Volume I Part 13 (1/2)

[74] Those who are curious about historic proofs, may consult Anecdotes of the family of Howard, Memoirs and works of Henry Howard Earl of Surrey, edited by Dr. Nott, Park's Royal and n.o.ble Authors, and Collins'

Peerage, by Brydges.

CHAPTER XIII.

GINEVRA, AND ALESSANDRA STROZZI.

While the sagacity of Horace Walpole was tracking the ident.i.ty of the fair Geraldine, through the mazes of poetry and probability,--through parchments, through peerages, through papers, and through patents, he must now and then have been annoyed by the provoking discretion of her chivalrous adorer, which had led him such a chase. But of all the discreet lovers that ever baffled commentators or biographers, commend me to Ariosto! though one of the last from whom discretion might have been expected on such a subject. He is known to have been particularly susceptible to the power of beauty; pa.s.sionate in his attachments; and though pensive and abstracted in his general habits, almost irresistibly captivating in his intercourse with women. Yet such was his fine chivalrous feeling for the honour of those who, won by his rare qualities, yielded it to his keeping--”such his marvellous secrecy and modesty,” say his Italian biographers, that although the public gaze was fixed upon him in his lifetime, and although, since his death, the minutest circ.u.mstances relative to him have been subjects of as much curiosity and research in Italy, as Shakspeare among us; yet a few scattered notices are all that can be brought together to ill.u.s.trate his charming lyrics.

This mystery was not in Ariosto the effect of chance or affectation; it arose from a principle of conduct faithfully adhered to from youth to age; in behalf of which, and the many beautiful pa.s.sages expressive of devotion and reverential tenderness towards our s.e.x, scattered through his great poem, we will endeavour, (though at some little sacrifice of the pride and delicacy of women,) to pardon him, for having treated us most wickedly, on sundry other occasions. As an emblem of the reserve he had imposed on himself, a little bronze Cupid, with his finger on his lip, in token of silence, ornamented his inkstand, which is still preserved at Ferrara.

Of Ariosto's amatory poems, so full of spirit, grace, and a sort of earnest triumphant tenderness, it is impossible to doubt that the objects were real. The earliest of his serious attachments, was to a young girl of the Florentine family of the Lapi, but residing at Mantua, or in its vicinity. Her name was Ginevra,--a name he has tenderly commemorated in the Orlando Furioso, by giving it to one of his most charming and interesting heroines,--Ginevra di Scozia. He has also, after Petrarch's fas.h.i.+on, _played_ upon this name in one or two of his sonnets; _Ginevro_ signifying a juniper-tree:

Non voglio (e Febo e Bacco mi perdoni) Che lor frondi mi mostrino poeta, Ma che un _Ginevro_ sia che mi coroni!

”I wish not, (may Bacchus and Phoebus pardon me!) either the laurel or the ivy to crown my brows; let my wreath be rather of the th.o.r.n.y juniper!”

His love for Ginevra (which was fondly returned,) began in very early youth; their first interview occurred at a _Festa di Ballo_,--a fte-champtre, where Ginevra excelled all her young companions in the dance, as much as she surpa.s.sed them in her blooming beauty. He alludes to stolen interviews, in a grove of laurels, and on the banks of the Mincio: and on the whole, confesses that he had no reason to complain of cruelty from the fair Ginevra.[75] This attachment lasted long; for, four years after their first meeting, Ariosto addresses her in a most impa.s.sioned strain, and vows that she was then ”dearer to him than his own soul, and fairer than ever in his eyes.” She seems to have left that permanent impression on his memory and fancy, that shade of tender regret with which a man of strong sensibility and ardent imagination always recurs to the first love of his youth, even when the pa.s.sion itself is past. He says himself, when revisiting Mantua many years afterwards, that the scene revived all his former tenderness--

Quel foco ch' io pensai che fosse estinto, Dal tempo, dagli affanni, ed il star lunge Signor pur arde.----

