Ludovico Ariosto

Nature made him, and then broke the mould.

Ludovico Ariosto (8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet, author of the epic poem Orlando Furioso (1516), "Orlando Enraged".

Quotes

Orlando Furioso (1532)

Of ladies, knights, of passions and of wars, I sing.

Orlando, driven raving mad by love—and he a man who had been always esteemed for his great prudence.

What a man sees, Love can make invisible—and what is invisible, that can Love make him see.

Ah, cruel Love! What is the reason why you seldom make our longings correspond?

Much they know,
Who gain experience from another's woe.

For rarely man escapes his destiny.

• Le donne i cavallier, l'arme, gli amori,
  Le cortesie, l'audaci imprese io canto.
  • Of ladies, knights, of passions and of wars,
    of courtliness, and of valiant deeds I sing.
  • Canto I, stanza 1 (tr. David R. Slavitt)

• Che per amor venne in furore e matto,
  d'huom che si saggio era stimato prima.
  • Driven raving mad by love—and he a man who had been always esteemed for his great prudence.
  • Canto I, stanza 2 (tr. Guido Waldman); of Orlando.

• Ogni pelo arricciossi
  E scolorossi al Saracino il viso,
  La voce ch'era per uscir fermossi.
  • His hair stands up erect and from his face
    All vestiges of colour seem to drain.
    He tries to speak but can emit no trace
    Of sound.
  • Canto I, stanza 29 (tr. Barbara Reynolds)

• La verginella e simile alla rosa
  Ch'in bel giardin' su la nativa spina
  Mentre sola e sicura si riposa
  Ne gregge ne pastor se le avvicina;
  L'aura soave e l'alba rugiadosa,
  L'acqua, la terra al suo favor s'inchina:
  Gioveni vaghi e donne inamorate
  Amano averne e seni e tempie ornate.

  Ma no si tosto dal materno stelo
  Rimossa viene, e dal suo ceppo verde
  Che quato havea dagli huoi e dal cielo
  Favor gratia e bellezza tutto perde.

  • A virgin is like a rose: while she remains on the thorn whence she sprang, alone and safe in a lovely garden, no flock, no shepherd approaches. The gentle breeze and the dewy dawn, water, and earth pay her homage; amorous youths and loving maidens like to deck their brows with her, and their breasts. / But no sooner is she plucked from her mother-stalk, severed from her green stem, than she loses all, all the favour, grace, and beauty wherewith heaven and men endowed her.
  • Canto I, stanzas 42–43 (tr. G. Waldman)
  • Compare:
    • Ut flos in saeptis secretus nascitur hortis,
      Ignotus pecori, nullo contusus aratro,
      Quem mulcent aurae, firmat sol, educat imber;
      Multi illum pueri, multae optavere puellae:
      idem cum tenui carptus defloruit ungui,
      nulli illum pueri, nullae optavere puellae:
      sic virgo, dum intacta manet, dum cara suis est;
      cum castum amisit polluto corpore florem,
      nec pueris iucunda manet, nec cara puellis.
      • As a flower springs up secretly in a fenced garden, unknown to the cattle, torn up by no plough, which the winds caress, the sun strengthens, the shower draws forth, many boys, many girls, desire it: so a maiden, whilst she remains untouched, so long she is dear to her own; when she has lost her chaste flower with sullied body, she remains neither lovely to boys nor dear to girls.
      • Catullus, Carmina, LXII (tr. Francis Warre-Cornish)

• Che chi ne l'acqua sta fin'alla gola
  Ben'e ostinato se merce non grida.
  • For when the water is up to your neck you must be truly stubborn not to cry for help.
  • Canto I, stanza 50 (tr. G. Waldman)

• Quel che l'huom vede Amor gli fa invisibile
  E l'invisibil fa vedere Amore.
  • What a man sees, Love can make invisible—and what is invisible, that can Love make him see.
  • Canto I, stanza 56 (tr. G. Waldman)

• Il miser suole
  Dar facile credenza a quel che vuole.
  • A poor wretch will readily believe whatever suits him.
  • Canto I, stanza 56 (tr. G. Waldman)

