ARIOSTO, LUDOVICO, an eminent Italian poet, was the son of Nicolo Ariosto, governor of Reggio, in Lom bardy; and was born in that city in the year 1474. He was descended from an ancient and illustrious family, allied to that of the dukes of Ferrara, and originally from the city of Bologna. Ile gave very early proofs of his genius by a dramatic production on the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, and by a Latin oration of uncom mon merit. His father, who is said to have been a stranger to literature himself, and whose fortune was scarcely sufficient for the support of his family, was na turally desirous to direct the talents of his son to the most profitable employment, and sent him to Padua to study the civil law. In this pursuit, Ariosto spent five years, with much reluctance, and with little success;' but after the death of his father, he turned with renew ed relish to his favourite studies ; and, under the in structions of Gregory of Spoleti, he acquired great fa cility in the composition of Latin verses. Finding, how ever, that the cultivation of his native tongue was more congenial to his taste, he bent his chief attention to Ita lian poetry ; and is understood, even at this early period, to have planned his Orlando Furioso.
In 1503, when he was about 29 years of age, he en tered into the service of cardinal Hippolito d'Este, whose court was frequented by many of the most learn ed men of the age. By this prelate, he was employed in the most important transactions, and was recommend ed by him to his brother Alphonso, duke of Ferrara, as a proper person to be entrusted with an embassy to pope Julius II. Ariosto discharged this difficult mission with the greatest ability, and was also eminently ser viceable to the duke in the field, during his contest with the papal power. In 1513, after the elevation of Leo X., to the pontificate, Ariosto went to Rome, in the hope of improving his fortune, and extending his fame, under the patronage of a pontiff, who had formerly been among the number of his intimate friends. He was very gra ciously received, and repeatedly embraced by his holi ness; but he derived no other benefit from his favour, than the simple grant of a Bull, securing to him the profits of his literary productions. After a few days' fruitless attendance at the levee of Leo, he hastily took his departure from Rome, spent about six months at Florence, partly to witness the festivities, which were then celebrating in that city, and partly to acquire a more intimate knowledge of the Tuscan dialect, return ed to his former situation in the house of Hippolito ; and resumed, with double diligence, the composition of the Orlando Furioso. This poem made its first appear ance at Ferrara, in 1515 ; and was dedicated to the car dinal, in a style of the highest panegyric. Instead of a recompence for his poetry and praises, he received from his patron the following reproof for such a misap plication of his time ; " Where the devil, Ludovico, did you keep so much trumpery ?" About three years after this event, the cardinal took a journey into Hungary ; and was desirous to carry in his train all the literary characters then under his protection. But Ariosto, weary of the fatiguing attendance which Hippolito re quired, and disgusted by the reception which had been given to his poem, excused himself from joining in this excursion ; alledging as the reasons of his refusal, his unwieldy habit of body, and infirm state of health. The cardinal testified very strongly his displeasure at this desertion, and meanly withdrew the sum of 25 crowns, which he had allowed to Ariosto, as his salary per month. The poet contented himself with writing a few humourous lines on the occasion : and, resolving to mingle no more• in the intrigues of courts, he retired to a small possession of his own in the neighbourhood of Reggio. But after the death of the cardinal, being either constrained by necessity, or encouraged by an invitation from the duke of Ferrara's secretary, he made an offer of his services to that prince ; was honoured with his particular friendship, and was soon enabled, by his bounty, to build a residence for himself in Fer rara, suited to his taste and studious habits. In this habitation, and the garden which surrounded it, he passed the remainder of his days, and composed the greater part of his works. The only interruption which he experienced in this retirement, was an appointment by the duke to appease some discontents which had arisen in the district of Garsagna ; in which he acquit ted himself with so much prudence and ability, that he gained at once the affections of the inhabitants, and the approbation of Alphonso. A short time after this ser vice, he was requested to act as ambassador from the duke of Ferrara to Clement VII.; but fond of a private life, freed from his early ambition, and attached to a lady in Ferrara, from whom he could not be long absent, he declined the honour which had been put in his pow er. By this, or by some other lady, he had two sons, Virginio and Giovanno; the former of whom entered the church, and the latter the army. It has been al ledged, that he was secretly married to the mother of his children ; and that he concealed this circumstance, lest he should be deprived of the benefice which he held as an ecclesiastic. But whether he was married or not, it is sufficiently well known, and is one of the greatest stains upon his memory, that he did not con fine his affections to one object. It has been said by some, who have given an account of his life, but is questioned by others, that, in 1532, he was publicly. crowned at Mantua as a poet, by the emperor Charles V., and that he was so transported with joy upon the occasion, that, when the crown was placed upon his head, he ran through the whole town, as mad as the hero of his own romance. He died at Ferrara on the sixth of June, 15S3, in the 59th year of his age, and was interred in the church of St Benedict, without any monument fiir inscription. Afterwards, however, his son
