“Pass the far sign, from whence, on his return,
“The sun moves hither, leaving Capricorn.
Stanza xxi. lines 7 and 8.
This is, I suppose, the Ram, in which the sun passes the Equinoctial Line towards the north.
“Of Arragon and Austria’s blood I see
“On the left bank of Rhine a monarch bred;
“No sovereign is so famed in history,
“Of all whose goodly deeds are heard or read.
“Astræa reinthroned by him will be,—
“Rather restored to life, long seeming dead;
“And Virtues with her into exile sent,
“By him shall be recalled from banishment.
Stanza xxv.
Charles the Fifth, who was born at Ghent.
“And kingdoms in the Orient so remote,
“That we of these in India have no note.
Stanza xxvii. lines 7 and 8.
The reader will recollect that Columbus expected to reach the East Indies by steering due west, and that America was long considered as the western extremity of the East Indies.
“With Prospero Colonna, puissant peer,
“A marquis of Pescara I behold;—
“A youth of Guasto next, who render dear
“Hesperia to the flower-de-luce of gold;
“I see prepared to enter the career
“This third, who shall the laurel win and hold;
“As a good horse before the rest will dart,
“And first attain the goal, though last to start.
Stanza xxviii.
The names of Prospero Colonna and the great Pescara are
