NOTES TO CANTO XXXV.
Dating from the incarnate word, the year
Shall marked by men with M and D appear.
Stanza iv. lines 7 and 8.
In the original:
Che col M e col D fosse notato
L’ anno corrente dal verbo incarnato.
Mr. Hoole supposes these lines to have been taken from the Paradiso, canto xix. verse 129, and so they probably were. If so, however, we must admit that Ariosto has given us the husk without the kernel of Dante. The lines are,
Vedrassi al ciotto di Gerusalemme
Segnata con un I la sua bentate,
Quando il contrario segnerà un EMME;
and are thus spiritedly given by Mr. Carey:
The lame one of Gerusalem shall see
A unit for his virtue, for his vices
No less a mark than millions.
