. But Polenta had another as powerful, though less patriotic reason. His family, though rich, were not ancient, and he was ambitious. His father had come from a small village at the foot of the Appennines; and although he himself had now risen, first to the dignity of Procurator to the Archbishop, and at last to that of Count, he aspired to greater honours. He therefore sought by every means to captivate his fellow-citizens by courteous manners, and to strengthen his reputation abroad by alliances in which he succeeded so well, that finally, by the aid of his son-in-law, Malatesta, he expelled the only people who could compete with him, the princely-descended Traversarii, and made

(1) Elle etait tendrement aimée de Paul son jeune cousin. Hist. Litt. d' Italie, Vol. I. p. 45.

CANTO V.

himself the absolute master of the city. This he did in 1275 (1). It was I know not exactly how long previously, that the marriage I am about to speak of took place; but it could not be long (2). Polenta long after both the death of his daughter and his own ascent to supreme power in Ravenna, was elected Podestâ, or mayor, in Florence, in 1291 (3). Those who are aware of the strange usances then in Italy, will not be astonished to find one, who was already a little sovereign, come to be an occasional chief Magistrate in that illustrious Republic. In Polenta's case it was doubly convenient; for, while his authority was secured by his adherents at home, his visit to Florence both soothed his townsmen by that appearance of equality (4) and gave him

(1) Per idem tempus (1275) Guido Polentanus (qui per aliquod tempus privatus vixerat civis ) subsidio equitum qui sibi missi a Lancellotto Genero Arimino fuerant, adversariis civibus, Traversariis præsertim pulsis, Ravenna potitus est. Hier. Rubæi Hist. Raven. p. 308.

(2) Clementini (Racc. Ist. di Rimini, Lib. v. p. 580) dates both the peace between Ravenna and Rimini, the usurpation of Polenta, and Francesca's marriage all in the same year. He deduces this latter from the gratitude which Polenta owed Scanatus for his aid in usurping the supreme power at Ravenna; the literal sense of the Ravannese annalist's words is, that the marriage was to cement the peace and that Scanatus was already Polenta's son-in-law when he assisted him in expelling the Traversarii. But it is easy to reconcile both accounts, by considering the three events as nearly simultaneous and that while making the peace, the marriage and usurpation were concerted and quickly put in execution. Hier. Rubæi Hist. Ravennatum, Lib. 6. p. 308.

(3) Nel 1291 in Calen. di Luglio fu fatto Podestà di Firenze Messer Guido da Polenta di Ravenna. Chron. di P. di Piero, ap. supp. ad Rer. Ital. Serip. T. 2. p. 45.

(4) He was an assiduous courtier of popularity facile inter cives primus comitate humanitateque conciliare animos sibi omnorum studens... Hier. Rubæi, Hist. Raven. Lib. vi. p. 3og.

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