The portrait of Alessandra in her festal attire, and all her matronly loveliness, looks forth, as it were, from this gorgeous frame, like one of Titian's breathing, full-blown beauties. Her dress is minutely described: it was black, embroidered over with wreaths of vine-leaves and bunches of grapes, in purple and gold; her fair luxuriant hair, gathered in a net behind and parted in front, fell down on either side of her face, in long curls which touched her shoulders. In aurei nodi, il biondo e spesso crine In rara e sottil rete, avea raccolto; Soave ombra di drieto Rendea al collo, e dinanzi alle confine Delle guance divine; E discendea fin a l' avorio bianco Del destro omero, e manco; Con queste reti, insidiosi amori Preser quel giorno, più de mille cori! "In golden braids, her fair And richly flowing hair Was gather'd in a subtle net behind,-- (A subtle net and rare!) And cast sweet shadows there Over her neck, whilst parted ringlets, twined In beauty, from her forehead fell away, And hung adown her cheek where roses lay, Touching the ivory pale, (how pale and white!) Of both her rounded shoulders, left and right. O crafty Loves! no more ye need your darts; For well ye know, how many thousand hearts, (Willing captives on that day,) In those golden meshes lay!"[77] On her brow, just where her hair is parted, she wears a sprig of laurel, wondrously wrought in gems and gold; Quel gemmato Alloro, tra la serena fronte e l' calle assunto. After a rapturous, but general description of the lady's surpassing beauty, this animated and admirable canzone concludes with the fine comparison of himself to the wild falcon, tamed at length to a master's hand and voice:-- La libertade apprezza, Fin che perduta ancor non l' ha il falcone; Preso che sia, depone Del gire errando sì l' antica voglia, Che sempre che si scioglia, Al suo Signor a render con veloci Ali s' andrà, dove udirà le voci! Ariosto, thus enamoured, forgot the flight of time; instead of remaining at Florence a few days, his stay was prolonged to six months; and as he resided in the house of his friend Vespucci, who was the brother-in-law of Alessandra, he had daily opportunities of seeing her, without in any way compromising her matronly dignity. On a certain occasion he finds her employed at her embroidery. She is working a robe, with wreaths of lilies and amaranthes; these emblems of purity and love suggest, of course, the obvious compliments, but in a spirit that places the whole scene before us: Alessandra, gracefully bending at her embroidery-frame, and listening, with veiled lids and suspended needle, to the tender homage of Ariosto, who repeats, as he hangs over her,-- Non senza causa il giglio e l' amaranto, L' uno di fede, e l' altro fior d' amore, &c.