• Ingiustissimo Amor, perché sì raro
  Corrispondenti fai nostri desiri?
  Onde, perfido, avvien che t'è sì caro
  Il discorde voler ch’in duo cor miri?
  • Ah, cruel Love! What is the reason why
    You seldom make our longings correspond?
    How is it, traitor, you rejoice to spy
    Two hearts discordant, one repelled, one fond?
  • Canto II, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Sei giorni me n'andai matina e sera
  Per balze e per pendici orride e strane,
  Dove non via, dove sentier non era.
  • Six days I rode, from morn to setting sun,
    By horrid cliff, by bottom dark and drear;
    And giddy precipice, where path was none.
  • Canto II, stanza 41 (tr. William Stewart Rose)

• Che dona e tolle ogn'altro ben Fortuna;
  Sol in virtù non ha possanza alcuna.
  • All else is Fortune's in this mortal state;
    But Virtue soars beyond her love and hate.
  • Canto III, stanza 37 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Veniano sospirando, e gli occhi bassi
  Parean tener d'ogni baldanza privi.
  • I saw them come towards us, deeply sighing,
    Their gaze averted, of all hope devoid.
  • Canto III, stanza 61 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Statti col dolce in bocca; e non ti doglia
  Ch'amareggiare al fin non te la voglia.
  • Of them I thought it wiser not to treat.
    So, leave the bitter and retain the sweet.
  • Canto III, stanza 62 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Ben s'ode il ragionar, si vede il volto,
  Ma dentro il petto mal giudicar possi.
  • Words one can hear, the face is plain to see:
    The inmost heart one seldom can discern.
  • Canto V, stanza 8 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Chi va lontan da la sua patria, vede
  Cose, da quel che già credea, lontane;
  Che narrandole poi, non se gli crede,
  E stimato bugiardo ne rimane.
  • The traveller, he, whom sea or mountain sunder
    From his own country, sees things strange and new;
    That the misjudging vulgar, which lies under
    The mist of ignorance, esteems untrue.
  • Canto VII, stanza 1 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Ch'aver può donna al mondo più di buono,
  A cui la castità levata sia?
  • For what in all the world is left to her
    Whose chastity is lost?
  • Canto VIII, stanza 42 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Qual d'acqua chiara il tremolante lume,
  Dal sol percossa o da' notturni rai,
  Per gli ampli tetti va con lungo salto
  A destra et a sinistra, e basso et alto.
  • As on the crystal surface of a lake
    The trembling shafts of sunlight mirrored are,
    Leaping to roof-top, and, at random glancing,
    Sparkle and gleam, in all directions dancing.
  • Canto VIII, stanza 71 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• L'amante, per aver quel che desia,
  Senza guardar che Dio tutto ode e vede,
  Aviluppa promesse e giuramenti,
  Che tutti spargon poi per l'aria i venti.
  • The youth, who pants to gain the amorous prize,
    Forgets that Heaven with all-discerning eyes
    Surveys the secret heart; and when desire
    Has, in possession, quenched its short-lived fire,
    The devious winds aside each promise bear,
    And scatter all his solemn vows in air!
  • Canto X, stanza 5 (tr. John Hoole)

• Bene è felice quel, donne mie care,
  Ch'essere accorto all'altrui spese impare.
  • Reflect, ye gentle dames, that much they know,
    Who gain experience from another's woe.
  • Canto X, stanza 6 (tr. J. Hoole)

