Questa scolpita in oro, amica fede, Che santo amor nel tuo bel dito pose, O prima a me delle terrene cose! Donna! caro mio pregio,--alta mercede-- Ben fu da te serbata; e ben si vede Che al commun' voler' sempre rispose, Del di ch' il ciel nel mio pensier' t' ascose, E quanto puote dar, tutto mi diede! Ecco ch' io la t' invola--ecco ne spoglio Il freddo avorio che l' ornava; e vesto La mia, piu assai che la tua, mano esangue. Dolce mio furto! finche vivo io voglio Che tu stia meco--ne le sia molesto Ch' or di pianto ti bagni,--e poi di sangue! LITERAL TRANSLATION. "This circlet of sculptured gold--this pledge which sacred affection placed on that fair hand--O Lady! dearest to me of all earthly things,--my sweet possession and my lovely prize,--well and faithfully didst thou preserve it! the bond of a mutual love and mutual faith, even from that hour when Heaven bestowed on me all it could bestow of bliss. Now then--O now do I take it from thee! and thus do I withdraw it from the cold ivory of that hand which so adorned and honoured it. I place it on mine own, now chill, and damp, and pale as thine.--O beloved theft!--While I live thou shall never part from me. Ah! be not offended if thus I stain thee with these tears,--and soon perhaps with life drops from my heart." Castiglione, besides being celebrated as the finest gentleman of his day, and the author of that code of all noble and knightly accomplishments, of perfect courtesy and gentle bearing--"Il Cortigiano," must have a place among our conjugal poets. He had married in 1516, Hypolita di Torrello, whose accomplishments, beauty, and illustrious birth, rendered her worthy of him. It appears, however, that her family, who were of Mantua, could not bear to part with her,[44] and that after her marriage, she remained in that city, while Castiglione was ambassador at Rome. This separation gave rise to a very impassioned correspondence; and the tender regrets and remonstrances scattered through her letters, he transposed into a very beautiful poem, in the form of an epistle from his wife. It may be found in the appendix to Roscoe's Leo X. (No. 196.) Hypolita died in giving birth to a daughter, after a union of little more than three years, and left Castiglione for some time inconsolable. We are particularly told of the sympathy of the Pope and the Cardinals on this occasion, and that Leo condoled with him in a manner equally unusual and substantial, by bestowing on him immediately a pension of two hundred gold crowns. FOOTNOTES: [39] Zamboni. [40] "Molto vagamente spiegando i varj e differenti effetti che andavano cagionando nel di lei core, a misura che essi eran torbidi, o lieti, o sereni"--_See her Life by Zamboni._ [41] Sonnet 16. [42] Ghiberto da Correggio died 1518.