THE NURSE.
 
 THE 
 
 NURSE, 
 
 POEM. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN 
 
 OF 
 
 LUIGI TANSILLO. 
 
 BY WILLIAM ROSCOE. 
 
 LIVERPOOL, 
 
 PRINTED BY J. M C CREERY, 
 
 FOR CADELL AND DAVIES, STRAND, 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 1798-
 
 
 LlJIGI TANSILLO, the author of the following poem, was a 
 native of Nola, a very ancient city of the kingdom of Naples and 
 distinguished as a Roman colony. His family was of high rank 
 and had been honoured by many public employments. In w r hat 
 year he was born is not with certainty known ; but that event 
 is conjectured, with great probability, to have taken place about 
 the year 151O. The chief part of his life was spent in a military 
 capacity, in the service of Don Piero di Toledo, Marquis of Villa- 
 Franca, and Viceroy of Naples ; and of Don Garzia his son, af- 
 terwards Viceroy of Sicily and Catalonia, under Philip the se- 
 cond ; but the particulars of it have not been preserved to the 
 present times so minutely as his merits seem to have required. 
 A poet and a soldier, he lived a long, and probably a diversified 
 life; but although some incidents respecting it are of sufficient 
 notoriety, the attempt to trace it through a regular narrative, 
 would now be of no avail. 
 
 The result of this union of occupations in Tansillo, was ex- 
 emplified in a want of due attention to his literary productions, 
 few of which were published in his life time, and of the remain- 
 der scarcely any one received those advantages of revisal and cor- 
 rection, without which works of taste must always appear to dis- 
 advantage, 
 
 870476
 
 advantage. Notwithstanding these circumstances, his character 
 as a poet stood high even among the most eminent of his contem- 
 poraries. In the dialogue of Torquato Tasso, entitled II Gonzago, 
 that celebrated author enumerates Tansillo amongst the few wri- 
 ters to whose sonnets he gives the appellation of leggiadre, or 
 elegant. The same opinion has been confirmed by subsequent 
 critics, cited by Zeno in his Giornale d' Italia, vol. xi. one of 
 whom in particular has not hesitated to assert that Tansillo is 
 a much better lyric poet than even Petrarca himself. It must 
 however be observed, that this kind of commendation, which is 
 intended to elevate one distinguished character at the expense of 
 another, is of all praise the most equivocal. As every good au- 
 thor has his peculiar excellencies, so he will have his peculiar ad- 
 mirers. What purpose is answered by disputing whether the 
 grape, the nectarine, or the pine apple, be the most exquisite 
 fruit ? 
 
 The first production by which Tansillo distinguished himself 
 was a poem in ottaua rima, which injured his moral character 
 as much as it increased his reputation for talents and for wit. 
 Perhaps no part of modern Europe has retained the customs of the 
 ancients with so little variation as the kingdom of Naples, and 
 particularly the provinces of Appulia and Calabria, where the 
 most singular, and even obscene ceremonies are yet continued ; 
 the object in honour of whom they are performed being only 
 changed from a heathen deity, to a modern saint. That liberty, 
 or rather licentiousness of speech in which the Romans indulged 
 their servants at a particular period of the year, and to which 
 Horace adverts in the seventh satire of his second book, seems to 
 have been transferred by the Neapolitans to a more cheerful sea- 
 son,
 
 son, and their Saturnalia may be said to have been celebrated 
 at the time of their vintage. At this time all respect to rank, to 
 sex, and even to decency, seems to be entirely discarded, and the 
 lowest of the peasantry, whilst engaged in the vintage, employ 
 the most abusive and licentious language, not only to their fel- 
 low labourers, but to any persons who may happen to be present 
 on this occasion. " At vero vindemiatores, ea die qua pro quo- 
 " quam vindemiam faciunt, atque per totum vindemiae tempus, 
 " Baccho deo pleni esse, ac furere prorsus videntur. In agro 
 " quinetiam, in quo vindemiant, semper pudibunda vindemiando 
 " inclamant, obscaenasque quisque partes suis nominibus pronun- 
 " ciantes, veneres vel obscoenissimas se optare exclamant. Mo- 
 " nentem vero si quis eos castigare velit, derident, ac exerta lin- 
 " gua contemnunt, oreque ipso in eum oppedunt : pudor nullus : 
 " reverentia omnis deleta est in eis : loquendi summa licentia at- 
 " que arrogantia in promptu est. Demum non homines videntur 
 " sed Satyri ac Bacchi sacerdotes, petulantes, injurii, lascivientes 
 " luxuriantes." Such is the portrait of his countrymen at this sea- 
 son given by Ambrogio Leone, an historian of Nola; but no sooner 
 is the vintage completed, than these frantic Bacchanals are restored 
 to their senses, and all their obscenity, folly, and abuse, is imme- 
 diately forgotten. This extraordinary custom is the subject of the 
 poem of Tansillo, to which he therefore gave the title of II Fen- 
 demmiatore, and in w^hich he introduces one of those extravagant 
 characters addressing himself to his fellow labourers, not indeed 
 with all the ribaldry which probably takes place on these occa- 
 sions, but with much more freedom than a strict regard to de- 
 cency will allow. The licentiousness of this piece was, it i s 
 true, in some degree concealed, if not compensated, by the wit 
 and delicate humour with which it abounds ; for, as a late noble 
 
 author
 
 author has justly observed, " indecency is far from conferring wit, 
 but it does not destroy it neither." But the admiration which it 
 excited did not prevent its producing a most unfavourable effect 
 on the fortunes of the author, who seems during the remainder 
 of his days severely to have felt the consequences of his early 
 imprudence, and to have endeavoured to make amends for it by 
 a more regulated conduct and by more serious labours. 
 
 This poem was written whilst the author was attending the 
 vintage in the year 1534, and when he was consequently about 
 twenty-four years of age. On the first of October, in that year, 
 he sent a copy of it to his friend CarafFa, at Naples, intreating him 
 not to make it public, but to suffer it to perish by the moths in a 
 gradual and natural decay. " Because," says he, " it would be 
 " too severe and cruel an act to destroy my own offspring, 
 " however base-born and illegitimate it may be." Notwith- 
 standing this injunction, it made its appearance in the same year 
 at Naples, in a small quarto of eight leaves, under the before 
 mentioned title, and was afterwards printed with many variations, 
 in several collections of Italian poetry. The obscene Stanze in 
 lode della Menta, have also been attributed to Tansillo, and bear 
 so strong a resemblance to his manner, that they have in some 
 editions been united with, and form a part of the Vendemmiatore. 
 
 In the year 153Q, Tansillo accompanied his great benefactor 
 Don Garzia di Toledo, then general of the Neapolitan galleys to 
 Sicily, where, in the month of December in the same year, that 
 nobleman gave a splendid reception to Donna Antonia Cardona, 
 daughter of the Marquis of Collesano, to whom he then paid his 
 addresses. On this occasion Tansillo wrote a pastoral comedy, 
 
 which
 
 which was performed with the greatest degree of splendor and 
 expense. The stage made use of for this purpose was raised upon 
 the water, and consisted of three large gallies, which were placed 
 at regular distances, so as nearly to adjoin the gardens of the pa- 
 lace, and over which a platform was laid, extending to the shore ; 
 the whole was then covered with canvas, and lined with exquisite 
 tapestry, representing, like the palace of Dido, the most remark- 
 able circumstances of the Trojan war. From the description 
 given of the representation of this piece, Fontanini conjectures, 
 that Tansillo is entitled to the honour of being the first Italian 
 who set the example of the pastoral comedy which was after- 
 wards brought to perfection by Tasso and Guarini, but in this, 
 as in many other particulars respecting Italian literature, he is 
 mistaken ; for it is certain that the first idea of this elegant spe- 
 cies of comedy was given by Politiano in the preceding century 
 in his dramatic fable entitled Orfeo. 
 
 However unfavourable may be the inferences against the 
 morals and manners of Tansillo, arising from his early works, it 
 is no less certain that his life was honourable and his conduct ir- 
 reproachable ; but in the year 155Q, all his writings, which at that 
 time consisted only of the Fendemmiatore, and a few lyric produc- 
 tions, were inserted by Pius IV. in the Index Exjiurgatorius , 
 under the title of Aloysii Tansilli Carmina; a circumstance which 
 appears to have given him no small degree of concern. For some 
 time prior to this event he had employed his leisure on a poem of 
 considerable extent, entitled Le lagrime di San Piero THE 
 TEARS OF ST. PETER.; which subject it is highly probable he 
 chose in allusion to his regret in having been the author of the 
 rendemmiatore. Not however having brought it to a termination 
 
 when
 
 when this weighty sentence was passed upon his works, he ad- 
 dressed an ode to the Pope, in which he endeavours, by the hum- 
 blest submission, and the most respectful entreaties, to induce 
 him to remove the censures under which he laboured, asserting, 
 that the tenor of his life had never been injured by the levity of 
 his writings. 
 
 Fu, gran Padre, la carta, 
 Vana talor, la vita sempre onesta, 
 
 E tal sara quanta di lei mi resta. 
 
 Chaste was my life, tho' wanton was my page, 
 Nor shall one blot deform my riper age. 
 
 This, it is true, has been the apology of all licentious authors 
 from the days of Catullus, but with respect to Tansillo, it is to be 
 regarded, as Zeno admits, not as a poetical fiction, but as the 
 dictates of truth. The language in which he proceeds to condemn 
 the verses of his youth, are peculiarly strong and impressive. 
 
 Peccai, me stesso accuso, a Dio rivolte, 
 Ho lingua e mano ; ambedue tranche & secclie, 
 Vorrei fiiiitosto, cti esser qual giafui 
 Cagion talor d'olliqui essempj altrui. 
 
 I own my fault in youthful years unaw'd 
 My hands my tongue were rais'd against my God. 
 Sever'd, or shrivell'd, may they hide my crimes, 
 Ere my example injure future times. 
 
 He fails not however to make a just and pointed distinction be- 
 tween his Fendemmiatore and his other writings ; contending, that 
 
 although
 
 although divine and human laws often punish the children for the 
 crimes of the parent, it had never been usual to extend the pu- 
 nishment due to the guilty to all his innocent brethren. He then 
 adverts to his poem on the tears of St. Piero, expressing his hopes 
 that it will not only compensate for his early writings, but obtain 
 him true honour and reputation. The effect produced on the 
 mind of the Pope by this pathetic address, exceeded even the 
 hopes of the author, and in the next publication of the Index, not 
 only the works of Tansillo were omitted, but even the poem of 
 the fendemmiatore was not to be found. 
 
 In the year 1551 Tansillo accompanied his great patron Don 
 Garzia, on a successful expedition against the coast of Barbary, 
 in which Don Garzia, under the auspices of Charles V. had the 
 command of the Spanish fleet, and captured the city anciently 
 called Aphrodisium. His associate, as well in his dangers, as in 
 his amusements, Tansillo enjoyed the highest favour of this dis- 
 tinguished commander, who boasted, that he had in his service 
 a Homer and an Achilles united in the same person; and Tansillo 
 has more than recompensed his favour by the honourable mention 
 which he has made of his patron in different parts of his works. 
 
 Of all the productions of Tansillo, the most estimable, as well 
 in respect of the subject, as of the manner of execution, are his 
 poems entitled La Balia, or THE NURSE, and II Podere, or 
 THE COUNTRY HOUSE ; in the latter of which he gives directions 
 for making a proper choice of a country residence, enlivening 
 the barrenness of his subject with the happiest illustrations, and 
 the most sportive wit. These poems, after the death of their au- 
 thor, were long neglected, although several persons have, at 
 
 different
 
 10 
 
 different times, given indications of their existence. In particu- 
 lar the Venetian printer Barezzo Barezzi, who published in the 
 year 1600 an edition of the Lagrime di San Piero, which is the 
 best edition now extant, promised in his advertisement prefixed 
 to that work, to give the public some beautiful Cafiitoli of the 
 same author; which expression it is supposed could only relate to 
 these poems, the former of which consists of tw r o, and the latter 
 of three capitoli, or cantos. Zeno also informs us, that many of 
 the compositions of Tansillo undoubtedly lay buried in the Italian 
 libraries, and adverts to a few of his poems, which had not 
 then been in print. 
 
