“—Since he would trust her to Duke Namus’ care,
“That he should lose her in this way, alone
“Sorts with my wish,” &c.
Stanza lxxv. lines 3, 4, 5.
In the original,
Che l’abbia data a Namo mi consona
Sol, perchè a perder l’abbia a questa sorte.
This peevish exclamation, which at first sight may appear obscure, is, perhaps, in unison with the character of Orlando. His meaning is, ‘That he, Namus, should lose her in this way (since he was to have the charge of her) is the only thing in this transaction which pleases me.’
Already every where, with due repose,
Creatures restored their weary spirits; laid
These upon stones and upon feathers those,
Or greensward, in the beech or myrtle’s shade:
But scarcely did thine eyes, Orlando, close.
Stanza lxxix. lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
is imitated from a passage in Virgil’s fourth Æneid.
pecudes pictæque volucres,
Quæque lacus late liquidos, quæque aspera dumis
Rura tenent, somno positæ sub nocte silenti,
Lenibant curas, et corda oblita labor um.
At non infelix animi Phœnissa, etc.
Hope not on earth to enjoy the blessing more.
Stanza lxxxiii. line 6.
This line, in the text,
Non sperar più gioirne in terra mai,
is taken, with little variation, from Petrarch’s
Non sperar più vederla in terra mai;
but Ariosto could not imitate him without transfusing something of a warmer colouring into his copy.
