Part 23 (2/2)

How vain the hope! Her form he seemed to clasp, But soon as seized, she vanished from his grasp.

How many times he laid his eager hand On her bright form, or on her vesture fair; But her white robes, and their vermilion band, Deceived his touch, and pa.s.sed away like air.

But once, as with a half-turned glance she scanned Her foe--Heaven's will and happy chance were there-- No breath for pausing might the time allow-- He seized the golden forelock of her brow.

Then pa.s.sed the gloom and tempest from the sky; The air at once grew calm and all serene; And where rude thorns had clothed the mountain high, Was spread a plain, all flowers and vernal green.

Repentance ceased her scourge. Still standing nigh, With placid looks, in her but rarely seen, She said: 'Beware how yet the prize you lose; The key of fortune few can wisely use.'

In the last stanza of the preceding translation, the seventh line is the essence of the stanza immediately following; the eighth is from a pa.s.sage several stanzas forward, after Orlando has obtained the key, which was the object of his search:

Che mal se trova alcun sotto la Luna, Ch' adopri ben la chiave di Fortuna.

The first two books of Bojardo's poem were published in 1486. The first complete edition was published in 1495.

The Venetian edition of 1544, from which I have cited this pa.s.sage, and the preceding one in chapter xx., is the fifteenth and last complete Italian edition. The original work was superseded by the _Rifacciamenti_ of Berni and Domenichi. Mr. Panizzi has rendered a great service to literature in reprinting the original. He collated all accessible editions. _Verum opere in longo fas est obrepere somnum_. He took for his standard,... as I think unfortunately, the Milanese edition of 1539. With all the care he bestowed on his task, he overlooked one fearful perversion in the concluding stanza, which in all editions but the Milanese reads thus: Mentre ch' io canto, ahime Dio redentore...

He was recalled to himself by sinking up to his shoulders of a hollow.

'She must have antic.i.p.ated my coming,' said the young gentleman to himself. 'She had opened the book at this pa.s.sage, and has left it to say to me for her--Choose between love and repentance. Four times seven days! That is to ensure calm for the Christmas holidays. The term will pa.s.s over Twelfth Night. The lovers of old romance were subjected to a probation of seven years:--

Seven long years I served thee, fair one, Seven long years my fee was scorn.

'But here, perhaps, the case is reversed. She may have feared a probation of seven years for herself; and not without reason. And what have I to expect if I let the four times seven days pa.s.s by? Why, then, I can read in her looks--and they are interpreted in the verses before me--I am a.s.signed to repentance, without the hope of a third opportunity. She is not without a leaning towards Lord Curryfin.

Veggio 1' Italia tutta a fiamma e a foco, Per questi Galli, che con gran furore Vengon per disertar non so che loco.

Pero vi lascio in questo vano amore Di Fiordespina ardente a poco a poco: Un' altra fiata, se mi fia concesso, Racconterovi il tutto per espresso.

Even while I sing, ah me, redeeming Heaven!

I see all Italy in fire and flame, Raised by these Gauls, who, by great fury driven, Come with destruction for their end and aim.

The maiden's heart, by vainest pa.s.sion riven, Not now the rudely-broken song may claim; Some future day, if Fate auspicious prove, Shall end the tale of Fiordespina's love.

The Milanese edition of 1539 was a reprint of that of 1513, in which year the French, under Louis XII., had reconquered Milan. The Milanese editions read valore for furore.

It was no doubt in deference to the conquerors that the printer of 1513 made this subst.i.tution; but it utterly perverts the whole force of the pa.s.sage. The French, under Charles VIII., invaded Italy in September 1494, and the horror with which their devastations inspired Bojardo not only stopped the progress of his poem, but brought his life prematurely to a close. He died in December 1494. The alteration of this single word changes almost into a compliment an expression of cordial detestation.

She thinks he is pa.s.sing from her, and on the twenty-ninth day, or perhaps in the meantime, she will try to regain him. Of course she will succeed. What rivalry could stand against her? If her power over him is lessened, it is that she has not chosen to exert it She has but to will it, and he is again her slave. Twenty-eight days! twenty-eight days of doubt and distraction.' And starting up, he walked out into the park, not choosing the swept path, but wading knee-deep in snow where it lay thickest in the glades. He was recalled to himself by sinking up to his shoulders in a hollow. He emerged with some difficulty, and retraced his steps to the house, thinking that, even in the midst of love's most dire perplexities, dry clothes and a good fire are better than a hole in the snow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: sinking up to his shoulders in a hollow 225-196]

CHAPTER XXV

HARRY AND DOROTHY

(Greek pa.s.sage) Humerus in Odyssea.

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