 In the year 1767, about two centuries after the death of the 
 author, Giovan Antonio Ranza, regius professor of polite litera- 
 ture at Vercelli, had the good fortune to meet with a MS. copy of 
 these two poems, accompanied with the t^endenuniatore, and the 
 Stanze in lode della Menta, from which he gave to the public 
 the first edition of the Balia, accompanied with many learned 
 annotations. At the same time he informs us, that he had al- 
 so written notes on the Podere, which would make its appear- 
 ance in a few months, the reception of which he hoped would 
 not be less favourable than that of the Balia. From some cir- 
 cumstances this promise was not fulfilled, and the Podere was 
 not published, till the year 1770, when it was printed at Turin 
 by Bonaventura Porro, to whom Ranza had conceded the MS. 
 though without his notes ; and was published by Zatta at Ve- 
 nice. An anonymous editor has, however enriched this edition 
 by citing the passages from the ancient authors, which Tansillo 
 has frequently imitated, in which he professes his intention to 
 second the views of the author, who in a letter written in the 
 
 vear
 
 11 
 
 year 1566, to Antonio Scarampi, bishop of Nola, accompanying 
 the two poems of the Balia, and the Podere, thus expresses himself, 
 " You may now judge for yourself, whether I have known how 
 " to distinguish the properties of a good soil, to erect my villa, 
 " and to avail myself of the Mantuan bard, and of other writers." 
 
 That Tansillo had entered into the married state, and had su- 
 peradded to the relation of a husband, that of a father, are circum- 
 stances only known from the ensuing poem. The time of his 
 death is not less uncertain than that of his birth. Tiraboschi 
 places this event in 15 96, but Zeno conjectures it to have hap- 
 pened in the year 15 69, whilst he was governor of Gaeta. At 
 least in that year it is certain that he received as his guest Scipio 
 Ammirato, then on his way to Florence, who relates in his 
 Ojiusculi, that Tansillo being much indisposed and advanced in 
 years, did not survive that event many months, nor had Zeno 
 discovered any documents which tended to shew that the life of 
 Tansillo had been extended beyond that year. It is however pro- 
 bable that some error has arisen either in the time assigned by 
 Zeno to his birth, or in that of his death, as a person at the age of 
 fifty-nine, can scarcely be considered as having reached a very ad- 
 vanced period of life. 
 
 With respect to the poem, of which an English translation is 
 now attempted, it may certainly be considered as a singular and 
 interesting production. As the work of one of the brightest wits 
 in that constellation of Genius which appeared in Italy in the 
 
 sixteenth
 
 12 
 
 sixteenth century, and which yet diffuses a permanent light over 
 the horizon of literature, it is worth notice and consideration. 
 Contemporary with Ariosto, with Bembo, with Casa, and with the 
 two Tassos, Tansillo was not perhaps inferior to any writer of 
 his time in the simplicity of his diction, the elegance of his taste, 
 or a strict adherence to nature and to truth. But independent of 
 the merit which the poem may be presumed to possess from the 
 acknowledged character of the author, it will be found on exami- 
 nation to contain within itself sufficient claims to the approbation 
 of the admirers of Italian poetry. The subject is in a high degree 
 interesting, and is treated in a manner peculiarly pointed and 
 direct, yet without violating that decorum which is due to the 
 public at large, and in particular to the sex to whom it is ad- 
 dressed. To those who feel the laudable curiosity, and ac- 
 knowledge the utility of comparing the manners of different ages, 
 it will afford many striking indications of the state of society at 
 the period in which it was written, and will tend to shew, that 
 the ideas and feelings of mankind on all subjects of general con- 
 cern, are much less liable to variation from the diversity of time 
 and place, than is frequently supposed. Such is the coincidence 
 between the state of manners in Italy in the sixteenth century, 
 and in England in the eighteenth, that the translator, though in- 
 tending to accommodate the poem to modern times, has seldom 
 found it expedient to vary from the original in the slightest de- 
 gree, and if he has not wholly failed in his purpose, he thinks it 
 will appear that it would be difficult even in the present day to 
 adduce arguments more pointedly directed than those of the au- 
 thor against the abuse which it was his purpose to reform. 
 
 It
 
 13 
 
 It is not the translator's intention to assert, that a previous 
 consideration of these circumstances led him to undertake the pre- 
 sent version of the poem. The truth is, that having of late en- 
 joyed a greater share of leisure than he has formerly experienced, 
 he has employed some part of it pleasantly to himself, if not use- 
 fully to others, in an occupation, which without requiring the 
 exertion of original composition, satisfies the besoin d' agir, and 
 by calming the reproaches, allays the irritation of total indolence. 
 He must also be allowed to observe, that the hope of promoting 
 in some degree the laudable object which the author himself had 
 in view, if it did not lead him to undertake the translation, ope- 
 rated as a chief inducement to lay it before the public. That the 
 character and manners of our countrymen, both in higher and 
 lower life, affords but too much room for reform, is an assertion 
 which may be made without incurring the imputation of morose- 
 ness; but till we can decidedly point out those circumstances 
 which give rise to this laxity, not to say depravity of manners of 
 the present day, it will be to no purpose to adopt measures for 
 their improvement. Of these causes the custom, still so prevalent, 
 of committing the children of the richer and middle ranks of so- 
 ciety to be brought up by the poor, is, in the opinion of the tran- 
 slator, one of the most efficacious, and like all other vicious insti- 
 tutions, its effects are injurious to all the parties who engage in it. 
 The reason generally assigned by medical men for promoting a 
 custom which has of late received their almost universal sanction, 
 is, that the mode of living which now prevails in the higher ranks, 
 is such, as renders it impossible for a woman to afford her in- 
 fant those advantages which are indispensably necessary to its ex- 
 istence and support. But is it possible to conceive a severer satire 
 
 against
 
 14 
 
 against the female sex than this assertion implies ? Such it seems 
 is the rage for pleasure and amusement, that it must be gratified 
 even by the sacrifice of the most important duties of life, and by 
 a practice, which if generally extended, would endanger the very 
 existence of the human race. The assistance of a nurse is not 
 then intended as a benefit to the child, but as a licence to the mo- 
 ther to pursue her gratifications, without those restraints which 
 the performance of her own proper and indispensible duties would 
 impose upon her, and by the due exercise of which she would 
 find her health and her affections equally improved. To trace 
 the consequences of this practice further, would here be unne- 
 cessary, as they will be found adverted to in the ensuing poem, 
 which, if it should produce in any degree the effect which its 
 author intended, will be a much better compensation to mankind, 
 for the indiscretions of his youthful pen, than even his poem on 
 the Lagrime di San 
 
 The translator has only further to observe, that for the great- 
 er part of the authorities and quotations referred to in the notes, 
 he is indebted to the Italian editor Ranza, the few additional ob- 
 servations which accompany them, are too unimportant to re- 
 quire an apology.
 
 SONNET. 
 
 TO MRS. R. 
 
 AS thus in calm domestic leisure blest, 
 
 I wake to BRITISH notes th' AUSONIAN strings, 
 Be thine the strain ; for what the poet sings 
 Has the chaste tenor of thy life exprest. 
 
 And whilst delighted, to thy willing breast, 
 With rosy lip thy smiling infant clings, 
 Pleas' d I reflect, that from those healthful springs 
 Ah not by thee with niggard love represt 
 
 Six sons successive, and thy later care, 
 
 Two daughters fair have drank ; for this be thine 
 Those best delights approving conscience knows, 
 
 And whilst thy days with cloudless suns decline, 
 May filial love thy evening couch prepare, 
 And sooth thy latest hours to soft repose. 
 
 W. R.
 
 LA EALIA. 
 
 CAPJTOLO PRIMO. 
 
 DONNE ben nate, i cui bei colli frreme 
 Quel santissimo giogo d' Imeneo, 
 Onde buonfrutto sjiera ogni uman seme ; 
 
 Se gia mai voce io desiai d' Orfeo, 
 
 (Com uom che in cor difera Jiieta bramij 
 Mentre Jirigion di donna Amor mifeo ; 
 
 Oggi, bench' io siafuor di quei legami, 
 Piii che mai desiarla mi bisogna : 
 Cti esser, Donne, non fiub, cti io Jiur noti ami. 
 
 Amo, ma d' uno amor, che non agogna 
 Cosa di reo ; ne m arde di deslo 
 Che fiorti jientimento, ne vergogna.
 
 THE NURSE. 
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 ACCOMPLI SH'D DAMES, whose soft consenting minds 
 
 The rosy chain of willing Hymen binds ! 
 
 If e'er one prouder wish my bosom felt 
 
 By magic strains the listening soul to melt, 
 
 (Mov'd by such strains the woodlands Orpheus drew,) 
 
 That wish inspires me whilst I sing to you. 
 
 What tho' the pleasing bonds no more I prove, 
 
 I own your charms, nor e'er shall cease to love, ; 
 
 Not with such love as feeds a wanton flame, 
 
 Attended close by penitence and shame ! 
 
 But
 
 LA BALIA. 
 
 D J Orfeo vorrei, che fosse or a il dir mio, 
 Non fierche Valma ojifiressa si rileve; 
 Ma fier darvi a veder quel, cti io deslo. 
 
 Pur, se 'Z vero ha laforza, di aver deve 
 Negli animi gentili, come '/ vostro, 
 Darlo a creder a voi mi sara lieve. 
 
 Ne Jier deslo d' onor verso V inchiostro, 
 Ma [ier un zelo santo, e naturale, 
 Che mi muove a Jiieta delV error nostro ; 
 
 E so, che V emendar d* un si gran male, 
 O Donne, e in mano a voi, qualor vogliate ; 
 Se d* adojirar virtu fiunto vi cale. 
 
 Vero e, che questo error fu in ogni etate ; 
 Ma in nessuna gia mai, quant' or a in questa ; 
 Onde jnaggior ne nasce la fiietate. 
 
 Qualfuria delV inferno alV uom Jiiu infesta 
 Addusse al mondo, e tanto crescer fece 
 Usanza cosijiera, e disonesta ? 
 
 Che Jiorti Donna nove mesi, o diece 
 
 In ventre il [larto ; e Jioiche a luce e tratto, 
 Lo schifi, ed altra firendalo in sua vece. 
 
 Quando io /icnso a si crudo, orrilnl atto; 
 E che dai /liit miglior jfiiu s' abbia in uso, 
 Ne son per divenir rabbioso, o matto.
 
 THE NURSE. / 
 
 But Love, that seeks by nobler arts to please, 
 True to your honour, happiness and ease. 
 
 Light were my task, if every gentle breast 
 Own'd the just laws of native truth imprest; 
 For not by hopes of vain applause misled, 
 In reason's injur'd cause alone I plead. 
 'Tis yours to judge ; nor I that judgment fear, 
 If truth be sacred and if virtue dear. 
 
 What fury, hostile to our common kind, 
 First led from nature's path the female mind, 
 Th' ingenuous sense by fashion's laws represt, 
 And to a babe denied its mother's breast ? 
 What ! could she, as her own existence dear, 
 Nine tedious months her tender burthen bear, 
 Yet when at length it smil'd upon the day, 
 To hireling hands its helpless frame convey ? 
 Whilst yet conceal'd in life's primaeval folds, 
 Th' unconscious mass her proper body holds ; (a) 
 
 Whilst
 
 LA BALIA. 
 
 Che mentr ella nel corjio tenea chiiiso 
 Un non so che, che non vedea s' egli era 
 Umor corrotto, o vento ivi rinchiuso ; 
 
 O mola informe, o come diconfera, 
 Che talor sembri Jiifristrello, od angue ; 
 E toccando il terren, la donna Jicra ; 
 
 Ella il nudrisce del suo firofirio sangue, 
 jE'Z guarda d* ogni mal, d' ogni periglio, 
 E grave il ventre tanti di ne langiie : 
 
 E Jwi c ha nelle braccia il carojiglio, 
 Ella neghi notrirlo del suo latte ; 
 E talor quasi mandilo in esiglio : 
 
 Che quando nol vedea, gli abbia ellafatte 
 Tante accoglienze ; ed or che I vede, e sente, 
 Lo sjiregi, e sdegni, e si vilmente il tratte : 
 
 Che I veda nella cuna uom gia vivente, 
 E col bel fiianto, e con la voce uniana 
 Quasi gridar merce V oda sovente : 
 
 E'l cibo usato suo, la suafontana 
 
 Non Jiur gli neghi, ma di casa il cacci ; 
 JET cosa trojijiojiej-a, ed inumana. 
 
