Behold Bertoldo's dearest pledge in view,
Thy own Rinaldo next; to whom is due
The fame of having freed the pontiff's lands
From impious Frederic Barbarossa's hands.
Behold another Azo, doom'd to reign
O'er fair Verona and its wide domain;
Who marquis of Ancona shall be known,
When Otho and Honorius fill the throne.
"Twere long to tell the names of all thy race
That in the conclave shall obtain a place:
To tell each enterprise their arms shall gain,
What conquests for the Roman church obtain.
Lo! other Azos, other Hugos near:

See Fulco, and Obizo next appear.

Behold two Henrys, both the sire and son:

Two Guelphos: this has conquer'd Umbria's town;
See now Spoleti's ducal gown he wears:

And lo! who turns to smiles Italia's tears:

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220

225

Ver. 213. Thy own Rinaldo--] Rinaldo, son of the fourth marquis of Esté, Anno, 1102, with many other Italian potentates, fought against the emperor Frederic Barbarossa, and Octavian the antipope, in defence of pope Alexander III. This Alexander is he, who, being closely pressed by Frederic, fled to Venice, where he resided for some time in the convent of Carita, in the habit of a cook, till he was discovered to the superior, and at last restored to the popedom. Rinaldo, in this enterprise, bore for his standard a white eagle in an azure field, which was afterwards worn for the arms of the house of Esté.

Ver. 227. Two Guelphos:] In the faction of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, arising from the disputes between the emperor Frederic II. and the pope; the lords of Este sided with the Guelphs against the emperor, for which cause the church bestowed on them the dutchy of Spoleti. This faction took its name from Guelpho and Ghibello, the heads of each party.

230

Of him I speak (Azo the fifth survey)

To whom shall tyrant Ezellino pay

His forfeit life; a wretch abhorr'd on earth,
And to the demon said to owe his birth.
He shall with cruelty his kingdom fill,
And fair Ausonia ravage at his will;
That Marius', Nero's, and Antonius' deeds,
Caius' and Sylla's crimes his guilt exceeds.

235

Ver. 230. Azo the fifth-] Ezellino de Romano, for his unexampled cruelty, called the son of the devil, by the favour of the emperor Frederic II. entering Lombardy with a vast army, made himself master of many cities, among which was Padua; when desiring to usurp the dominion of Milan, he left it to go to the siege of Mantua. Azo V. having retaken Padua, set at liberty above two thousand prisoners, besides many women of quality. In the dungeons, above four hundred and sixty persons were found so worn with hunger, and covered with filth, as not to be known, though most of them afterwards appeared to be Paduans*. His prison was a labyrinth, in which he caused the person who made the model, to be first shut up; at his return from the siege of Mantua, he commanded all the Paduans in Verona to be massacred; of eleven thousand, only twenty-eight, remained alive. He then marched to Padua, but finding it not to be retaken, returned to Verona, and ordered the twenty-eight he had before spared, to be hanged in the marketplace at last being taken by Azo, who gave him three wounds, he was sent to Sonzino, where refusing nourishment, and, as some say, tearing open his wounds, he ended his detestable life.

Ver. 235. -fair Ausonia--] The ancient name for Italy.

--

Ver. 236. Marius, Nero, ---] Caius Caligula, and Nero, emperors of Rome, whose reigns were one continued scene of cruelty: Marius and Sylla, the first consul, and the last dictator, in the time of the republic, massacred many Romans in the civil contest between them: by Antonius, he means Marc Antony, who after the death of Julius Cæsar, in concert with Augustus, was author of the bloody proscription, which cut off so many of the commonwealth party, among whom fell that celebrated orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero.

*The cruelties of Ezellino are testified by Pietro Gerardo, of Padua, who was his contemporary.

Behold the second Frederic's forces yield,
By second Azo conquer'd in the field,
While he shall o'er the happy land preside,
Where Phoebus, on the fatal river's side,
Invok'd his breathless son with tuneful lyre,
His son, who sought to guide his father's fire:
Where the sad sisters tears of amber shed,
And Cygnus, chang'd, his snowy plumage spread.
This land he from the holy see obtains,
A recompense for all his glorious pains!
But where's his brother Aldobrandin lost,
Who frees the popedom from a mighty host;
When the fierce Ghibellines, by Otho led,
Shall round the capitol their numbers spread;
Whose fury has the neighbouring lands o'er-run,
Whose force has Umbria and Piceno won?

