having joined one of the late expeditions to the Peninsula, he was killed in action; having first left his papers in my care, and constituting me sole heir of these, and of a few valuable pictures, which were his chief possession. As to the TALE OF TROY,' and the two poems which follow it, I am at a loss to know by whom they have been written. In speaking of them, Signor Volpi said: "Ecco ancora tre bizzarrissime composizioni di quell' ammirabil burlatore il signor Tommaso Ood." This may have been some English name mispronounced : I have appended it, however, to the rhymes in question. Another poem, THE GRIEFLess,' given with the letters J. D. attached to it, I have extracted from an old MS. purchased at an auction in Dublin some years ago; the writing appears to be of the age of Charles the Second. With regard to the other poems in this volume, the names of their authors, real or supposed, will be seen by a reference to the table of contents: I will just mention, however, that many of them are the productions of writers nearly unknown. Of the poetry of Volpi I merely give a selection of his sonnets, English and Italian, which will be found to be written on the pure model of Petrarca. Some time before his decease he completed translations of Dante and of Petrarca into our language, which he intended to have published under the assumed name of Edward Fox-that being the corresponding English of his own name. I have heard the former praised for its fidelity accordingly I publish a portion of it; and in the event of its favourable reception, the remainder shall appear with the commentary. |