medium of a Latin versified abridgment of the Iliad, which was in his time popular in Italy.
Nor idle lie the fiery hoops in store, &c.
Stanza cxii. line 5.
Vertot describes the Maltese as casting hoops charged with wild-fire among the Turks at the famous siege: it is said, without any authority for the fact, for which he was perhaps indebted to Ariosto.
Nor Rodomont to Nimrod yields in might,
Proud and untamed; and who would not forbear
To scale the lofty firmament till night,
Could he in this wide world descry the stair.
Stanza cxix. lines 1, 2, 3, 4.
In the original,
Rodomonte non già men di Nembrotte,
Indomito, superbo, e furibondo;
Chè d’ire al ciel non tarderebbe a notte,
Quando la strada si trovasse al mondo, &c.
Meaning that Rodomont was of so daring a character that he would not wait for night to cover such a mad enterprise, but would achieve it in the face of day.
The wild-swine of our own Mallea goes, &c.
Stanza cxx. line 4.
A marshy place in the Ferrarese.
