misinterpreted; and in one couplet the translator has actually mistaken north for south, and sun for wind; the one specified, and the other obviously implied. The words of the original are,
‘Ver ponente io andava lungo la sabbia,
Che del settentrion sente la rabbia.’
Canto VI. stanza xxxiv.
Which passage is thus rendered by him:
Against the west along those sands we came,
Which feel the southern heat of Phœbus’ flame[1].
In addition, however, to the mistakes of Hoole, and what I must call the meanness and monotony of his poetry, I am inclined to consider the metre which he has chosen, as one among the many causes of his failure: this is our heroic couplet, which appears to me to be the measure most opposite to that of Ariosto which could possibly have been selected. Nothing but a stanza can reflect the original; for it is to be observed, that the poet
- ↑ Thus translated obscurely, but more accurately, by Huggins.
Towards the west I came along that strand
Which does the powerful northern blast command.
