Lo! Lionel! lo! Borso great and kind!
Stanza xlv. line 1.
Lionel and Borso were the natural sons, and Hercules and Sigismond the legitimate sons of Nicholas; who left his legitimate children under the protection of Lionel, who, seizing the government, drove out the brothers, and reigned in their place. His brother Borso, after the death of Lionel, recalled the banished brothers, and educated them as his own children.
Lo! Hercules, who might reproach his neighbour,
With foot half burnt, &c.
Stanza xlvi. lines 1 and 2.
Hercules succeeded Borso. He would seem to have been wounded in a battle at Budrio, where he was an ally of the Venetians against the Romans, and restored the fortune of the day, but I do not know what authority Ariosto had for this.
Budrio is a town in the territory of Ravenna. Barco is a place under the walls of Ferrara.
Where he shall strive in duel, hand to hand,
And gain the praise of Catalonia’s king.
Stanza xlvii. lines 3 and 4.
Hercules fought in the service of Alphonso, king of the Catalans, when he, I suppose, fought the single combat alluded to in the text.
From the winged lions’ claws and fierce attacks.
Stanza xlix. line 2.
The ensign of Venice.