• Non vi vieto per questo (ch'avrei torto)
  Che vi lasciate amar; che senza amante
  Sareste come inculta vite in orto,
  Che non ha palo ove s'appoggi o piante.
  • But not on that account (for I'd be wrong)
    Would I advise you, ladies, to shun love,
    For like a vine untended, with no strong
    Support to cling to, you would be.
  • Canto X, stanza 9 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Che rilevare un che Fortuna ruote
  Talora al fondo, e consolar l'afflitto,
  Mai non fu biasmo, ma gloria sovente.
  • Since to raise up and comfort in distress
    Whom Fortune's wheel beats down in changeful run,
    Was never blamed; with glory oftener paid.
  • Canto X, stanza 14 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Natura il fece, e poi roppe la stampa.
  • Nature broke the mould
    In which she cast him.
  • Canto X, stanza 84 (tr. W. S. Rose)
  • Variant translation: Nature made him, and then broke the mould.
  • Compare: "I think Nature hath lost the mould / Where she her shape did take; / Or else I doubt if Nature could / So fair a creature make." A Praise of his Lady, in Tottel's Miscellany (1557). Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey wrote similar lines, in A Praise of his Love (before 1547). Compare also: "Sighing that Nature formed but one such man, / And broke the die—in moulding Sheridan." Lord Byron, Monody on the Death of the Rt. Hon. R. B. Sheridan, line 117. As reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1922).

• Quivi il crudo tiranno Amor, che sempre
  D'ogni promessa sua fu disleale,
  E sempre guarda come involva e stempre
  Ogni nostro disegno razionale.
  • And in that place the cruel tyrant, Love,
    Who treacherously every promise breaks,
    Who bides his time and watches every move,
    And every chance to thwart true lovers takes.
  • Canto XIII, stanza 20 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Cader de la padella ne le brage.
  • Falling from the pan
    Into the fire beneath.
  • Canto XIII, stanza 30 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Che non pur per cittadi e per castella,
  Ma per tuguri ancora e per fenili
  Spesso si trovan gli uomini gentili.
  • Do not only look
    For gentlefolk in castles: everywhere,
    In humble dwellings and in haylofts, too,
    The hearts of men are often kind and true.
  • Canto XIV, stanza 62 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Fu il vincer sempremai laudabil cosa,
  Vincasi o per fortuna o per ingegno.
  • To win was always deemed a splendid thing,
    Whether it be by fortune or by skill.
  • Canto XV, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Che chi si truova in degno laccio preso,
  Se ben di sé vede sua donna schiva,
  Se in tutto aversa al suo desire acceso;
  Se bene Amor d'ogni mercede il priva,
  Poscia che 'l tempo e la fatica ha speso;
  Pur ch'altamente abbia locato il core,
  Pianger non de', se ben languisce e muore.
  • Whoever in a noble noose is caught,
    Although his lady may but ill receive
    His ardour and thus render him distraught,
    And no reward for his devotion give,
    Whence all his time and labour come to naught,
    Yet, if his heart be worthily bestowed,
    No lamentation to his grief is owed.
  • Canto XVI, stanza 2 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Bisognan di valor segni più chiari,
  Che por con leggiadria la lancia in resta:
  Ma fortuna anco più bisogna assai;
  Che senza, val virtù raro o non mai.
  • The harsh realities of war impose
    More searching tests of valour, be it said,
    Than grace and style; and fortune too is needed,
    Without which valour seldom has succeeded.
  • Canto XVI, stanza 46 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Un magnanimo cor morte non prezza,
  Presta o tarda che sia, pur che ben muora.
  • The brave can death despise,
    And dies contented, if with fame he dies.
  • Canto XVII, stanza 15 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Che l'uomo il suo destin fugge di raro.
  • For rarely man escapes his destiny.
  • Canto XVIII, stanza 58 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Se non volea pulir sua scusa tanto,
  Che la facesse di menzogna rea.
  • But that he wrought so high the specious tale,
    As manifested plainly, 'twas a lie.
  • Canto XVIII, stanza 84 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Che ben pigliar nel crin la buona sorte
  Carlo sapea, quando volgea la faccia.
  • To Fortune's forelock Charles knew how to cling
    When favourable to him her face she showed.
  • Canto XVIII, stanza 161 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Che sarebbe pensier non troppo accorto,
  Perder duo vivi per salvar un morto.
  • For it would be indeed a foolish plan,
    Two living men to lose for one dead man.
  • Canto XVIII, stanza 189 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Alcun non può saper da chi sia amato,
  Quando felice in su la ruota siede:
  Però c'ha i veri e i finti amici a lato,
  Che mostran tutti una medesma fede.
  Se poi si cangia in tristo il lieto stato,
  Volta la turba adulatrice il piede;
  E quel che di cor ama riman forte,
  Ed ama il suo signor dopo la morte.
  • No man can know by whom he's truly loved
    When high on Fortune's wheel he sits, serene.
    His friends surround him, true and false, unproved,
    And the same loyalty in all is seen.
    When to catastrophe the wheel is moved
    The crowd of flatterers passes from the scene;
    But he who loves his lord with all his heart
    Remains, nor after death does he depart.
  • Canto XIX, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Non è la via di dominar, se vuoi
  Por l'arme in mano a chi può più di noi.
  • To arm a hand more powerful than your own
    Is an ill method to maintain the throne.
  • Canto XX, stanza 52 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Che quant' era più ornata, era più brutta.
  • Who seems most hideous when adorned the most.
  • Canto XX, stanza 116 (tr. W. S. Rose)
  • Compare:
    • Beauty when most unclothed is clothed best.
      • Phineas Fletcher, Sicelides (1614), Act II, scene iv
    • In naked beauty more adorned,
      More lovely than Pandora.
      • John Milton, Paradise Lost (1674), Book IV, line 713
    • For Loveliness
      Needs not the foreign aid of ornament,
      But is, when unadorned, adorned the most.
      • James Thomson, The Seasons, "Autumn" (1730), line 204