 Che al Jirojiriojiglio il Jietto altrui Jirocacci, 
 E 'Z suo gli chiuda, e mandilo in disparte ; 
 Par, che '/i Jiensarvi il sangue mi si agghiacci.
 
 THE NURSE. 
 
 Whilst in her mind distracting fears arise, 
 
 Stranger to that which in her bosom lies ; 
 
 Whilst led by ignorance, wild fancy apes 
 
 Uncouth distortions and perverted shapes ; 
 
 Yet then securely rests the promis'd brood, 
 
 Screen'd by her cares and nurtur'd by her blood. 
 
 But when reliev'd from danger and alarms, 
 
 The perfect offspring leaps into her arms, 
 
 Turns to a mother's face its asking eyes, 
 
 And begs for pity by its tender cries ; 
 
 Then, whilst young life its opening powers expands, 
 
 And the meek infant spreads its searching hands, 
 
 Scents the pure milk-drops as they slow distill, 
 
 And thence anticipates the plenteous rill, 
 
 From her first grasp the smiling babe she flings, 
 
 Whilst pride and folly seal the gushing springs ; 
 
 Hopeful that pity can by her be shewn, 
 
 Who for another's offspring quits her own. 
 
 Ah!
 
 LA BALIA. 
 
 Come per mezzo il cor non se le parte, 
 
 Quando in man cC una, che 7 suo sangue venda, 
 Pon madre ilfiglio, e di suo grembo il parte ? 
 
 Forse credete, che natura appenda 
 
 Due porna al vostro petto, come al mento 
 
 Suol porsi un neo, cJi iui qual gemma splenda ? 
 
 E che non le vi dia per nodrimento 
 De' pargoletti Jigli , e per aita ; 
 Ma per belta del corpo, ed ornamento ? 
 
 Onde ciascuna appena in salvo uscita, 
 Quel candido liquor scaccia, ed arretra ; 
 E non senza periglio di sua vita : 
 
 Mentre di bianco umor vien marcia tetra, 
 E si spande nei membri, o giii sen cola ; 
 O dentro i vasi suoi gela, ed impetra. 
 
 Sbandite il latte come cosa mala, 
 
 Che la vostra belta denigri, o guaste ; 
 Onde piii d' una V animo n esala. 
 
 State, Donne, quantunque e sante, e caste, 
 Tra voi non ne trovo una oggi si forte, 
 Che incontro uso si reo pugni, e contraste. 
 
 Lasso ! La mia carissima consorte 
 
 Sei mesi inferma io piansi sovra un anno, 
 E sette volte quasi giunta a morte.
 
 THE NURSE. ( 
 
 Ah ! sure ye deem that nature gave in vain 
 Those swelling orbs that life's warm streams contain ; 
 As the soft simper, or the dimple sleek 
 Hangs on the lip, or wantons in the cheek ; (b) 
 Nor heed the duties that to these belong, 
 The dear nutrition of your helpless young. 
 Why else, ere health's returning lustre glows, 
 Check ye the milky fountain as it flows ? 
 Turn to a stagnant mass the circling flood, 
 And with disease contaminate the blood ? (c] 
 Whilst scarcely one, however chaste she prove, 
 Faithful remains to nature and to love. 
 
 Nor think your poet feigns ; alas too well 
 By dear experience I the truth can tell : 
 In dread suspense a year's long circuit kept, 
 And seven sad months, I trembled and I wept, 
 Whilst a lov'd consort press'd the couch of woe, 
 And death oft aim'd the oft averted blow. 
 
 Nor
 
 10 LA BALI A. 
 
 Ma del suo malfu mia la coljia, e 7 danno, 
 Che contro il suo voter deliberai, 
 Chefacess' ella quel, che Valtre fanno. 
 
 Se argento, ed oro, e lagrime versai, 
 
 CK ogni gran vena saria sjienta, e secca ; 
 Pensar sel Jiuo chi 7 firova, o 7 firovb mat. 
 
 O quanto, Donne, grav entente fiecca 
 Colei, che con liquori, od erba, o faolve 
 Quellefonti santissime dissecca ! 
 
 Dissecca quellefonti, o indietro volve, 
 Che Dio diede air eta delV innocenza, 
 Mentre che nellefasce ella s' involve. 
 
 Per me non credo, cli abbia differ enza 
 
 Dair un fieccato air altro, che gravi oncia ; 
 Ma sian quasi di fiari fienitenza, 
 
 Donna che frregna di sua man si sconcia, 
 Perche 7 venire gia molle non arrughi, 
 Onde nuda talor ne fraja sconcia ; 
 
 Od altra, che del fietto i rivi ascmghi 
 Per serbar tonde, e sode le sue fiofifie ; 
 E quel dono di Dio dal mondo fughi. 
 
 Quella d' uom cominciato iljilo ro/i/ie, 
 
 E qual ombra, che 'I seme in erba adugge, 
 U ofira in man di natura ella interrofifie c
 
 THE NURSE. 11 
 
 Nor her's the fault misled by fashion's song, 
 'Twas I depriv'd the mother of her young ; 
 Mine was the blame, and I too shar'd the smart, 
 Drain'd was my purse, and anguish wrung my heart. 
 
 O crime ! with herbs and drugs of essence high, 
 The sacred fountains of the breast to dry ! 
 Pour back on nature's self the balmy tide 
 Which Nature's God for infancy supplied ! 
 Does horror shake us when the pregnant dame, 
 To spare her beauties, or to hide her shame, 
 Destroys, with impious rage and arts accurst, 
 Her growing offspring ere to life it burst, 
 And can we bear, on every slight pretence, 
 The kindred guilt that marks this dread offence ? (d) 
 As the green herb fresh from its earliest root 
 Young life protrudes its yet uncertain shoot, 
 Or falls, unconscious of the blighting storm, 
 A dubious victim, and a shadowy form ; 
 
 But
 
 12 LA BALI A. 
 
 Questa, il cui fiarto il sangue suo non sugge, 
 Offende uom gia frerfetto, uom giunto a luce ; 
 E V ofirafatta, in quanto a se distrugge. 
 
 A tor quel vitto alfiglio emfria s' induce, 
 CK e suo, da che nel cor V anima gli entre ; 
 E cfi egli, uscendofuor, seco s* adduce. 
 
 Forse quel sangue, gia vermiglio mentre 
 Giii si giacea, non e quel medesmo oggi 
 Dentro le pofifie, ch era firia nel venire ? 
 
 II qual fier dare alV uom, /ioi cfi indi sloggi, 
 Senza schifo V usato suo sostegno, 
 Vuol Dio, che color muti, e su sen fioggi. 
 
 Volete voi veder, se 'Z suo disegno 
 Nel far del mondofu, che tra mortali 
 Ogni madre allattasse il caro fiegno ? 
 
 Che a tante, e tante guise d' animali. 
 Fin a que' tanti mostri d' Etiojiia 
 Diede lor Jio/ijie, e non a tutti eguali. 
 
 Ne die a voi due, non gia Jier maggior cofiia ; 
 Ma che accadendo far firoli gemelle, 
 Ciascun avesse la suafonte firofiia. 
 
 A cagne, a caftre, a scrofe, a tutte quelle, 
 Che son vie Jiiiifeconde, ne die' molte ; 
 Che a fiar de figli avesser le mammelle.
 
 THE NURSE. 13 
 
 But she who to her babe her breast denies, 
 The sentient mind, the living man destroys ; 
 Arrests kind nature's liberal hand too soon, 
 And robs her helpless young of half the boon, (e) 
 Tis his, not hers the colour only chang y d, 
 Erewhile thro' all the throbbing veins it rang'd ; 
 Pour'd thro' each artery its redundant tide, 
 And with rich stream incipient life supplied ; 
 And when full time releas'd the imprison'd young, 
 Up to the breasts, a living river, sprung, (f) 
 
 Doubt ye the laws by Nature's God ordain'd, 
 Or that the callous young should be sustain'd 
 Upon the parent breast ? be those your schools 
 Where nature triumphs, and where instinct rules. 
 No beast so fierce from Zembla's northern strand, 
 To Ethiopia's barren realms of sand, 
 But midst her young her milky fountain shares, 
 With teats as numerous as the brood she rears. 
 
 Two
 
 14 LA BALI A. 
 
 Pub esser, care Donne, cli alle volte 
 II core un verme non vi morda, e roda, 
 Quando a fiensar di voi siete rivolte ? 
 
 Deh se Iramate in terra e firemio, e loda t 
 Non siate, Donne, si crudeli, ed emjiie, 
 Facendo al mondo, ai vostri, ed a Diofroda. 
 
 Anzi ognuna di voi, firego, contemjiie 
 Con quant' arte natura in voi governe, 
 Quando del lei liquor le mamme v emfiie : 
 
 Che, Jioi che nelle fiarti vie fiiii interne 
 Formb quel sangue, efece di se stesso 
 Tutto il corp.o delV uom, qualfuor si scerne; 
 
 E che 7 tempo del fiarto ne vien firesso, 
 Ei ne' luoghi di sopra se ne saglia ; 
 JB'Z cibo usato afifiresti alV uscir d* esso \ 
 
 E qual luon Cafiitan di vettovaglia 
 Provveda alle sue genti d' ora in ora t 
 Che non teman difame, che le assaglia : 
 
 E fier diverse vie tutti in un ora 
 Quasi di fiari fiasso camminando, 
 II fiarto, e'l nutrimento venganfora. 
 
 Or chi sard colei, che contemjilando 
 In cib V affetto ardente di natura, 
 Da se non metta I' amor firojirio in bando?
 
 THE NURSE. 15 
 
 Two breasts ye boast for this kind end alone, 
 That your twin offspring each should have its own. 
 
 Does no remorse, ye fair, your bosoms gnaw, 
 Rebellious to affection's primal law ? 
 Persist ye still, by her mild voice unaw'd, 
 False to yourselves, your offspring, and your God ? 
 Mark but your proper frame what wond'rous art, 
 What fine arrangement rules in every part ; 
 As the blood rushes thro' each swelling vein, 
 The ruddy tide appropriate vessels strain ; 
 And whilst around the limpid current flows, 
 To shape and strength th' unconscious embryon grows, 
 But when 'tis born, then nature's secret force 
 Gives to the circling stream another course ; 
 The starting beverage meets the thirsty lip, 
 'Tis joy to yield it, and 'tis joy to sip. 
 So when th' experienced chieftain leads along 
 To distant enterprize his warrior throng, 
 
 He,
 
 16 LA BALI A. 
 
 E che non si disjionga a soffrir dura 
 Ed aspra vita, per nodrir suo Jiarto 
 Con ogni tenerezza, ed ogni cura ? 
 
 lo non vo dir, che 7 popol Moro, e '/ Parto 
 Han le mogli di voi via piit amorose ; 
 Ed ogni gente esjiosta aW Austro, alV Arto 
 
 Ma perfarvi vermiglie ambe le rose 
 De lei volti, dirovyi, Donne mie, 
 Che son lefiere piu di voi pietose. 
 
 Vi basta dunque il cor sendo si pie, 
 D' usar coijigli vostri lafierezza, 
 Che non usan coi lorfiere piu rie ? 
 
 Fenga qual sia fiiu a carne umana avvezza, 
 E lufia, e tigre ircana, e leoparda ; 
 Che ognuna ijigli nutre, ed accarrezza. 
 
 Ne maifiera e si brava, e si gagliarda, 
 Come al tempo, di ella ha suoifigliuolini, 
 E che gelosa se gli allatta, e guarda. 
 
 E' lufia, cli avrd died lufiicini, 
 E tutti in seno se gli tiene stretti, 
 Finche ciascun per sefuri, e cammini. 
 
 Latte non han gli augelli ne lor petti ; 
 
 Ma i vostri, o Donne, ben dovriafar molli 
 II veder loro, e ijigli pargoletti,
 
 THE NURSE. 17 
 
 He, as they move, with ever watchful cares 
 Their stores of needful nutriment prepares ; 
 Still prompt, e'er hunger ask, or thirst invade, 
 With due supplies and stationary aid. 
 
