“Non è nobil coraggio e valor vero Con queste schiere e quello incontro mena, Ma l’impunito di ladron mestiero Cui legge alcuna, alcun poter non frena.”[229] Byron makes a charge of the same kind in portraying mercenary warriors as, “Not fighting for their country or its crown, But wishing to be one day brigadiers; Also to have the sacking of a town.”[230] The whole of Canto VI in _Il Poema Tartaro_ may be compared with Byron’s description of the siege of Ismail in _Don Juan_, VII and VIII. Both scenes are presented with grim and graphic realism, without any softening of the horrors and disgusting incidents of warfare. In _Il Poema Tartaro_, more than in his other productions, Casti ventured to resort to genuine personal satire. He assailed not only Catharine, but also Potemkin, Prince Henry of Prussia, Gustavus III of Sweden, the Sultan of Egypt, and the king of Denmark, to mention only figures who have a prominent place in history. His method being still usually indirect and dramatic, Casti seldom lets himself appear as accuser, but puts criticism of these sovereigns into the mouths of his characters, especially Tomasso’s friend, Siveno, who acts as the favorite’s mentor and guide. A whole race may arouse Casti’s anger-- “Contro il mogol superbo, e vile Mi sento in sen esaltar la bile”-- but he is too wise to let himself be entangled in any controversy. This discretion does not, necessarily, imply cowardice or fear, for his indirect attacks are often as malignant as any of Byron’s more direct invectives, and their victims cannot be mistaken. Byron, however, always wished to meet his enemies face to face, while Casti preferred to reach his in a less open way. In general, the methods employed in _Il Poema Tartaro_ are those used in _Gli Animali Parlanti_. There are the same short digressions, illustrated in such passages as, “Ciò di Toto piccar dovea la boria E con ragion; ma proseguiam la storia,”[231] in which the author pulls himself away in order to continue his narrative, and which have frequently almost the same phraseology as Byron’s “Return we to our story.” Sometimes the digressions take the form of philosophical reflections on various abstract subjects such as death, mutability, or love: “Amor, la bella passion che i petti Empie si soavissima dolcezza.”[232] We meet often with the familiar insistence on the veracious character of the author’s writing.[233] Irony occurs intermittently, mingled at times with sarcasm. One peculiarity of Casti’s manner deserves particular attention, although it is not unique with him and is derived originally from the earlier burlesque poets. This is his habit of shifting the mood from the serious to the ludicrous by the use of unexpected phrases. Examples of this sudden turn in thought are numerous in _Il Poema Tartaro_. When the report of rebellion arrives at the Russian court, the description of terrible alarm ends with the couplet,