240

245

250

Ver. 240. the happy land preside,---] Ferrara, situated on the banks of the Po. Frederic, persecuting the church, was excommunicated by Honorius III. and many cities were taken from him, among which was Ferrara, which was given to Azo of Este, for his gallant behaviour against Frederic.

Ver. 242.-his breathless son---] Phaeton, who, undertaking to guide the chariot of the sun, set the world on fire: he was thunder-struck by Jupiter, and fell into the Po: his sisters, lamenting his death, were changed into trees dropping amber, and his grandfather Cygnus into a swan. See Ovid. Mct. B. ii.

Otho IV. making war

Ver. 248. his brother Aldobrandin--] against the church, assisted by the Ghibelline faction, obliged pope Innocent IV. to retire into the capitol. Aldobrandin of Estè, the first marquis of Ferrara, with other powers, obliged Otho to return to Germany. The marquis, being in want of money to carry on the war, borrowed large sums of the Florentines, leaving his brother Azo with them in pledge; and having defeated the emperor, and killed the earl of Celano, who espoused the cause of Otho, he died in the flower of his age, not without suspicion of poison, leaving his brother Azo his heir.

He, wanting treasure to pursue the war,

Shall go supplies in Florence to prepare ;
And there, no other pledge he has to leave,

255

His brother as his surety they receive.

Then shall he spread his conquering signs again,
And rout the German army on the plain;
Replace the church upon her ancient seat,

260

And fam❜d Celano's earls with vengeance meet:
Till, while he fights the sacred pastor's cause,
He ends his youthful bloom with just applause!
He leaves his brother Azo to command
O'er fair Pisauro and Ancona's land;

265

Each town, from Trent to where Isaurus glides,
Between the Apennines and briny tides;
But (more than gold or gems) he leaves behind
With him his virtues and heroic mind.
Fortune all other gifts again may take,

270

But never can the power of virtue shake.
Rinaldo next, whose deeds his soul proclaim
Worthy the glorious race from which he came.
But cruel fortune views with envious eyes;
At Naples, by conspiracy, he dies!
Then young Obizo takes his grandsire's reign,
And Modena and Rheggio adds to his domain.
Such is his courage, that the people's choice
Shall make him lord with one united voice.

275

Ver. 272. Rinaldo next,-] Rinaldo, son of Azo, and defender of the church, was confined in Naples by Frederic II. where being taken off by poison, his natural son Obizo, was by pope Innocent III. with the consent of the emperor, legitimated, and succeeded to the lordship of Ferrara: he afterwards, by force of arms, reduced Modena and Rheggio.

His offspring Azo see, the sixth that wears

The name, whose hand the Christian standard bears.
Adria is his; in nuptial union ty'd,

Sicilia's daughter shines his blooming bride.

Lo! in yon amiable and friendly band,
The most illustrious princes of the land,
Obizo, Aldobrand, for virtue nam'd:
For love and clemency, Alberto fam'd;
With Nicholas: but time denies t' explain
How with Faenza they enlarg'd their reign;
And Adria more securely made their own,
By whose proud name the briny seas are known;
With that fair town, which from the blushing rose,
To Grecian bards its pleasing title owes.

And, near the Po, a place whose walls contain
A crew that wish for tempests on the main.
I leave Argento, Lugo, many a town,

And many a castle of deserv'd renown.

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285

290

295

Ver. 280.---Azo sec, the sixth--] Many Christians being besieged in the city of Ptolemais in Syria, in the time of Charles II. king of Sicily and Naples, a crusade was proclaimed for their deliverance : in this enterprise Azo was made standard bearer, and for his merits obtained to wife Beatrice, the daughter of king Charles.

Ver. 287.-- Alberto fam'd; With Nicholas :---] Nicholas of Estè, and Alberto his brother, purchased, for twenty thousand ducats, the city of Faenza, of John Awcatt, an English captain of the pope's: they afterwards obtained many victories against Bernabo Visconti and other potentates. Nicholas is said, never to have been too much elated with prosperity, or depressed by adversity.

Ver. 290.--Adria-] A city, not far from Ferrara, which gives name to the Adriatic gulph.

Ver. 293.---its pleasing title owes.] He means Rovigo, called in Latin Rhodigium, from Rhodos, which in Greek signifies a rose.

Ver. 294.--a place whose walls contain-A crew---] Comacchia, a town in the Ferrarese, situated between Primaio and Volano, two branches of the Po, which often overflow's and does great damage