 And can ye then, whilst nature's voice divine 
 Prescribes your duty, to yourselves confine 
 Your pleas'd attention ? Can ye hope to prove 
 More bliss from selfish joys than social love ? 
 Nor deign a mother's best delights to share, 
 Tho' purchas'd oft with watchfulness and care ? 
 Pursue your course, nor deem it to your shame 
 That the swart African, or Parthian dame, 
 In her bare breast a softer heart infolds 
 Than your gay robe and cultur'd bosom holds ; 
 Yet hear, and blush, whilst I the truth disclose ; 
 Than you the ravening beast more pity knows. 
 Not the wild tenant of th' Hyrcanian wood, 
 Intent on slaughter, and athirst for blood, 
 E'er turns regardless from her offspring's cries, 
 Or to their thirst the plenteous rill denies. 
 
 Gaunt
 
 18 LA BALI A. 
 
 Come sempre li tengono satolli : 
 lo so, che avete net Jioderi vostri, 
 De' colombi, e delV anatre, e de fiolli : 
 
 Fedete ifigli lor cibar coi rostri, 
 
 Coprir con Vale, e radunar col grido ; 
 E in quanti modi V amor lor si mostri. 
 
 Che f anno i cigni, da che son nel nido 
 I nudijigli, sin che veston piume, 
 Si che possan volar di la dal lido ? 
 
 La madre si li guarda, mentre il lume 
 Ella ha del dl ; la notte il padre a nuoto 
 Su Vale li diporta per lojiume. 
 
 So, che perfama quell' augel v e noto, 
 fSebben nonfe mai per nostr aria il volo.J 
 C/i' afire il suo petto aifigli si devoto. 
 
 Fiere, ed augei nutron dijigli un stuolo ; 
 E voi, Donne gentil, Donne sovrane, 
 Vi disdegnate di nodrlrne un solo ? 
 
 Non pur le proprie carni t ma le strane 
 Allevan bruti : e amicizia quella, 
 O sdegno, ed odio, ch' e tra 'Z gatto, e 7 cane ?
 
 THE NURSE. 19 
 
 Gaunt is the wolf, the tyger fierce and strong, 
 Yet when the safety of their helpless young 
 Alarms their fears, the deathful war they wage 
 With strength unconquer'd, and resistless rage, (g) 
 One lovely babe your fostering care demands, 
 And can ye trust it to an hireling's hands? 
 Whilst ten young wolvelings shelter find and rest 
 In the soft precincts of their mother's breast ; 
 'Till forth they rush, with vigorous nurture bold, 
 Scourge of the plain, and terror of the fold. 
 
 Mark too the feather'd tenants of the air ; 
 What tho' their breasts no milky fountain bear, 
 Yet well may yours a soft emotion prove 
 From their example of maternal love. 
 On rapid wing the anxious parent flies 
 To bring her helpless brood their due supplies. 
 See the young pigeon from the parent beak 
 With struggling eagerness its nurture take. 
 The hen, whene'er the long sought grain is found, 
 Calls, with assiduous voice, her young around, 
 
 Then
 
 2 o LA EALIA. 
 
 E vis? ho in casa cT una mia sorella, 
 Cagna morir, mentre i suoijigli allatta, 
 Che viver non jiotean senza mammella ; 
 
 E nel suo loco entrar fiietosa gatta, 
 E tiodrirgli, e crearfino alV etade 
 Per se stessa a cibarsi, e viver atta. 
 
 Nutre bestia i nemici Jier Jiietade ; 
 
 E noi mandiamo i nostrifigli altrove ? 
 O vitufierio delV umanitade I 
 
 Di Sfiagna, dal Peril, dalV Indie nuove 
 Recar vi fate or cagnin rosso, or bianco, 
 E d 1 ogni estremo lido, in che si trove ; 
 
 E non vi si allontana mai dalfianco ; 
 
 Non fiur gli ajirite il sen, gli date il lernbo ; 
 Ma in Jietto ajiato afiato il chiudete anco. 
 
 E ifigli vostri, che ne sol, ne nembo 
 Dovria scostar da voi, jfiar che vi grave 
 Tener ne' tetti ; 10 non vo dir nel grembo ? 
 
 Senza che di sua mano aster ga, e lave, 
 Nodrir JiubJigUo gentil Donna accorta, 
 Onde poi maggior debito se n ave.
 
 THE NURSE. 21 
 
 Then to her breast the little stragglers brings, 
 And screens from danger by her guardian wings. 
 Safe thro' the day beneath a mother's eye, 
 In their warm nest the unfledg'd cygnets lie ; 
 But when the sun withdraws his garish beam, 
 A father's wing supports them down the stream. 
 Yet still more wonderous (if the long told tale 
 Hide not some moral truth in fiction's veil) 
 The Pelican her proper 'bosom tears, 
 And with her blood her numerous offspring rears, 
 Whilst you the balmy tide of life restrain, 
 And truth may plead, and fiction court in vain. 
 
 Yon favorite lap-dog that your steps attends, 
 Peru, or Spain, or either India sends. (K) 
 What fears ye feel, as slow ye take your way, 
 Lest from its path the minion chance to stray 1 
 At home on cushions pillow'd deep he lies, 
 And silken slumbers veil his wakeful eyes ; 
 Or still more favoured, on your snowy breast 
 
 He drinks your fragrant breath, and sinks to rest ; 
 
 Whilst
 
 22 LA BALIA. 
 
 Di nullafiglio a Madre obbligo porta \ 
 Come quando ella stessa sel notrica ; 
 Sebben giacque per lui piii volte morta. 
 
 II generarlo men senza fatica. 
 
 * * * 
 
 // girne grave e atto necessario, 
 
 La tema, il rischio, il partorir, la doglia ; 
 Solo il tenerlo a fietto e volontario. 
 
 Ma che Donna non possa, o che non voglia 
 Nutrir suo parto ; almen piii destro modo 
 *S' usasse in cercar femmina, che' I toglia. 
 
 Ove che sia t fier quanta io veggo, ed odo t 
 Quel che fiiii nelle Balie si domanda, 
 E il latte fresco, e 'I petto colmo, e sodo : 
 
 E si prende ugualmente, e d 1 ogni banda> 
 Ove si trovi ; e spesso a prender viensi 
 Per un vil servitor, che a do si manda. 
 
 E s* ella e putta, o rea ; se ha scemi sensi, 
 5' altro eir ha di mal, quando si piglia, 
 Nessuno e che vi miri, o che vi pensi :
 
 THE NURSE. 23 
 
 Whilst your young babe, that from its mother's side 
 
 No threats should sever, and no force divide, 
 
 In hapless hour is banish'd far aloof 
 
 Not only from your breast but from your roof. 
 
 Think not that I would bid your softness share 
 Undue fatigue, and every grosser care, 
 Another's toils may here supply your own, 
 But be the task of nurture yours alone ; 
 Nor from a stranger let your offspring prove 
 The fond endearments of a parent's love. 
 So shall your child, in manhood's riper day, 
 With warm affection all your cares repay. 
 But if the milk-stream on his lips you close 
 No other debt your injur'd offspring owes ;(z) 
 You gave him life, as powerful impulse taught, 
 'The fated months roll'd onward, till they brought 
 The hour of dread, of danger, and of pain, 
 That hour you sought to deprecate in vain ; 
 Spontaneous then supply the milky spring ; 
 
 The only voluntary boon ye bring. 
 
 But
 
 24 LA BALIA. 
 
 S' e lianca, o bruna, o Jiallida, o vermiglia ; 
 E 'n comfilession (che ben si mostra al visoj 
 E contraria alia madre, o le somiglia. 
 
 Ed e questo un accarto, util avviso 
 
 D' imfiortanza quant" altro, cfi io ne scorga, 
 Prima che 'Ijiglio sia da voi diviso. 
 
 Purche, qual fiianta, ilfanciullin ne sorga ; 
 Che imfiorta, alcun dira, chi sia la donna, 
 Che in grembo il cresca, e 'Z fietto suo gli fiorga 
 
 Sieno am delfanciullo Orso, e Colonna ; 
 E sia la Balia sua di San Nastaso, 
 Purche 7 nodrisca, e sazii, ella e madonna. 
 
 Chi dira do, nemmen dovriafar caso, 
 Quand il cor/io si generi, e si forme, 
 Di che sangue sifaccia, ed in che vaso. 
 
 Qual ragion vuole, o cosa trofijio enorme ! 
 Che se del sangue vostro entro si fiasce, 
 Poifuori abbia alimento si dlffbrme ? 
 
 E che la nobilta, che seco nasce, 
 
 E 7 chiaro nome, e i bei firincipj onesti 
 Si corromfian col latte nellefasce;
 
 THE NURSE. 25 
 
 But if the pleasing task ye still refuse, 
 Ah deaf alike to nature and the muse ! 
 Or if the plenteous stream, to you denied, 
 Must from a richer fountain be supplied ; 
 Let prudence then th' important choice direct, 
 Nor let your offspring mourn a new neglect. 
 To seek a nurse ye trace the country round, 
 At length the mercenary aid is found: (k) 
 Some wretch of vulgar birth and conduct frail ; 
 Some known offender, flagrant from the jail ; 
 In mind an ideot, or depraved of life, 
 A shameless strumpet, or impoverished wife ; 
 Or be she brown, or black, or fresh, or fair, 
 Or to the mother no resemblance bear, 
 She brings, it seems, a full and flowing breast, 
 Enough your care excuses all the rest. 
 
 Born of high blood, whose worth no stain defiles, 
 Say can ye choose a nurse from broad St. Giles ? 
 Heedless what venom taints the stream she gives, 
 
 So your stall'd offspring vegetates and lives. (/) 
 
 Why
 
 2 LA BALIA. 
 
 E 'I fietto altrui quasi gli ammorbi, e imfiesti 
 Qnal e '/ villan si rozzo, e si ignorajite, 
 Che in nobil tronco unqua vil ramo innesti 
 
 Patirem dunque noi, che il nostro infante 
 Di sangue gentilissirnoformato 
 Dentro viscere illustri, e caste, e sante ; 
 
 Delia ricever sjiirto, introdurjiato 
 I)' un corpo vil, <i' un animo cattivo, 
 NelV animo, e nel corjio suo ben nato? 
 
 Meglio sariafarlo di vita Jiriuo, 
 
 Che in tal guisa il nodrir : Jwichc si stima 
 Peggio assai del rnorir V esser rnal vivo. 
 
 Tanto imjirinie in un vaso quel, che jirima. 
 Fi si Jwn, che '/ 5^0 odore indi levarsi 
 Non Jiuo mai Jiiii con acqua, ne con lima. 
 
 In questo Is/iagna ancor dovrla lodarsi t 
 Oue ogni nobil Donna a inercc ticne f 
 De'Jigli d* una Illustre, Ealiafarsi. 
 
 Anzi in Galizia han do cotanto a bene, 
 Che senza alcun i*ossor Donna gentile 
 Nati d' altra a se fiari a notrir viene.
 
 THE NURSE. 27 
 
 Why midst the fellow tenants of the earth 
 This high respect to ancestry and birth ? 
 Avails it ought from whom the embryon sprung, 
 What noble blood sustained th' imprison'd young, 
 If, when the day beam first salutes his eyes, 
 His earliest wants a stranger breast supplies ?(m) 
 From different veins a different nurture brings, 
 Pollutes with streams impure the vital springs ? 
 'Till every principle of nobler birth, 
 Unblemish'd honour, and ingenuous worth, 
 Absorb'd and lost, he falsifies his kind, 
 A groveling being with a groveling mind.(#) 
 
 Th' uncultur'd clown who grafts the generous stem 
 Ne'er from a worthless branch selects the gem ; 
 Yet you, with rank and vulgar blood, debase 
 The genuine honours of a noble race ; 
 Thro' the young veins the sordid humours pass, 
 And change by slow degrees the ductile mass. 
 Far happier if by early fate opprest, 
 
 Your blameless infant seek the realms of rest, 
 
 Than
 
 28 LA BALIA. 
 
 La nobilta, V altezza signorile, 
 
 Che tanto da suoi ce/i/ii oggi traligna, 
 Perche credete, che sia lassa, e vile ? 
 