I cannot discover what became of Ginevra ultimately: her fate was a common one: she was loved by a celebrated man, was forsaken, and in exchange for happiness and for love, she has enjoyed for some time a shadowy renown. Her name was usually connected with that of Ariosto, till the researches of later biographers discovered the object of that more celebrated, more serious, and more lasting pa.s.sion which inspired Ariosto's finest lyrics, which was subsequently sealed by a private marriage, and ended only with the poet's life. In this instance, the modesty of the lady and the discretion of Ariosto have proved in vain, for the name of _Alessandra Strozzi_ is now so inseparably linked with that of her poet, that Beatrice is not more identified with Dante, nor Laura with Petrarch; though their names be more popular, and their fame more widely spread.

Minor di grido, ma del vanto altera, (E ci le basta) che suo saggio amante Fu'l grande che cant l'armi e gli amori-- Vedi Alessandra![76]

Alessandra Strozzi was the daughter of Filippo Benucci, and the widow of t.i.to Strozzi, a n.o.ble Florentine and famous Latin poet. At the period of her first acquaintance with Ariosto, she must have been about six-and-twenty, and a beautiful woman, on a very magnificent scale.

Though I cannot find that she was distinguished for talents, or any particular taste for literature, she seems to have possessed higher and more loveable qualities, which won Ariosto's admiration and secured his respect to the last.

It was on his return from Rome in 1515, that Ariosto visited Florence, intending merely to witness the grand festival which was then celebrated in honour of St. John the Baptist, and lasted several days. With what animation, what graphic power, he has described in one of his canzoni, the scene and occasion in which he first beheld his mistress! The magnificence of Florence left, he says, few traces on his memory: he could only recollect that in all that fair city, he saw nothing so fair as herself.

Sol mi resta immortale Memoria, ch'io non vidi in tutta quella Bella citt, di voi, cosa pi bella.

He had arrived just in time to be present at a fte, to which both were invited, and which Alessandra, notwithstanding her recent widowhood, condescended to adorn with her presence, ”da preghi vinta”--conquered by the entreaties of her friends. The whole scene is set forth like some of the living and moving pictures which glow before us in the Orlando.

Porte, finestre, vie, templi, teatri, Vidi pieni di Donne, A giochi, a pompe, a sacrifici intenti.

The portrait of Alessandra in her festal attire, and all her matronly loveliness, looks forth, as it were, from this gorgeous frame, like one of t.i.tian's breathing, full-blown beauties. Her dress is minutely described: it was black, embroidered over with wreaths of vine-leaves and bunches of grapes, in purple and gold; her fair luxuriant hair, gathered in a net behind and parted in front, fell down on either side of her face, in long curls which touched her shoulders.

In aurei nodi, il biondo e spesso crine In rara e sottil rete, avea raccolto; Soave ombra di drieto Rendea al collo, e dinanzi alle confine Delle guance divine; E discendea fin a l' avorio bianco Del destro omero, e manco; Con queste reti, insidiosi amori Preser quel giorno, pi de mille cori!

”In golden braids, her fair And richly flowing hair Was gather'd in a subtle net behind,-- (A subtle net and rare!) And cast sweet shadows there Over her neck, whilst parted ringlets, twined In beauty, from her forehead fell away, And hung adown her cheek where roses lay, Touching the ivory pale, (how pale and white!) Of both her rounded shoulders, left and right.

O crafty Loves! no more ye need your darts; For well ye know, how many thousand hearts, (Willing captives on that day,) In those golden meshes lay!”[77]

On her brow, just where her hair is parted, she wears a sprig of laurel, wondrously wrought in gems and gold;

Quel gemmato Alloro, tra la serena fronte e l' calle a.s.sunto.

After a rapturous, but general description of the lady's surpa.s.sing beauty, this animated and admirable canzone concludes with the fine comparison of himself to the wild falcon, tamed at length to a master's hand and voice:--