• Fatto per timor, nullo è il contratto.
  • Void is contract made in fear.
  • Canto XXI, stanza 43 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Come ordine era dato, il tutto avvenne,
  Che 'l consiglio del mal va raro invano.
  • As it was ordered, all fell out aright,
    For seldom ill design is schemed in vain.
  • Canto XXI, stanza 48 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Come ne l'alto mar legno talora,
  Che da duo venti sia percosso e vinto,
  Ch'ora uno inanzi l'ha mandato, ed ora
  Un altro al primo termine respinto,
  E l'han girato da poppa e da prora.
  • There can be times at sea when a ship is tossed
    by two different winds, one of which propels
    it forward while the other one is crossed
    or retrograde, and among the powerful swells
    it turns and yaws as if the crew were lost.
  • Canto XXI, stanza 53 (tr. D. R. Slavitt)

• Gabrina tenne sempre gli occhi bassi,
  Perché non ben risposta al vero dassi.
  • Gabrina kept her eyes upon the ground,
    For to the truth no answer can be found.
  • Canto XXI, stanza 69 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Sì secreto alcuno esser non puote,
  Ch'al lungo andar non sia chi 'l vegga e note.
  • But so secretive nobody can be
    That someone does not notice finally.
  • Canto XXII, stanza 39 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Convien chi ride, anco talor si lagni,
  E Fortuna talor trovi ribella.
  • Who laughs, as well will sometimes have to plain,
    And find that Fortune will by fits rebel.
  • Canto XXII, stanza 70 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Dice il proverbio, ch'a trovar si vanno
  Gli uomini spesso, e i monti fermi stanno.
  • Men seek each other out, the proverb says,
    The mountain, motionless, unchanging stays.
  • Canto XXIII, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Ch'ovunque io vada o stia,
  Mi fa sempre apparir la luce mia.
  • Wherever I am, people always know
    as if a spotlight were on me with its glow.
  • Canto XXIII, stanza 36 (tr. D. R. Slavitt)