 Di che talor la jilele emfiia, e maligna 
 A voi suol recar colfia, e dice, e crede, 
 Che al terren vostro indegna [tianta alligna. 
 
 Questo degenerar, che ognor si vede, 
 Sendo voi caste, Donne mie, vi dico 
 Che d' altro, che dal latte non firocede. 
 
 I/' altrui latte oscurarfa '/ /iregio antico 
 Degli Avi illustri, e adulterar le razze ; 
 E s' infetta talor sangue fiudico. 
 
 Fediam di sagge Madrijiglie fiazze, 
 E d J onorati Padri infamijigli 
 Tiitto di fier le case, e fter le fiiazze. 
 
 Dal latte ogni animal convien che Jiigli 
 Gran qualita, che inchina, se non sforza t 
 Che 'Ifanciullo alia Balia alfin somigli. 
 
 Non Jiur in quanto al corjio, ed alia scorza t 
 Ma su V animo stesso, e su i costwni 
 II latte, a /iar del seme, ha quasi for za. 

 
 THE NURSE. 2Q 
 
 Than prey to pain, dishonour, and disease, 
 Drag on existence thro' a length of days. 
 
 Of kinder heart the matron dames of Spain 
 The nurse's mercenary trade disdain ; 
 Proud to supply, in high born worth secure, 
 The mother's office with a stream as pure.(o) 
 
 Sprung from a line of heroes, that of old 
 Tho' rude were liberal, and tho' gentle bold, 
 Whose frowns a tyrant's wasteful rage could awe, 
 Guardians of freedom, bulwarks of the law, 
 What secret taint, what dread contagion runs 
 Thro' Britain's noble but degenerate sons ? 
 Not on your chastity, ye fair, shall rest 
 The charge, whate'er th' invidious vulgar jest, 
 'Tis from his nurse your offspring draws disgrace, 
 And thence adulterates his generous race. 
 'Till the kind father sees with wondering eyes 
 A motley offspring round his table rise ; 
 Unlike the parent stock from whence they sprung 
 
 And various as the breasts on which they hung.(/>) 
 
 Late,
 
 30 LA BAL1A. 
 
 Cost quel vcro Sol gli occhi vi allumi 
 A segidr r orme mie, qual io mi sono ; 
 E vi toglia dinanzi V ombre, e i fumi. 
 
 Fumi di fasto, ed ombre d 1 onor 50/10, 
 Ed amor Jirojirio quei, che v han tenuto 
 Tanti anni, e tengonfuor del cammin buono. 
 
 Basti, Donne, iljnalfatto, e'l ben fierduto; 
 Ejierdonate, Jirego, s' io vi pungo 
 Con un ago tropjio as/iro, e trojifio acuto. 
 
 Ho detto assai, ne Jiur al mezzo giungo : 
 
 Ma acdoche, Donne mie, non vi dia angoscia 
 Piii io, che non le Balie, col dir lungo ; 
 
 Rijiosiamoci un fioco, e torniam fioscia. 
 
 FINE DEL PRIMO CAPITOLO.
 
 THE NURSE. 31 
 
 Late, but not lost, O sun of truth appear, 
 From error's gloom the female mind to clear ! 
 Shades of false honour, darker mists of pride, 
 Touch'd by the beam ethereal quick subside. 
 Self-love his long prescriptive rule foregoes, 
 And every feature with THE MOTHER glows. 
 Enough, ye fair, the dread neglect has cost, 
 The ills experienced, and the pleasures lost ; 
 Yet ah forgive the bard, whose venturous strain 
 Has dared to give your gentle breasts a pain, 
 And let him rest awhile, ere yet the song 
 Vie with the drawlings of the nurse's tongue. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST CANTO.
 
 LA BALIA. 
 
 CAPITOLO SECONDO. 
 
 SE avro nel mio Jiarlar tanta virtute, 
 Che alcuna di voi, Donne, si converta ; 
 E 'Ifero stil da oggi innanzi mute : 
 
 II terrb jiiu, che se mi fosse a/ierta, 
 E sfiianata la strada di quel monte, 
 CK io trovai semfire cosi chiusa, ed erta : 
 
 E fiiii che se cingesse la miafronte 
 
 Quel ramo in guiderdon delle mie rime, 
 Che suole ornar chi bee nel sacrofonte, 
 
 Cerchi altri nel cantor le lodi prime, 
 
 Cti io, Jiur che dal mio dir tal benfiroceda, 
 Gloria non e, che Jiiu gradisca, e stime.
 
 THE NURSE. 
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 IF the rude verse that now detains your ear 
 Should to one female heart conviction bear ; 
 Recall one gentler mind from fashion's crew, 
 To give to nature what is nature's due, 
 To me, the triumph were of more account, 
 Than if conducted up th' Aonian mount, 
 (Long trac'd with anxious steps, but trac'd in vain) 
 The muse had rank'd me with her favorite train, 
 Or for my brows had deign'd the wreath to bring, 
 Worn but by those that haunt her sacred spring, 
 Whilst others mount the arduous heights of fame, 
 To wake your feelings be my nobler aim : 
 
 Nor
 
 34 LA BALIA. 
 
 Ma quando tanto onor non si conceda 
 Alia jnia bassa Musa, assai mi basta, 
 Che del mio buon voler segno si veda. 
 
 E se altrui coljia al mio desir contrasta, 
 Tetnpo verra, chefia tra Donne in fir eg io 
 Non meno V esser pia, che'l viuer casta. 
 
 Ne sangue illastre avra, ne titol regio, 
 Che d* obbligo si santo vada escluso, 
 E voglia sofira V altre firivilegio. 
 
 Cosl la Parca tanto stame alfuso, 
 Donne, de vostri difili, ed attorca, 
 Che state vive a temfio del buon uso. 
 
 Se mentre in culla unfanciullin si corca, 
 Tanto si attende, o se si facia o scofire, 
 Che gamba, o mano, o Jiie non se gli torca 
 
 E se da fioi che fascia piii non co/ire, 
 Si batte su le man, qualor le leve, 
 Perche la destra, e non la manca adofire : 
 
 Se tanta cur a 5' ha quand' uom 5' alleve t 
 In evitar del corfaicciuol gli strop,p,i ; 
 Quanto ingegnar la Madre, e p,iu si deve,
 
 THE NURSE. 35 
 
 Nor yet unblest, if whilst I fail to move, 
 The fond attempt my kind intention prove. 
 
 Ah yet, ye fair, shall come that happier day 
 When love maternal shall assert her sway, 
 And crowning every joy of married life, 
 Join the fond mother to the faithful wife ; 
 When every female heart her rule shall own, 
 From the straw cottage to the splendid throne ; 
 Nor e'er for ought that fortune can bestow, 
 A mother's sacred privilege forego. 
 And may the fates, ye fair, your years prolong, 
 To see accomplish'd all your poet's song. 
 
 If, whilst in cradled rest your infant sleeps, 
 Your watchful eye unceasing vigils keeps 
 Lest cramping bonds his pliant limbs constrain, 
 And cause defects that manhood may retain ; (q) 
 If, when his little hands, from bondage free, 
 Restless expand in new born liberty, 
 You teach the child, by reprehension slight, 
 In preference to the left to use the right ; 
 If thus the body claim your constant care, 
 
 Shall not the mind your equal caution share 
 
 Lest
 
 36 LA EALIA. 
 
 Che V alma tenerella non si stroppi 
 
 JD' un vizio, o d' altro neo, che seco porti 
 II seno di colei, che sugga, e poppi ? 
 
 Fi parra delle cose a crederforti 
 
 Quel, cli io vi dissi, o Donne, ed e pur certo, 
 Che 'Z latte a par del seme quasi importi : 
 
 E 'Z potrete provar chiaro, ed aperto, 
 
 Se i vostri contemplate, e gli altrui frutti ; 
 Come V intende ogni uom saggio, ed esperto. 
 
 Fedrete cinque, o seifratelli, e tutti 
 Di costumi, e di vita assai diversi, 
 Come se da fiiii madrl sian firodutti. 
 
 Non fan pianeti prosper i, od auversi, 
 Ma il latte, V alimento lor primiero, 
 Che pub far buoni gli animi, e peruersi. 
 
 Or se 'Z deslo d' un nespolo, o d' un pero, 
 
 O d' 'altro, che abbia Donna allor c/i' e pregna t 
 E troppo si sprofondi in quel pensiero ; 
 
 Pub tanto, che in quel membro ilfrutto segna 
 Dal fanciullin, che a se medesma tocca 
 La Madre al tempo, che 'Z deslo piu regna :
 
 THE NURSE. 37 
 
 Lest early stains, from nutriment impure, 
 Print deep those blots no future arts can cure ? 
 
 Perchance the truth your credence scarce will move, 
 Tho' long experience will the maxim prove, 
 That what your growing child imbibes when young, 
 Imports not less than from whose loins he sprung. 
 How oft a numerous progeny we find, 
 Various in worth, in manners and in mind ; 
 Whoe'er the father, we can scarce suppose 
 From the same mother such an offspring rose. 
 Yet on the strange event no mystery waits, 
 Of prosperous planets or of adverse fates, 
 The plastic streams these qualities instill, 
 And form the character for good or ill. 
 
 If, ere that hour arrive whose awful strife 
 Gives your new offspring to external life, 
 Some favorite object, fruit, or flower, inspire 
 Resistless yearnings of intense desire, 
 'Tis said that nature's wond'rous power is such, 
 That on whatever part the mother's touch 
 Is first impressed, the self same part retains 
 On the young babe the imitative stains ; (r) 
 
 And
 
 38 LA BALIA. 
 
 Quanta piii de poter quel, che per bocca 
 
 Sua propria gli entra, e 'Z mitre un anno, o due, 
 Latte di rea, di perfida, di sciocca? 
 
 E se in uomfermo, e su leforze sue 
 La qualita de cibi molto pote ; 
 Che fiub in un, che V altr jer prodottofue f 
 
 Usi uom solingo, e pallido le gate 
 
 Quel porno insano, c ha 7 color qual negro 
 Fedrete se 7 cervello si gli srote ; 
 
 Ed al contrario, ancorche grave, ed ergo, 
 
 Dategli ed oro, e gemme trite a lere ; 
 * Che avra la mente queta, e 7 volto allegro. 
 
 Non pur si pub negli uomini vedere 
 
 Quel, che possa ne parti un indegn esca, 
 Ma nelle bestie stesse, e nellefiere. 
 
 Prom pastor, come di sen loro esca 
 Che la capra e la pe cor a col petto 
 U una ifigli deW altra allevi, e cresca ; 
 
 E vedra riuscir contrario effetto 
 
 Al naturale ; perche il pelo alV agna 
 Ferra fuor duro, e morbido al capretto.
 
 THE NURSE. 39 
 
 And doubt ye, that your infant's earliest food, 
 
 Mix'd with his frame, and circling with his blood, 
 
 If long imbib'd from some corrupted spring, 
 
 Can fail at length its dread effects to bring ? 
 
 Even the ripe man, to perfect vigour grown, 
 
 Prospers or pines from aliment alone ; 
 
 Once if he taste the lurid fruit insane, 
 
 How throbs his heart, and whirls his madding brain ! 
 
 Or when with sickness bow'd, with care opprest, 
 
 The healing potion sooths his ills to rest. 
 
 What then th' effect of food ye parents say, 
 
 On the young babe, the birth of yesterday J(s) 
 
 Nor yet alone among the human race 
 The strong effects of aliment we trace. 
 Go, bid the hind employ'd your flocks to keep, 
 Change but the younglings of the goat and sheep, 
 The novel food each alter'd fleece will shew, 
 Soft will the kid's, and harsh the lambkin's grow. 
 Would you the beagle should his scent retain, 
 No stranger teat your genuine brood must drain ; 
 Even wolves rapacious half their rage resign, 
 
 Fed with the milk-stream from the race canine. 
 
 Nor
 
 40 LA BALIA. 
 
 E i cagnuoli o sian nostri, o di Brettagna, 
 Perche 7 valor de fiadri in lor si serui, 
 Non den latte assaggiar di strana cagna. 
 