Virginio proposed to remove his body to a sepulchre, which he had erected in his own garden, in the form of a small chapel ; but could not procure permission from the Benedictine monks. At length, in 1573, his friend Agostino Mosti built a tomb in one of the chapels of St Benedict, to which the bones of Ariosto were con veyed; and upon which his statue was placed, with a Latin inscription by Lorenzo Frizoli. Ludovico Ariosto, also, a great grandson of the poet, regretting that such honours should be paid to his relative only by strangers, erected, in an opposite chapel, a magnificent monument of marble, with a statue of alabaster, and an elegant inscription by'Giovanno Batista Guarino.' Ariosto is described by those who have given a par ticular account of his life and character, as constitution ally infirm in his health, frugal and temperate in his mode of life, timid and inoffensive in his general dis position, yet capable of exercising, on proper occasions, the utmost spirit and resolution. lie was tall in his person, affable and unassuming in his manners, cheerful arid facetious in conversation, but, otherwise of a melan choly temperament, and frequently absorbed in profound meditation. Of his extreme absence of mind, even in early life, the following anecdote has often been addu ced, as turnishing a very striking instance. White he was employed in composing his comedy Cassaria, his father one day reprimanded him very severely for some neglect, of which he had been supposed to be guilty. He listened with the utmost attention, but did not utter a single word in reply. When, however, his brother Gabriel afterwards questioned him on the same subject, he easily proved to his satisfaction, that he was per fectly innocent of the fault which had been laid to his charge ; and upon his being asked why he had not jus tified himself to his father, he declared that his mind at that time had been so much occupied with one of the scenes of his comedy, into which he was introducing the circumstance of a paternal admonition, and so very intent upon applying to his purpose the speech of his father, that he never once reflected upon what was pass ing as a real event, in which he himself was personally interested. He is said to have been extremely vain of his poetical productions, and appears to have possessed a considerable portion of that unreasonable irritability, which is too often regarded as the privilege of genius. This trait in his character has also been illustrated in the accounts of his life, by an anecdote which is indeed sufficiently descriptive, but which has been related of so many other poets, that its authenticity in the present case, may very reasonably be questioned. As lie was passing along the streets, he happened to hear a potter reciting a passage from his "Orlando," in a very slo venly manner. The enraged poet rushed into the shop, dashed to the ground a parcel of the earthen ware, and in reply to the expostulations of the astonished potter, exclaimed in the frenzy of his vanity, " I have, indeed, broken half a dozen of your pots, which are not worth as many pence ; but you have destroyed a stanza of mine, which is worth a mark of gold." This was a boast which indicated no small degree of intolerable conceit ; but which few writers could make with better reason than Ariosto. He is justly ranked among the chief of the Italian poets ; and is, at least, the favourite of his countrymen. His great work is the Orlando Furioso, a poetical romance, of which the plan and the principal incidents are taken from a similar poem by Boyardo, entitled, Orlando Inamorato. There is perhaps no poem extant, which abounds so much in every offence against all the rules of criticism; and which, at the same time, so fully compensates for its faults by innumerable excellencies. It is wholly defec tive in unity of design, regularity of arrangement, subor dination of parts, and connexion of events. Its plot is so completely perplexed and intricate, that the author appears to have intentionally exerted himself to bewilder his reader ; and to have fairly made the trial, in order to display his powers, how far he could disgust the judgment by every absurdity and extravagance ; while, at the same time, he could delight the fancy, and com mand admiration by his wonderful invention, his brilliant imagery, his happy expression, and his profusion of poetic beauties. His work is a confused mixture of the sublime and familiar, the heroic and tender, the satyric and licentious, the pathetic and burlesque, in every one of which he proves himself a master. He excels, how ever, in narrative and description ; is more remarkable for bold conceptions, than for beautiful metaphors; and is distinguished by a nervous, expressive, and unaffected style, rather than by softness, elegance, and orgament. The Orlando Furioso, in short, cannot be ranked, with any degree of propriety, among the class of epic poems; but it abounds, (to use the expression of Dr Blair,) in epic matter, and turnishes unquestionable proofs of the highest poetical genius. It is a complete wilderness, in which there is no continued path, and no appearance of_regular cultivation ; but in which are to be seen at every step, the most magnificent scenes, the most pic turesque prospects, the richest fruits, and the most brilliant flowers. The character of Ariosto as a poet, is very happily expressed in the following epigram, which was inscribed upon his tomb ; but the author of which is unknown :— Sec Hoole's Life of ./Iriosto, prefixed to his translation of the Orlando Furioso. Roscoe's Life (I Leo X. amid Mazzuchelli's Scrittori (y)