• Di voce in voce e d'una in altra orecchia
  Il grido e 'l bando per la terra scorse.
  • From voice to voice, from one to other ear,
    The loud proclaim they through the town declare.
  • Canto XXIII, stanza 48 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Quale è di pazzia segno più espresso
  Che, per altri voler, perder se stesso?
  • What sign is there more plain
    Than self-destruction, of a mind insane?
  • Canto XXIV, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• A chi in amor s'invecchia, oltr'ogni pena,
  Si convengono i ceppi e la catena.
  • He who grows old in love, besides all pain
    Which waits such passion, well deserves a chain.
  • Canto XXIV, stanza 2 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Sempre che l'inimico è più possente,
  Più chi perde accettabile ha la scusa.
  • The stronger is the enemy, the more
    Easily is the vanquished side excused.
  • Canto XXIV, stanza 32 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Cieco a dargline impresa, e non por mente
  Che 'l fuoco arde la paglia facilmente.
  • Blind when I gave him such a trust, nor saw
    How easily the fire consumes the straw.
  • Canto XXIV, stanza 39 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Armatura d'Orlando paladino;
  Come volesse dir: nessun la muova,
  Che star non possa con Orlando a prova.
  • 'Arms of Orlando, paladin',
    By this inscription meaning to deter
    Whoever saw the splendid trophy shine,
    As though to say: 'Hands off, all who pass by,
    Unless Orlando's strength you wish to try.'
  • Canto XXIV, stanza 57 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Dunque Amor sempre rio non si ritrova:
  Se spesso nuoce, anco talvolta giova.
  • Love is not always evil, truth to tell;
    Though harm he does, he serves the good as well.
  • Canto XXV, stanza 2 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Natura d'ogni cosa più possente.
  • The master-hand of Nature is supreme.
  • Canto XXV, stanza 37 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Che l'amar senza speme è sogno e ciancia.
  • For hopeless love is but a dream and shade.
  • Canto XXV, stanza 49 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Molti consigli de le donne sono
  Meglio improviso, ch'a pensarvi, usciti.
  • The advice of women, if spontaneous,
    Is better than if pondered well, and weighed.
  • Canto XXVII, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Come l'uom né per star né per fuggire,
  Al suo fisso destin può contradire.
  • [As] a man, whether he stay or flee,
    Cannot evade his hour of destiny.
  • Canto XXVII, stanza 26 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• E tratto da la colera, aventosse
  Col pugno chiuso al re di Sericana.
  • And over mastered by his choler, flies
    With a clenched fist at him of Sericane.
  • Canto XXVII, stanza 63 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Che de le spine ancor nascon le rose,
  E d'una fetida erba nasce il giglio.
  • For roses also blossom on the thorn,
    And the fair lily springs from loathsome weed.
  • Canto XXVII, stanza 121 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Il volgare ignorante ognun riprenda,
  E parli più di quel che meno intenda.
  • In blaming others, fools their folly show,
    And most attempt to speak when least they know.
  • Canto XXVIII, stanza 1 (tr. J. Hoole)

• Che talor cresce una beltà un bel manto.
  • For beauty is enhanced by clothes of style.
  • Canto XXVIII, stanza 12 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• So ben ch'in tutto il gran femineo stuolo
  Una non è che stia contenta a un solo.
  • Of all the sex this certain truth is known,
    No woman yet was ever content with one.
  • Canto XXVIII, stanza 50 (tr. J. Hoole)

• Non far altrui quel che patir non vuoi.
  • To others never do
    That which yourselves would wish undone to you.
  • Canto XXVIII, stanza 82 (tr. J. Hoole)

• Né spegner può, per starne l'acqua, il fuoco,
  Né può stato mutar, per mutar loco.
  • Such fire was not by water to be drowned,
    Nor he his nature changed by changing ground.
  • Canto XXVIII, stanza 89 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• O degli uomini inferma e instabil mente!
  Come siàn presti a variar disegno!
  Tutti i pensier mutamo facilmente,
  Più quei che nascon d’amoroso sdegno.
  • Behold the state of man's unstable mind,
    Still prone to change with every changing wind!
    All our resolves are weak, but weakest prove
    Where sprung from sense of disappointed love.
  • Canto XXIX, stanza 1 (tr. J. Hoole)