 E i lujii esser men ladri, e men /iroterui 
 Col canin latte, ed alterar di fielo 
 Vedrh, se a firova un Cacciator V osservi. 
 
 Cangia negli arbor frutti, efronde t e stelo 
 II trarsi in altra terra la lor sete, 
 Svelti da quella, ove Jiria vider cielo. 
 
 Arbor felice uerdeggiar vedrete 
 
 Nel seno d* una valle ofiaca, e molle, 
 Efar r aria odorata, e V ombre liete\ 
 
 E trajiiantata in qualche Jioggio, o colle, 
 II nudrimento dalla nuova terra 
 Ogni vaghezza, ogni sjilendor le tolle. 
 
 Oltre che in altrui danno da voi 5' erra t 
 Mentre altre son de vostri fiarti altrici ; 
 Voi stesse a voi vi firocacdate guerra. 
 
 Non dite : o tem/ii tristi, ed infelici ! 
 Quando siete daijigli voi neglette ; 
 O essi son de' fiadri fioco amid :
 
 THE NURSE. 41 
 
 Nor to the various vegetable tribe 
 
 Imports it less what juices they imbibe ; 
 
 The vigorous plant in some mild spot that blooms, 
 
 Spreads its green shade, and breathes its rich perfumes, 
 
 But if to some ungenial soil convey'd, 
 
 Soon mourns its fragrance lost, its strength decay'd.(/) 
 
 Nor feels alone your hapless babe his wrongs ; 
 To you severer penitence belongs 
 Shall modern times your censures keen engage 
 A race degenerate, an ungrateful age ! 
 That children scorn a mother's smile, and fly 
 The kind upbraidings of a father's eye ? 
 On you, who caus'd the guilt, recoils the blame; 
 For thus from heaven th' eternal mandate came, 
 That manhood should with retribution due, 
 Avenge the wrongs that helpless childhood knew. 
 
 'Twas nature's purpose, that the human race 
 Should, with the circling lapse of years, increase ; 
 And well her kind providing cares foresaw 
 
 Your dread infringement of her primal law ; 
 
 Hence
 
 42 LA BALIA. 
 
 Perche 'Z Rettor del del vuole, e fiermette, 
 Che se or ve li togliete voi dinanzi, 
 Poi grandi essi ne faccian le vendette, 
 
 Benprevide Natura molto innanzi 
 
 Questo error vostro ; e fierche non s'annulli 
 II jnondo, cti ella vuol ch' ognor s J avanzi, 
 
 Fe cost ghiotti, e amabili ifandulli ; 
 Life /liii dold in quells eta fiiii acerbe, 
 E gli adornb di tanti bet trastulli ; 
 
 Che spregiati da voi, Madri sufierle, 
 
 Sia chi gli ablracd, e intanto che gli alleua, 
 Con diletto gli affanni disacerbe. 
 
 Tener la Balia dunque non v' aggreva, 
 Donne, incarco che Atlante stancherebbe ; 
 E 'Z Bambin si, che ognor gran noja leva ? 
 
 Quando jier quello amor, che aijigli debbe, 
 Schifar Donna le Balie non volesse, 
 Fuggirle {ier suo comodo dovrebbe. 
 
 Benche Jionga in non cale ogni interesse, 
 Chi e, che sojffrir Jiossa un anno, o dui 
 I cordogli, e le noje, che danno esse?
 
 THE NURSE. 43 
 
 Hence to the babe she gave endearing wiles, 
 Resistless blandishments, and artless smiles, 
 That from your arms, unfeeling mothers, thrown, 
 Some softer breast the tender pledge might own ; 
 Fulfil th' important task by you betray'd, 
 And find the generous labour well repaid. 
 
 O past all human tolerance the curse, 
 The endless torments of a hireling nurse ! 
 If to your children no regard were due, 
 For your own peace avoid the harpy crew ; 
 A race rapacious, who with ceaseless strife 
 Disturb the stream of calm domestic life. 
 But wiser you with no such ills contend 
 Far from your sight your helpless young you send, 
 And to your child, yourselves, your God unjust, 
 To others yield th' inalienable trust ! 
 That piercing shriek, from anguish keen that flows, 
 Disturbs no distant mother's bland repose ; 
 Those looks, that speak the inmost soul, impart 
 No kindred feelings to a mother's heart ; 
 Not her's the prompt and interposing arm 
 When dangers threaten, or when fears alarm ; 
 
 Alike
 
 44 LA BALIA. 
 
 Se date il vostro figlio in casa altrui, 
 Mostrate un disamor tutto in un tempo 
 E con Dio, e con gli uomini, e con lui. 
 
 Ne vedete, s' egli ha suo dritto a tempo ; 
 E del bene, e del mal safiete rado ; 
 Ed egli e mal trattato il Jiiii del temjw ; 
 
 E se non e, mel credo, e Jiersuado; 
 E come amar la Balia il Jiotra molto, 
 Se vede che alia Madre e Jioco a grado ? 
 
 E 'Ifanciullo ad amar tutto Jia volto 
 
 Colei, che bad, e Jiopjie, e madre chiame : 
 Tanto gli e 7 vostro, conic ogni altro volto. 
 
 Romfiete quel dolcissimo legame, 
 
 Che la Madre coljiglio d* amor lega ; 
 Onde [im lui, che gli occhi, e se stessa ame. 
 
 E se Jiur nol romfiete, chi mi nega, 
 
 Che 7 nodo non s' allenti, e che men Jirema, 
 Mentre altra al vostro officio si delega ? 
 
 Quel p,ensier, quel fervor, queW ansia estrema, 
 Che intorno aijigli, o Madri, v' arde, e fiunge, 
 Se son lontani, intefiidisce, e scema.
 
 THE NURSE. 45 
 
 Alike to her whate'er her child sustains, 
 
 Its smiles, or tears, its pleasures, or its pains. 
 
 But happier fortunes on your babe attend ; 
 His helpless infancy has found a friend. 
 Leaps his young heart with undissembled bliss 
 At the fond look, soft smile, or gentle kiss ; 
 Whilst by his lips the milky orbs are prest, 
 The soft affections spring within his breast ; 
 'Till the pleas'd hireling owns the tender claim, 
 And to a mother's office joins the name.(^) 
 But ah, for ever lost the ties that bind 
 In links of filial love the infant mind ; 
 All that maternal sympathies impart, 
 Mix'd with each sense, and twin'd around the heart ; 
 The hope that every bliss to rapture swells ; 
 The care that every threatening ill repels ; 
 The smile that mingles with affection's tear, 
 And speaks the favour'd object doubly dear. 
 Each soft emotion frigid absence chills, 
 And love's young transports cold indifference kills, 
 Absence, like death, the object long remov'd 
 
 Leaves but the memory of what once was lov'd ; 
 
 Nor
 
 46 LA BALIA. 
 
 Chi non sa, che ogni oggetto, che sia lunge 
 Di vista altrui, se 'Z temfio non e corto, 
 Dal cor, come dagli occhi, si disgiunge ? 
 
 Poco e maggior I ' obllio cC unfiglio morto 
 Di quel d' un vivo, e messo in un villagio 
 A Jiro de contadini, ed a difiorto. 
 
 Fien rozzo, e fioco generoso, e saggio : 
 Quel e 'Z villan, che 'Z tiene, e la casuccia, 
 Tal sara 'Z petto suo, tale il coraggio. 
 
 Vi vien la Balia a casa ogni festuccia 
 
 Coifigli, ed altri ; e se non han lor mensa, 
 E carrezze, e lusinghe, ella si cruccia ; 
 
 E se riede a man vota, tiensi offensa ; 
 Ne vi vien mai, nefiglio mai vi mostra, 
 Che di borsa non scemi, e di disfiensa. 
 
 Se tenete la Balia in casa vostra, 
 
 Piii si fiate in quei mesi, che in cento anni ; 
 Se tanto /iiib durar la vita nostra, 
 
 Oh 5' 10 volessi raccontarvi i danni, 
 
 Che ne aji/iorta il tener cf una Nutrice, 
 E i disfietti, e gV incomodi, e gli off anni t
 
 THE NURSE. 47 
 
 Nor more severe the hapless infant's lot 
 Who dies untimely, than who lives forgot, (w) 
 
 In idle hours, or when some festal day 
 Wakes to rude mirth the giddy and the gay, 
 She brings your infant child nor yours alone 
 But all she feeds, another's or her own. 
 With smiles and kindness you the flock receive, 
 Nor whatsoe'er she ask, refuse to give, 
 Lest whilst she swells with jealousy or rage 
 Your infant's sufferings should her wrath assuage ; 
 If in your house you keep the living pest, 
 Farewell to comfort, and farewell to rest, 
 For ah, what tongue can tell the care that springs, 
 The keen vexation such an inmate brings ? 
 Yet might I hope, ye fair, nor hope in vain, 
 My hands could free you from your galling chain, 
 Could lead to that domestic heaven, which knows 
 Approving bliss, and well deserv'd repose, 
 Prompt were my aid. Nor less the secret ire 
 That in my bosom heaves with smother'd fire 
 Calls for th' impassion'd verse. O may the strain 
 Promote your peace, whilst it relieves my pain ! 
 
 Who
 
 48 LA BALIA. 
 
 Sarebbe, Donne jnie, come si dice, 
 
 Un golfo entrar, che non hafondo, o riua ; 
 E vi vorrebbe ingegno /liiifelice. 
 
 Ed oltre cfi io ve ne ragioni, o scriua 
 Per tor di collo a voi cotesto giogo, 
 Che di 77/1050, e di friacer vi firiva ; 
 
 jpoZZo anche volentier, fierche mi sfogo, 
 
 Mentre ne fiarlo altrui, V ira, e la rabbia, 
 Che arder mi fan fiiii chefornace, o rogo. 
 
 U esser ingrata e '/ minor mal, cti ella abbia, 
 Questa schiera, che 7 mondo oggi conturba : 
 Cid che lorfassi, e un gittar seme in sabbia. 
 
 Piii disagia, e danneggia, e logra turba 
 Ne' tetti altrui V albergo d' una Balia, 
 Che non fan di soldati una gran turba : 
 
 Soldati non di Sfiagna, ma rf' Italia, 
 E che sian di quei Bruzii, o del Jiaese f 
 Che tirima saluto la nave Idalia. 
 
 Io ho tanto imfiarato alle mie spese, 
 Che firedicar Jwtrei cento quaresme 
 DeW esser lor si strano, e si scortese ;
 
 THE NURSE. 4Q 
 
 Who can the vices of the tribe detect ? 
 Shameless ingratitude their least defect. 
 Dispense your bounty with a liberal hand, 
 'Tis thrown in air, or sown upon the sand. 
 To greater insults must you daily stoop 
 Than from th' invasion of a hostile troop. 
 Not a gay troop of British volunteers, 
 Who charm your eyes while they dispel your fears ; 
 But such as found in Buonaparte's train 
 Pour their fierce myriads o'er Italia's plain. 
 But O to paint the torment and the curse 
 If once your doors admit an hireling nurse, 
 Were endless waste of paper and of time, 
 Abuse of patience, and abuse of rhime ; 
 Nor need I here the irksome story tell ; 
 From your own sufferings known I fear too well. 
 
 Tread as you will, your cautious feet will slide; 
 No art can save you, and no prudence guide. 
 Pleas'd with your child, a fond caress bestow, 
 Her pride no equal recompense can know. 
 Frown and her breast its milky spring repels, 
 
 Or drops with venom as with rage she swells, 
 
 Sooth'd
 
 50 LA BALIA. 
 
 E em/iime, non che ifogli, ma le resme : 
 Ma fierche il {liii di voi credo, che ri aggia, 
 Vel fiotrete fiensar per voi medesme. 
 
 Non e Jiersona cosl destra, e saggia, 
 
 Che con la Balia sua, trafosco e chiaro, 
 Schermir si sa{ip,ia, che talor non caggia. 
 
 Se mostrate, ilfanciullo esservi caro, 
 E gradir lei, V orgoglio Jiiii s' infiamma ; 
 E V ingordiggia sua non ha rifiora. 
 
