Analysis of Orlando Furioso Canto 20

Ludovico Ariosto 1474 (Reggio Emilia) – 1533 (Ferrara)



ARGUMENT
Guido and his from that foul haunt retire,
While all Astolpho chases with his horn,
Who to all quarters of the town sets fire,
Then roving singly round the world is borne.
Marphisa, for Gabrina's cause, in ire
Puts upon young Zerbino scathe and scorn,
And makes him guardian of Gabrina fell,
From whom he first learns news of Isabel.

I
Great fears the women of antiquity
In arms and hallowed arts as well have done,
And of their worthy works the memory
And lustre through this ample world has shone.
Praised is Camilla, with Harpalice,
For the fair course which they in battle run.
Corinna and Sappho, famous for their lore,
Shine two illustrious light, to set no more.

II
Women have reached the pinnacle of glory,
In every art by them professed, well seen;
And whosoever turns the leaf of story,
Finds record of them, neither dim nor mean.
The evil influence will be transitory,
If long deprived of such the world had been;
And envious men, and those that never knew
Their worth, have haply hid their honours due.

III
To me it plainly seems, in this our age
Of women such is the celebrity,
That it may furnish matter to the page,
Whence this dispersed to future years shall be;
And you, ye evil tongues which foully rage,
Be tied to your eternal infamy,
And women's praises so resplendent show,
They shall, by much, Marphisa's worth outgo.

IV
To her returning yet again; the dame
To him who showed to her such courteous lore,
Refused not to disclose her martial name,
Since he agreed to tell the style be bore.
She quickly satisfied the warrior's claim;
To learn his title she desired so sore.
'I am Marphisa,' the virago cried:
All else was known, as bruited far and wide.

V
The other, since 'twas his to speak, begun
With longer preamble: 'Amid your train,
Sirs, it is my belief that there is none
But has heard mention of my race and strain.
Not Pontus, Aethiopia, Ind alone,
With all their neighbouring realms, but France and Spain
Wot well of Clermont, from whose loins the knight
Issued who killed Almontes bold in fight,

VI
'And Chiareillo and Mambrino slew,
And sacked the realm whose royal crown they wore.
Come of this blood, where Danube's waters, through
Eight horns or ten to meet the Euxine pour,
Me to the far-renowned Duke Aymon, who
Thither a stranger roved, my mother bore.
And 'tis a twelvemonth now since her, in quest
Of my French kin, I left with grief opprest.

VII
'But reached not France, for southern tempest's spite
Impelled me hither; lodged in royal bower
Ten months or more; for - miserable wight! -
I reckon every day and every hour.
Guido the Savage I by name am hight,
Ill known and scarcely proved in warlike stower.
Here Argilon of Meliboea I
Slew with ten warriors in his company.

VIII
'Conqueror as well in other field confessed,
Ten ladies are the partners of my bed:
Selected at my choice, who are the best
And fairest damsels in this kingdom bred:
These I command, as well as all the rest,
Who of their female band have made me head;
And so would make another who in fight,
Like me, ten opposites to death would smite.'

IX
Sir Guido is besought of them to say
Why there appear so few of the male race,
And to declare if women there bear sway
O'er men, as men o'er them in other place.
He: 'Since my fortune has been here to stay,
I oftentimes have heard relate the case;
And now (according to the story told)
Will, since it pleases you, the cause unfold.

X
'When, after twenty years, the Grecian host
Returned from Troy (ten years hostility
The town endured, ten weary years were tost
The Greeks, detained by adverse winds at sea),
They found their women had, for comforts lost,
And pangs of absence, learned a remedy;
And, that they might not freeze alone in bed,
Chosen young lovers in their husbands' stead.

XI
'With others' children filled the Grecian crew
Their houses found, and by consent was past
A pardon to their women; for they knew
How ill they could endure so long a fast.
But the adulterous issue, as their due,
To seek their fortunes on the world were cast:
Because the husbands would not suffer more
The striplings should be nourished from their store.

XII
'Some are exposed, and others underhand
Their kindly mothers shelter and maintain:
While the adults, in many a various band,
Some here, some there dispersed, their living gain.
Arms are the trade of some, by some are scanned
Letters and


Scheme ABCDCBCEE FGHGIJHKK FGLGLGXMM FNGNGNGOO PQKQKQKRR GHSHSISTT FMKMKMKUA PTDTDTDFG PUVUVUVTA JJJWJWJXX JXGAGXGVV GMYMYMYKK JASZSZX
Poetic Form Tetractys  (26%)
Metre 100 1001111101 11110111 11110101110 1101010111 111101 10111101 011100111 111111110 1 1101010100 0101011111 0111010100 0101110111 1101011 1011110101 100110111 11010011111 1 10110100110 01001110111 0010101110 1011110111 01010011100 1101110111 01001011101 11111111 1 11110101101 1101100100 1111010101 1101110111 011101111 1111010100 0101010101 1111111 1 1001010101 11111011001 0111010101 1101110111 11010011 11110101011 111001 111111101 1 0101111101 1100100111 1111011111 1111011101 111101 111111101 111111101 10111101 1 01011 0101110111 111111101 111111011 110101111 101011101 010111001 111111111 1 111111011 01110101010 1111110001 1101001010010 1001011111 1101010110 11111 11110001100 1 10011010101 1101010111 0101111101 010101101 1101111101 111111111 0111010101 1111001111 1 110111111 1101111011 0101110111 101111010101 1111011111 110110101 0101010101 1111010101 1 1101010101 0111110100 0101110101 0101101111 1111011101 0111010100 0111110101 1011001101 1 1101010101 1101010111 0101110111 1111011101 10010010111 1111010101 0101011101 011110111 1 11010101 1101010001 100101001001 1111011101 1101111111 100
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 4,244
Words 790
Sentences 27
Stanzas 13
Stanza Lengths 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 7
Lines Amount 115
Letters per line (avg) 30
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 263
Words per stanza (avg) 61
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

3:59 min read
125

Ludovico Ariosto

Ludovico Ariosto was an Italian poet. more…

All Ludovico Ariosto poems | Ludovico Ariosto Books

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