• Quasi ascosi avea gli occhi ne la testa,
  La faccia macra, e come un osso asciutta,
  La chioma rabuffata, orrida e mesta,
  La barba folta, spaventosa e brutta.
  • His eyes were almost sunken in his head;
    His face was thin and fleshless as a bone.
    His tangled, bristling hair, inspiring dread,
    And shaggy beard were wild to look upon.
  • Canto XXIX, stanza 60 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• La Fortuna, che dei pazzi ha cura.
  • Fortune, who takes care of the insane.
  • Canto XXX, stanza 15 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Che dolce più, che più giocondo stato
  Saria di quel d'un amoroso core?
  Se non fosse l'uom sempre stimulato
  Da quel sospetto rio, da quel timore,
  Da quel martìr, da quella frenesia,
  Da quella rabbia detta gelosia.
  • What sweeter bliss and what more blessed state
    Can be imagined than a loving heart,
    But for the torment which Man suffers, that
    Suspicion, sinister and deep, that smart,
    That aching wretchedness, that malady,
    That frenzied rage, which we call jealousy?
  • Canto XXXI, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Non conosce la pace e non l'estima
  Chi provato non ha la guerra prima.
  • Man cannot relish peace before
    He has experienced a state of war.
  • Canto XXXI, stanza 2 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Premio al ben servire
  Pur viene al fin, se ben tarda a venire.
  • This too can be endured, though it is hard:
    A lover in the end has his reward.
  • Canto XXXI, stanza 3 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Misero è ben chi veder schiva il sole!
  • Most wretched is the mortal that would shun
    To look upon the visage of the sun.
  • Canto XXXII, stanza 23 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Che tosto o buona o ria che la fama esce
  Fuor d'una bocca, in infinito cresce.
  • For—good or bad—though from one mouth it flows,
    Fame to a boundless torrent quickly grows.
  • Canto XXXII, stanza 32 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Amor de' far gentile un cor villano,
  E non far d'un gentil contrario effetto.
  • Love should make a churlish nature kind,
    And not transform to rude a gentle breast.
  • Canto XXXII, stanza 93 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• A me non par che ben deciso,
  Né che ben giusto alcun giudicio cada,
  Ove prima non s'oda quanto nieghi
  La parte o affermi, e sue ragioni alleghi.
  • Partial and unwise
    Your judgment seems, as well all judgments may,
    Wherein the losing party has not room
    To plead before the judge pronounces doom.
  • Canto XXXII, stanza 101 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• E quel che non si sa non si de' dire,
  E tanto men, quando altri n'ha a patire.
  • What is not proved should not be used in court,
    And even less, if someone it may hurt.
  • Canto XXXII, stanza 102 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• In mura, in tetti, in pavimenti sparte
  Eran le perle, eran le ricche gemme.
  • Inlaid on walls, on roof-tops and on floors,
    Are rarest pearls and other precious gems.
  • Canto XXXIII, stanza 105 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Proprio è a noi peccar sovente,
  A voi perdonar sempre a chi si pente.
  • 'Tis our bent
    To sin, and thine to pardon who repent.
  • Canto XXXIII, stanza 114 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Natura inchina al male, e viene a farsi
  L'abito poi difficile a mutarsi.
  • Nature inclines to ill, through all her range,
    And use is second nature, hard to change.
  • Canto XXXVI, stanza 1 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Che voglion tutti gli ordini e le leggi,
  Che chi dà morte altrui debba esser morto.
  • For human laws and laws divine ordain,
    Who slays another, shall himself be slain.
  • Canto XXXVI, stanza 33 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Come cosa buona non si trova
  Che duri sempre, così ancor né ria.
  • As nought good endures beneath the skies,
    So ill endures no more.
  • Canto XXXVII, stanza 7 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Ma 'l populo facea come i più fanno,
  Ch'ubbidiscon più a quei che più in odio hanno.
  • But such their power who rule with tyrant sway,
    Whom most they loath the people most obey.
  • Canto XXXVII, stanza 104 (tr. J. Hoole)