 Sefingete il contrario, la sua mamma 
 Trova il bambin asciutta, o d' ira calda : 
 Fenen, non latte e quel, che sugge, e mamma. 
 
 Qual e trofifio sfacciata, qual ribalda ; 
 (Cosa che imjiorta ad onorate case) 
 Qual ritrosa, qual ruvida, qual balda. 
 
 Bisogna di uom fiiu sjiie, guati, ed annase 
 In sceglier Balia, e Santi e Dio c invochi, 
 Che in tor Donna non fa, con cui s' accase. 
 
 Che guardi, ond' ella viene, e di quai lochi ; 
 E ben si fiub tener avuenturoso 
 Chi Balia incontri che abbia de suoi Jiochi.
 
 THE NURSE. 51 
 
 Sooth'd by no kindness, by no threats subdued, 
 Perverse, lascivious, insolent, and rude ; 
 Ah wretched he whom adverse fates ordain 
 To choose an inmate from so dire a train, 
 While scarcely less depends his peace of life 
 Upon his children's nurse than on his wife. 
 
 This can ye bear ? another curse awaits ; 
 Her tribe of followers then besiege your gates. 
 Brothers, of doubtful kin, and friends by dozens, 
 With female troops of sisters, aunts, and cousins ; 
 Without reproof you hear their loud carouse, 
 Whilst frighted order abdicates your house. 
 Perchance some husband comes to claim his due, 
 Some sturdy lover lurks amidst the crew, 
 Then vain your vigilance, in caution's spite, 
 (Watch'd thro' the day) she cheats your care by night. 
 Pregnant her breasts refuse the due supply, 
 Their source perverted, and their fountains dry. 
 
 Sick, pale, and languid, when your infant's moans 
 Speak its soft sufferings in pathetic tones, 
 
 When
 
 52 LA EALIA. 
 
 Albergar tutto il giorno orfrate, or sfioso, 
 Or altrui, che fierfrate ella i>' additi, 
 Non e noja, che turba ogni rifioso ? 
 
 L' intrattenerli, e 'I far lor de conviti, 
 E r altro saria fioco ; ma bisogna, 
 Che noi guardiam le mogli dai mariti : 
 
 Non gia che in casa altrui facdan vergogna, 
 Ma cli ella non s' imfiregni, onde corrotte 
 Sian le due fonti, o arida la sjiogna. 
 
 E fierche tutte son voraci, e ghiotte, 
 
 Star vi conuien con gli occhi afierti semftre ; 
 
 Che se no 'Z di u' inganneran la notte. 
 
 
 
 Nonpar, che 7 sangue, o Donne, vi si stemjire, 
 Quando il vostro fanciullo infermo foiange, 
 E la Balia bisogna che si temfire ? 
 
 Chi temfirera villana si, che mange 
 
 Qitel, che a lui gioui, e schifi quel, che noccia ; 
 E Jier due giorni cibo, e vita cange ? 
 
 Chi imjietrera da lei, che una sol goccia 
 Ber voglia d' un liquore, o d' un scirofio ? 
 E s* una volta il bee, cento il rimproccia.
 
 THE NURSE. S3 
 
 When nature asks a purer lymph, subdued 
 By needful physic, and by temperate food, 
 Say will the nurse her wonted banquet spare, 
 And for your infant stoop to humbler fare ? 
 Or with her pamper'd appetite at strife 
 One potion swallow to preserve its life ? 
 Self her sole object interest all her trade, 
 And more perverse the more you want her aid ; 
 Sinks the poor babe without a hand to save, 
 And from the cradle steps into the grave. 
 
 What numbers thus whom length of years had blest, 
 Untimely fall, by early fate opprest ! 
 Life's cheerful day ere yet enjoy'd, resign'd, 
 The dread abuse depopulates mankind. 
 Nor happier he who doom'd his years to fill, 
 Drinks with his milk the seeds of future ill; 
 Born but to weep, and destin'd to sustain 
 A youth of wretchedness, an age of pain ; 
 Halt, deaf, or blind, to drag his weight of woe, 
 Till death in kindness lays the sufferer low. 
 
 Once
 
 54 LA BALIA. 
 
 Quando di lor bonta s' ha maggior uofio, 
 Allor son Jiiii maluage, e sconoscenti ; 
 E V util solo han per bersaglio, e scopo. 
 
 Quanti vedete nellefasce sjienti 
 
 Fanciulli, che sarianforse invecchiati, 
 Se non beuean quei latti si nocenti. 
 
 Chi fiotra tutte dir le infirmitati, 
 
 Che 7 latte zm/iro/ir/o neifanciulli arreca, 
 Onde poi grandi, e vecchi son vessati? 
 
 Un assorda, un ammuta, un altro accieca, 
 Un altro se ne va semfire car/tone, 
 Finche la Parca ilfilo romfie, e seca. 
 
 Quanti sono i Jierigli, ove uom si [tone ; 
 
 E quel, che e fieggio, ov egli s/iesso incorre, 
 Quando non si conoscan le Jiersone ! 
 
 Quanti credendo di venire a torre 
 
 Quel ben, che ifigli nutre, e sostien viui, 
 
 Ddnno in quel mal, che Francia, e 'Z mondo corre ! 
 
 E '/ Jiovero innocente, firia che arrivi 
 AW eta del fieccar, quei morbi Jirova, 
 Che Dio da frer Jlagello dei lascivi.
 
 THE NURSE. 55 
 
 Once exil'd from your breast, and doom'd to bring 
 His daily nurture from a stranger spring, 
 Ah who can tell the dangers that await 
 Your infant ? thus abandon'd to his fate. 
 Say, is there one with human feeling fraught 
 Can bear to think, nor sicken at the thought, 
 That whilst her babe, with unpolluted lips, 
 As nature asks, the vital fountain sips; 
 Whilst yet its pure and sainted shrine within 
 Rests the young mind, unconscious of a sin, 
 He with his daily nutriment should drain 
 That dread disease which fires the wanton's vein ; 
 Sent as the fiercest messenger of God, 
 O'er lawless love to wave his scorpion rod ? (x) 
 
 Strange is the tale, but not more strange than true, 
 And many a parent may the treachery rue, 
 Who for their child, neglected and unknown, 
 Receive a changeling, vainly deem'd their own. 
 For witness, Ariosto's scenes peruse ; (y) 
 Who shall a poet's evidence refuse ? 
 But say what end the impious fraud secures ? 
 Another's child thus takes the place of yours. 
 
 Meanwhile
 
 56 LA BALI A; 
 
 Cosa dirb, che fiarra strana, e nuova ; 
 E state certe, o Donne, che ad alcune 
 Madri avvenuto esser talor si trova \ 
 
 Che ifigli vi si cangian nelle cune : 
 (Vi fiarra la Commedia d 1 Ariosto.J 
 Perche? direte : fier cangiar fortune. 
 
 Che tal, che dalla madre esser esp.osto 
 Doveva alia fiieta di chi 7 Jiigliasse, 
 Divien Signor nelV altrui loco Jiosto. 
 
 Ed ella, che 7 cangib, tacita stasse, 
 
 E tra se gode il ben, che aljiglio ha dato ; 
 E a temjio, se le liar, conoscerfasse. 
 
 E colui quando 7 safifiia, s' egli e grato, 
 Pargli aver alia Madre olbligo dofifiio ; 
 Pria che 'Ifece uomo, e [ioi che 7 fiose in stato. 
 
 Semfire vi trema il cor di qualche stroji/iio, 
 Mentre le Balie in braccio ifanciulli hanno ; 
 E vi par d 1 ora in ora udir lo scojifiio. 
 
 Si fan fieggior le Balie d" anno in anno ; 
 Nuove leggi ogni di sono introdutte, 
 E tutte in util loro, e in altrui danno.
 
 THE NURSE. 57 
 
 Meanwhile, secure the crafty dame can wait 
 Her ripening project, and enjoy the cheat ; 
 Reap for her son the fruit of all your toils, 
 And bid him riot in your children's spoils. 
 Then, hopeful of reward, no more she hides 
 Her guilt, but to his secret ear confides ; 
 Delighted thus a double boon to give, 
 First life itself, and next the means to live. 
 
 What ceaseless dread a mother's breast alarms 
 Whilst her lov'd offspring fills another's arms ! 
 Fearful of ill she starts at every noise, 
 And hears, or thinks she hears, her children's cries. 
 Whilst more imperious grown from day to day, 
 The greedy nurse demands increase of pay. 
 Vex'd to the heart with anger and expense, 
 You hear, nor murmur at her proud pretence ; 
 Compell'd to bear the wrong with semblance mild, 
 And sooth the hireling as she sooths your child. 
 But not the dainties of Lucullus' feast 
 Can gratify the nurse's pamper'd taste ; 
 
 Nor,
 
 58 LA BALI A. 
 
 Fonno i gran soldi, von le uesti tutte 
 Deifigli vostri ; e s' una lor si vieta, 
 Attendete veder le poppe asciutte. 
 
 Bisogna cli uom le tratti da Poeta, 
 
 Sebben vena ei non ha ; che tutte vonno 
 Quella canzon per lor, non per not lieta. 
 
 Per estirpar da noi quantunque ponno t 
 Cercan di quelle voci anco esser paghe, 
 Che su la cuna cantano : vien, sonno. 
 
 Semjire del nostri danni elle son vaghe : 
 Se le deste le cene di Lucullo, 
 Non sperate, che Balia se ne appaghe. 
 
 Sia pur vezzoso, e vago il belfanciullo, 
 Che piii vi da la Balia angosce, e duoli, 
 Ch' ei non vi potra dar gioja, e trastullo. 
 
 Rara e la Balia, che nonfuri, o involi : 
 Vi eforza sempre star sopra di voi r 
 Ne maiforzier lasciar aperti, e soli. 
 
 Non pur i tempi d' oggi insegnan noi, 
 Ma degli antichi molti esempli avemo, 
 Che ogni Madre s' allatti ifigli suoi. 
 
 Finger balia di Romolo, e di Remo 
 La lupa, o Donne, che pensate sia, 
 Se interpretar lafavola vorremof
 
 THE NURSE. 59 
 
 Nor, tho' your babe in infant beauty bright, 
 Spring to its mother's arms with fond delight, 
 Can all its gentle blandishments suffice 
 To compensate the torments that arise 
 From her to whom its early years you trust, 
 Intent on spoil, ungrateful, and unjust. 
 
 Were modern truths inadequate to shew 
 That to your young a sacred debt you owe, 
 Not hard the task to lengthen out my rhimes 
 With sage examples drawn from ancient times. (#) 
 Of Rome's twin founders oft the bard has sung, 
 For whom the haggard wolf forsook her young : 
 True emblem she of all th' unnatural crew 
 Who to another give their offspring's due.(aa) 
 But say, when at a SAVIOUR'S promis'd birth 
 With secret gladness throb'd the conscious earth, 
 Whose fostering care his infant wants represt, 
 Who lav'd his limbs, and hush'd his cares to rest ? 
 She, at whose look the proudest queen might hide 
 Her gilded state, and mourn her humbled pride. 
 
 She
 
 Co LA BALIA. 
 
 Un mostrar, che ciascuri altra die dia, 
 Fuorche la Madre, latte al fanciullino, 
 ' hipa ingorda, efera ladra, e ria. 
 
 E s' egli e Istoria, fa voler Divino, 
 Che nelfondar di Roma mostrar volse 
 Le grandezza de J fati, e del destino. 
 
 Chi nudri, chi lavo, chi infasce accolse 
 II Re del del, la Maesta divina, 
 Quand' Uom qul nacque, e came umana tolse 
 
 Se non la Madre sua, V alia Reina, 
 Quella chefu nel mondo, ed e sol una, 
 A cut la terra assorge, e 7 del inchina. 
 
 Ella sel tenne in grembo, ed Ella in cuna ; 
 Ella a citta Jiortollo, ed Ella a tempio ; 
 Ne fiarte mai v ebbe altra donna alcuna. 
 
 Or non dovria bastar quest' uno esemfrio, 
 Se avete del devoto, e delfedele, 
 A ritrarvi d' error si crudo, ed emfiio. 
 
 Oh quante son le colfie, e le querele f 
 (Parmi quasi d* udirne le fiarolej 
 Che vi si dan d' un atto si crudele ! 
 
