Poems (Holford)/Lines addressed to the Right Honourable Lady Isabella K———, suggested by a passage in Ariosto

by Margaret Holford (1778-1852)

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

 

LADY ISABELLA K———

 

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"Per l'avvenir vo', che ciascuna ch'aggia
Il nome tuo, sia di sublime ingegno
E sia bella, gentil, cortese e saggia,
E di vera onestade arrivi al segno;
Onde materia agli scrittori caggia
Di celebrar il nome inclito e degno,
Tal che Parnasso, Pindo, ed Elicone
Sempre Isabella, Isabella! risuone."
Orlando Furioso.

Yes, gifted name, by Poet bless'd,
That blessing still shall dwell with thee;
'Tis but a sound, yet none shall wrest
Its claim to immortality!

 That magic sound shall still express
The gentle, lovely, chaste, and wise,
All that the kindling bard may bless,
All, that to heaven may look and rise!

 All that is noble, just, and kind,
True to the bard's benignant spell,
Still swells the breast, refines the mind,
And fills the heart of Isabel!