• Com'è in proverbio, ognun corre a far legna
  All'arbore che 'l vento in terra getta.
  • No man, the proverb says, will hesitate
    To gather firewood from a fallen tree.
  • Canto XXXVII, stanza 106 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Chi mal opra, male al fine aspetta.
  • Ill doers in the end shall ill receive.
  • Canto XXXVII, stanza 106 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Ch'un almo gaudio, un così gran contento
  Non potrebbe comprare oro né argento.
  • For such a sovereign joy, a prize so high
    No silver and no gold could ever buy.
  • Canto XXXVIII, stanza 2 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• O bene o mal che la Fama ci apporti,
  Signor, di sempre accrescere ha in usanza.
  • Rumour her tidings, whether bad or good,
    Has always tended to exaggerate.
  • Canto XXXVIII, stanza 42 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Dolce cosa era la patria.
  • Home was sweet.
  • Canto XXXIX, stanza 63 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Molti diran che non si de' osservare
  Quel ch'era ingiusto e illicito a giurare.
  • Many would say, that oaths unbinding are,
    Which 'tis unlawful and unjust to swear.
  • Canto XL, stanza 67 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Mugliando sopra il mar va il gregge bianco.
  • And Neptune's white herd lows above the main.
  • Canto XLI, stanza 9 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Le agghiacciò il sangue e impallidille il volto.
  • [He] blanched her cheek and froze her youthful blood.
  • Canto XLI, stanza 33 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Così fa ch'ella un poco il duol raffrena;
  Ch'avendo ove sfogarlo, è meno acerbo.
  • And thus she helps the Maid to check her grief
    Which, being vented, is less bitter now.
  • Canto XLII, stanza 28 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Ben che stia mal che l'uom se stesso lodi.
  • Though it becomes not man himself to praise.
  • Canto XLIII, stanza 12 (tr. W. S. Rose)

• Che quella che da l'oro e da l'argento
  Difende il cor di pudicizia armato,
  Tra mille spade via più facilmente
  Difenderallo, e in mezzo al fuoco ardente.
  • She who can stand against an armament
    Of gold and silver and still pure remain,
    Would find a thousand swords' attack less dire
    A peril, or survive in raging fire.
  • Canto XLIII, stanza 68 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Dovea in memoria avere il signor mio,
  Che l'oro e 'l premio ogni durezza inchina;
  Ma, quando bisognò, l'ebbe in oblio,
  Ed ei si procacciò la sua ruina.
  • My master ought to have remembered what
    A glittering prize can do to bend the will,
    Yet at the crucial moment he forgot
    And all his fortune changed from good to ill.
  • Canto XLIII, stanza 70 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• A donna né bellezza,
  Né nobiltà, né gran fortuna basta,
  Sì che di vero onor monti in altezza,
  Se per nome e per opre non è casta.
  • Not beauty, not nobility,
    Not fortune will suffice to raise a wife
    To highest honour and esteem if she
    Neglects to lead a chaste and seemly life.
  • Canto XLIII, stanza 84 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Perché il bisogno a dispogliar gli altari
  ra' l'uom talvolta, che sel trova avere.
  • Want is a master which can sometimes make
    A man the gravest sacrilege commit.
  • Canto XLIII, stanza 90 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Ch'ove femine son, son liti e risse.
  • Where women are, are arguments and strife.
  • Canto XLIII, stanza 120 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Uno il saluta, un altro se gl'inchina,
  Altri la mano, altri gli bacia il piede:
  Ognun, quanto più può, se gli avvicina,
  E beato si tien chi appresso il vede,
  E più chi 'l tocca; che toccar divina
  E sopranatural cosa si crede.
  Lo pregan tutti, e vanno al ciel le grida,
  Che sia lor re, lor capitan, lor guida.
  • One man saluted him, another bowed,
    Some kissed his hand, still others kissed his foot;
    Whoever touched him, joyful was and proud,
    For supernatural he seemed, if not
    Divine; jostling around him in a crowd,
    As close as possible the Bulgars got,
    And clamoured for him raucously and cried
    To be their king, their captain and their guide.
  • Canto XLIV, stanza 97 (tr. B. Reynolds)

The higher up on Fortune's wheel you see a wretch ascend, the sooner he will fall, and where his head is now, his feet will be.

