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Ho letto l'Ariosto, e il gran Torquato,

La Secchia, il Malmantile, e il Bracciolini,

Con quanto c'è di Poesia stampato

Ma

D'Autori Italiani e Fiorentini ;

pure insino ad or non ho trovato Tra Poemi nostrali e pellegrini,

Che leggendo mi dia maggior diletto,
Come quel che s'appella Ricciardetto.24

TO THE EARL OF GD.

G▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬D! to laughter-moving song a friend, And full of pleasant jokes and quaint remark, An ear to Forteguerri's stories lend;

A learned wight was he and witty spark; And, if his sense I mar instead of mend,

For words and rhymes oft groping in the dark, My strains uncouth with kind indulgence scan, the poet if you love the man.

And spare

"De enemigos pedantes no pretendo
Para mis versos ni perdon ni excusa;
Pero, segunda vez, los recomiendo
A LOS AMIGOS DE MI POBRE MUSA."

RICCIARDETTO.

CANTO I.

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THE ARGUMENT.

The portrait of the Muse, capricious wench! 25

Prefaces here the work of Garbolin;

And though both he, and she, plain facts should wrench 26
To make us sob and sigh, or laugh and grin,

For me, a mere Translator, to retrench

One word from what they tell were shame and sin, 27

Of our Astolphus, and of sage Araldo,

Despina, Stella, Richard, and Rinaldo.

I.

AN odd caprice has got into my head
(Do all I will, I cannot drive it thence),
To tell a tale in verse, but seldom read,

I ween, or known to men of wit and sense:
No daughter of the sun, but country-bred,

My Muse to lyre of gold has no pretence;
But she's a merry soul, and takes delight
To chant her idle ditties, day and night.

II.

And though most used in the woods to range, And drink the crystal spring, and acorns chew, Her hint is now to sing adventures strange,

28

Of damsels fair, and war's heroic crew. And if sometimes she chance the truth to change, Gentles! some pardon to her fault is due;

For, never studying where sage masters teach, She roam'd from elm to oak, from birch to beech.

III.

Yet now you
For why? to our Arcadia late there came
A bevy bright of strangers from afar;

find she'll sing of love and war

Poets and orators of mighty name,

29

On foot, on palfrey, donkey, cart, or car;
None skill'd like them to rhyme or to declaim.

So, loving company with them to keep, 30

She dreams of heroes, waking and asleep.

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