ALFONSO VARANO was a more earnest and impassioned spirit than Frugoni, and he deserves the credit of having, both by precept and example, drawn attention to the neglected beauties of Dante. His principal work is his _Book of Visions,_ written in the metre of Dante and redolent of his style. Varano resolutely discarded the hackneyed mythological allusions that disfigure the works of his contemporaries. He is strictly Christian, and he endeavours to be medieval. But he has hardly sufficient foundation to go upon, his Visions are about nothing in particular, and his style is not sufficiently flexible and picturesque to delight readers who cannot help being reminded of Dante. The Marquis GIAMBATTISTA SPOLVERINI, of Verona, born in 1695, died in 1763, is remarkable for one extremely well-written poem in blank verse on the cultivation of rice. The subject, as may be imagined, had not previously been treated in poetry, and the author made himself complete master of the technicalities of his theme. He devoted himself to the perusal of the great models of poetry, and to writing verses himself in order to acquire the necessary flexibility of style. He laboured for many years over the details of the one work by which he hoped to be remembered, and at last, in the memorable year 1758, he gave _La Coltivazione del Riso_ to the world. But, alas! the world paid no heed to the slender volume and went its way as usual. Deep was the mortification of Spolverini. He could not realise that a poem so important to himself, should appear so insignificant to the public. His health and spirits gave way, and he died, unnoticed and unlamented, in 1763. The utter neglect of his contemporaries was neither discerning nor creditable, and later years did justice to the numerous, though unobtrusive, beauties of the poem. He has the merit, rare in his age, of going straight to life and nature, and what he observes he is able to record in spirited verse. But the subject does not appeal to the general reader, and hence probably the utter indifference with which it was received.[1] GIAMBATTISTA PASTORINI, a native of Genoa, wrote a noble sonnet on the city of his birth. TOMMASO CRUDELI wrote some pretty fables. He languished for years in the dungeons of the Inquisition, and died at the age of forty-two in 1745. PAOLO ROLLI is remarkable for having translated _Paradise Lost_ into Italian. He lived for many years as teacher of Italian in London where he seems to have been well received. He returned to Italy in 1747 and chose Todi in Umbria as his residence, where he died twenty years later aged eighty. Cassiani of Modena, produced some spirited Sonnets; so did ONOFRIO MINZONI of Ferrara, and PROSPERO MANARA may be mentioned for the same reason. PIGNOTTI and BERTOLA were good fabulists, and Bertola enjoyed the further distinction of being the first to introduce German Literature into Italy.