• Quanto più su l'instabil ruota vedi
  Di Fortuna ire in alto il miser uomo,
  Tanto più tosto hai da vedergli i piedi
  Ove ora ha il capo, e far cadendo il tomo.
  • The higher up on Fortune's wheel you see
    A wretch ascend, the sooner he will fall,
    And where his head is now, his feet will be.
  • Canto XLV, stanza 1 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Si vede per gli esempi di che piene
  Sono l'antiche e le moderne istorie,
  Che 'l ben va dietro al male, e 'l male al bene,
  E fin son l'un de l'altro e biasmi e glorie;
  E che fidarsi a l'uom non si conviene
  In suo tesor, suo regno e sue vittorie,
  Né disperarsi per Fortuna avversa,
  Che sempre la sua ruota in giro versa.
  • From history's examples we conclude,
    And modern instances teach us the same:
    Good follows Evil, Evil follows Good,
    Shame ends in glory, glory ends in shame.
    Thus it is evident that no man should
    Put trust in victories or wealth or fame,
    Nor yet despair if Fortune is adverse:
    She turns her wheel for better, as for worse.
  • Canto XLV, stanza 4 (tr. B. Reynolds)

• Ordina l'uomo e Dio dispone.
  • Man proposes, and God disposes.
  • Canto XLVI, stanza 35

Quotes about Ariosto

• Se non è vero, è molto ben trovato.
  • If it is not true it is very well invented.
  • Giordano Bruno, De gli eroici furori (1585). Of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, as reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations (1922).

• But in a farther age shall rise along
  The banks of Po two greater still than he;
  The world which smiled on him shall do them wrong
  Till they are ashes, and repose with me.
  The first [Ariosto] will make an epoch with his lyre
  And fill the earth with feats of chivalry:
  His fancy like a rainbow, and his fire,
  Like that of Heaven, immortal, and his thought
  Borne onward with a wing that cannot tire;
  Pleasure shall, like a butterfly new caught,
  Flutter her lovely pinions o'er his theme,
  And Art itself seem into Nature wrought
  By the transparency of his bright dream.
  • Lord Byron, The Prophecy of Dante (1821), Canto III, lines 106–118 (pp. 31–32)

• I found that I had an affinity with writers like Ariosto and Tasso, at least to the extent of loving their poetry. (“Those allegories of Ariosto and Tasso were in some ways very futuristic with those fantastic voyages-they were almost like science fiction without the science.”) Of course they didn't really have science to use. But they had a similarly disciplined imagination.
  • 1982 interview in Conversations with Ursula Le Guin

• Ce qui m'a surtout charmé dans ce prodigieux ouvrage, c'est que l'auteur, toujours au-dessus de sa matière, la traite en badinant. Il dit les choses les plus sublimes sans effort; et il les finit souvent par un trait de plaisanterie qui n'est ni déplacé ni recherché. C'est à la foi l'Iliade, l'Odyssée, et Don Quichotte: car son principal chevalier errant devient fou comme le héros espagnol, et est infiniment plus plaisant. Il y a bien plus, on s'intéresse à Roland, et personne ne s'intéresse à Don Quichotte, qui n'est représenté dans Cervantes que comme un insensé à qui on fait continuellement des malices.
  • What has especially delighted me in this prodigious work [Orlando Furioso] is that its author, always in command of his material, treats it with gay badinage. He effortlessly gives voice to the sublimest things only to finish them with a twist of pleasantry which is neither out of place nor recherché. It is the Iliad and the Odyssey and Don Quixote all rolled into one—for his principal knight errant goes mad like the Spanish hero, and is infinitely more attractive. Furthermore Orlando captures one’s interest while no one is interested in Don Quixote, whom Cervantes represents simply as a fool on whom japes are constantly practised.
  • Voltaire, Dictionnaire Philosophique, article Epopée; English translation from Orlando Furioso by Guido Waldman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. xiv

Translations

The following English translations have been used throughout:

• Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation, trans. David R. Slavitt (Harvard University Press, 2010), ISBN 978-0674053519
• Orlando Furioso, trans. Guido Waldman (OUP Oxford, 1999), ISBN 978-0191605857
• Orlando Furioso: Part One, trans. Barbara Reynolds (Penguin Books, 1975), ISBN 978-0140443110
• Orlando Furioso: Part Two, trans. Barbara Reynolds (Penguin UK, 1991), ISBN 978-0141960517
• The Orlando Furioso, trans. William Stewart Rose (1823–1831)
• Orlando Furioso, trans. John Hoole (1783)

External links

• William Stewart Rose's translation of Orlando Furioso – full text online