Con quel furor che il Re de' fiumi altero,
Quando rompe tal volta argine e sponda,
E che ne' campi Ocnei si apre il sentiero,
E i grassi solchi e le biade feconde,
E con le sue capanne il gregge intero,
E co' cani i pastor porta neil' onde, etc.[118]
Even with that rage wherewith the stream that reigns,
The king of rivers - when he breaks his mound.
And makes himself a way through Mantuan plains -
The greasy furrows and glad harvests, round,
And, with the sheepcotes, nock, and dogs and swains
Bears off, in his o'erwhelming waters drowned.
- Trans. W.S. ROSE.
The next place I went to see was the Lyceum or University, where there is a
very fair cabinet of natural history in all its branches. The Library is
very remarkable, and possesses a great number of valuable manuscripts. But
my principal object in visiting this Museum was to see the monument erected
in honour of Ariosto, which has been transferred here from the Benedictine
church. The inkstand and chair of this illustrious bard are carefully
preserved and exhibited. They exactly resemble the print of them that
accompanies the first edition of Hoole's translation of the Orlando
Furioso. Among the manuscripts what gratified me most was the manuscript
of the Gerusalemme liberata of Tasso.