 Natura innanzi a voi di voi si dole, 
 
 Da poi che, merce vostra, in van si affanna 
 Per darvi da nutrir la cara prole.
 
 THE NURSE. Oi 
 
 She all her bosom's sacred stores unlock'd, 
 His footsteps tended, and his cradle rock'd ; 
 Or, whilst the altar blaz'd with rites divine, 
 Assiduous led him to the sacred shrine : 
 And sure th' example will your conduct guide, 
 If true devotion in your hearts preside. 
 
 But whence these sad laments, these mournful sighs, 
 That all around in solemn breathings rise ? 
 Th' accusing strains in sounds distinct and clear 
 Wake to the sense of guilt your startled ear. 
 Hark, in dread accents nature's self complain, 
 Her precepts slighted, and her bounties vain ! (bb] 
 See sacred pity, bending from her skies, 
 Turns from th' ungenerous deed her dewy eyes. 
 Maternal fondness gives her tears to flow 
 In all the deeper energy of woe ; 
 Whilst Christian charity, enshrin'd above, 
 Whose name is mercy and whose soul is love, 
 Feels the just hatred that your deeds inspire, 
 And where she smil'd in kindness burns with ire. 
 
 See
 
 02 LA BALIA. 
 
 Ogni animal, ch* e in terra, vi condanna : 
 La PietcL, che dal Cielo il tutto mira, 
 Di la, per no 'Z veder, gli occhi s' afifianna. 
 
 La Carita materna ne sosjiira ; 
 
 E la Cristiana di ben fare ingorda, 
 
 Quanta arder suol d* amor, tanto arde d' ira. 
 
 La Nobilta delV altrui macchie lorda, 
 
 Via piii di altra che sia, par che si lagne ; 
 Che col sangue contrario mal s' accorda. 
 
 Valor, e Cortesia seco ne p,iagne, 
 
 E la Creanza, ed ogni altra virtude, 
 Che della Nobilta sono comp,agne. 
 
 I vostrijigli con quel fiianto rude, 
 
 Quandofere maggior le orecchie vostre, 
 Chiaman voi, Madri, disfiietate, e crude. 
 
 In somma il vostro error fiar che ognun mostre ; 
 Contra voi gridi 'Z del, la terra, e 'Z mare, 
 II jfietto, il sangue, le viscere vostre. 
 
 Disfionetevi omai, Donne mie care, 
 Al santo iifficio, ad ofira cosi buona, 
 Miglior, di quante ne potreste fare. 
 
 E 'n dirvi Donne, intendo ogni Jiersona 
 Del nobil sesso ; ed una non ne salvo, 
 Sia quantunque * *
 
 THE NURSE. 03 
 
 See true nobility laments his lot, 
 
 Indignant of the foul degrading blot ; 
 
 And courtesy and courage o'er him bend, 
 
 And all the virtues that his state attend. 
 
 But whence that cry that steals upon the sense ! 
 
 'Tis the low wail of injured innocence ; 
 
 Accents unform'd, that yet can speak their wrongs 
 
 Loud as the pleadings of a hundred tongues. 
 
 See in dread witness all creation rise, 
 
 The peopled earth, deep seas, and circling skies ; 
 
 Whilst conscience with consenting voice within, 
 
 Becomes accomplice and avows the sin. 
 
 Ah then, by duty led, ye nuptial fair, 
 Let the sweet office be your constant care. 
 With peace and health in humblest station blest, 
 Give to the smiling babe the fostering breast ;(cc) 
 Nor if by prosperous fortune placed on high, 
 Think ought superior to the dear employ. 
 Shall the lov'd burthen that so long ye bore, 
 
 Your alter'd kindness from its birth deplore ? 
 
 Whilst
 
 64 LA BALIA. 
 
 Portate tutte i vostri parti, salvo 
 
 Quelle ch' anno il petto arido, o son egre, 
 Cosi or nel gremlo, come pria nelV alvo. 
 
 Nodritevegli voi ognor piit allegre, 
 
 Perche parte maggior non u' avlia il Padre ; 
 State de Figli vostri Madri integre, 
 
 Non e pazzia, Giovani mie leggiadre, 
 Che nobil Donna potendo esser tutta, 
 Mezza sifaccia del suojiglio madre ? 
 
 Chefoggia e questa cosl scema, e Irutta 
 Di mezze Madri, e di partito pondo, 
 Dal gran nemico su la terra indutta ? 
 
 Coslfu semfire, mi direte, il mondo : 
 
 Quel che le nostre Madri a noi gia denno t 
 Or noi rendemo aijigli. lo vi risfiondo, 
 
 Facendo voi quel, ch' altre firia nonfenno t 
 Senza che Chiesa il dica, o Re il comandi, 
 Maggior sara la bonta vostra, e 7 senno. 
 
 E quanto fiiii sarete illustri, e grandi 
 
 Primiere a fioner man, che ai nostri tem/ii 
 Pensier si santo in opera si mandi ; 
 
 Piii sarete cagion coi vostri esempi, 
 Che d* imitarvi ognuna si diletti, 
 Corn ella in voi tanta virtu contempi.
 
 THE NURSE. 65 
 
 Whilst the fair orbs with healthful nurture swell'd 
 Throb for the kind relief by you withheld ? 
 Not half a mother she whose pride denies 
 The streaming beverage to her infant's cries, 
 Admits another in her rights to share, 
 And trusts his nurture to a stranger's care ; ( dd) 
 But you whose hearts with gentle pity warm, 
 Pure joys can please and genuine pleasures charm, 
 Clasp your fair nurselings to your breasts of snow, 
 And give the sweet salubrious streams to flow, 
 Let kind affections sway without controul, 
 And thro' the milk-stream pour the feeling soul. 
 What tho' th' inveterate crime, the dire disgrace, 
 From elder years to modern times we trace, 
 Nor earthly laws its wasteful rage restrain, 
 Be yours the task to break the wizard chain ; 
 So shall the glorious deed your sex inspire, 
 All earth applaud you, and all heaven admire. 
 
 O happier times, to truth and virtue dear. 
 Roll swiftly on ! O golden days appear ! 
 
 Of
 
 60 LA BALIA. 
 
 Or se vedessi (Q giorni benedetti I) 
 Le Colonne, le Ursine, le Gonsaghe, 
 Ed altre tai co carijigli ai petti ; 
 
 Non spereresti, Italia, le tue piaghe 
 Feder sane, e tornar V antica gloria, 
 E quelle genti tue d* onor si vaghe ? 
 
 Fedessi la seconda tua Fittoria, 
 D' eta seconda, ma di fama firima, 
 Onde il mio buon Toledo oggi si gloria. 
 
 E piii per lei se stesso or pregia, e stima, 
 Che per quante vittorie Adria, e Tirreno, 
 Affrica, ed Asia, e 'Z Hondo gli dier prima. 
 
 Fedessi lei nel casto, inclito seno 
 
 Stringer dolce Bambino, e trarne fore 
 Nettar celeste, non liquor terreno. 
 
 Non ti parria veder Febo, ed Amore 
 
 Poppar sua Madre ; e 'Z bel Bambin non latte 
 Ivi ber, ma virtu, senno, e valore ? 
 
 Donne illustri, e da Dio per normafatte 
 Deir altre Donne ; la cui luce splende 
 Sovra quanto'l sol fere, e Z' onda batte; 
 
 Poiche il riposo, e Z' onor nostro pende 
 Daifigli (quai si sienoj di voi altre ; 
 Se d* allattarli voi vi si contende, 
 
 Almeno in cercar Balie siate scaltre. 
 
 IL FINE BELLA BALIA.
 
 THE NURSE. 07 
 
 Of noble birth, when every matron dame, 
 Shall the high meed of female merit claim ; 
 Then loveliest, when her babe in native charms 
 Hangs on her breast or dances in her arms, 
 Thus late with angel grace along the plain, 
 Illustrious DEVON led Britannia's train ; (ee) 
 And whilst by frigid fashion unreprest, 
 She to chaste transports open'd all her breast, 
 Joy'd her lov'd babe its playful hands to twine 
 Round her fair neck, or midst her locks divine, 
 And from the fount with every grace imbued, 
 Drank heavenly nectar, not terrestrial food. 
 So Venus once, in fragrant bowers above, 
 Clasp'd to her rosy breast immortal love ; 
 Transfus'd soft passion thro' his tingling frame, 
 The nerve of rapture, and the heart of flame. 
 Yet not with wanton hopes and fond desires, 
 Her infant's veins the British matron fires ; 
 But prompts the aim to crown by future worth 
 The proud preeminence of noble birth. 
 
 THE END,
 
 NOTES. 
 
 CANTO I. 
 
 (a) Whilst yet conceal' d, in life's primeval folds. 
 
 M.ANY of the arguments adduced by Tansillo in the foregoing poem, may be 
 found in the Nodes Attica of Aulus Gellius, lib. xii. cap l . Where that author 
 has inserted a dissertation of the philosopher Favorinus on this subject, in which 
 is the following passage, which the Italian poet has closely followed, " Quod est 
 " enim hoc contra naturam imperfectum atque dimidiatum matris genus, peperis- 
 " se, ac statim ab sese abjecisse ? aluisse in utero, sanguine suo, nescio quid, quod 
 " non videret : non alere nunc suo lacte quod videat, jam viventem, jam hominem, 
 " jam matris officia implorantem ?" That the abuse is of very ancient date is 
 sufficiently evident, as well from this passage as from many others in the Roman 
 authors, but the plea of prescription ought not to be allowed in this case, nor ought 
 a reform to be wholly despaired of ; for certainly nullum tempus occurrit natura. 
 
 (b] Hangs on the lip, or wantons in the cheek. 
 
 From Favorinus again, " An tu quoque putas, naturam feminis mammarum 
 " ubera, quasi quosdam naevulos venustiores, non liberorum alendorum, sed or- 
 " nandi pectoris causa dedisse ?" 
 
 (c) And with disease contaminate the blood. 
 
 That the refusal of a mother to give suck to her child is a deviation from one 
 of the first laws of nature, is clearly evinced by the unfavourable effect this con- 
 duct produces on the health of the mother ; who frequently incurs by this fashion- 
 able
 
 2 NOTES .... CANTO I. 
 
 enable act of imprudence the risk of her own life, as well as that of her child. 
 " Sic enim, quod a vobis scilicet abest, pleraeque istae prodigiosae mulieres fontem 
 " ilium sanctissimum corporis, generis humani educatorem, arefacere et extinguere 
 " cum periculo quoque aversi corruptique lactis laborant, tamquam pulchritu- 
 
 " dims sibi insignia devenustet." " On verra" says a celebrated writer on this 
 
 subject, " que les femmes qui allaitent elles-memes leurs enfans, jouissent de la 
 " sante la plus parfaite ; tandis que celles qui se dispensent de ce soin, 8c qui le 
 " font nourrir par des etrangeres, sont livrees a une foule de maux qui sont tou- 
 " jours difficiles a guerir, 8c souvent dangereux pour leur vie." 
 
 M. de Puzos. 
 
 (d) The kindred guilt that marks this dread offence. 
 
 This comparison between the mother who wilfully destroys her child before 
 its birth, and the mother who wilfully suffers it to perish after its birth, for want 
 of its proper nutriment, though adopted from Favorinus by Tansillo, is thought 
 by his Italian editor to stand in need of an apology ; he therefore expressly declares, 
 that his author in this instance must be presumed to have exercised his privilege 
 as a poet, and to have followed rather the precepts of the heathen philosopher than 
 the principles of sound morality. The passage in the Italian is perhaps more objec- 
 tionable than in the translation ; for the author expressly asserts his opinion that 
 " between the two crimes there is not one ounce of difference ." In the Roman 
 author it stands thus, " Quod cum sit publica detestatione communique odio 
 <( dignum, in ipsis hominem primordiis, dum fingitur, dum animatur, inter ipsas 
 (f artificis naturae manus interfectum ire ; quantulum hinc abest, jam perfectum, 
 " jam genitum, jam filium, proprii atque consueti atque cogniti sanguinis alimo- 
 " nia privare ?" 
 
 (e} And robs her helpless young of half the boon. 
 
 That the general plea of inability on the part of the mother to suckle her child, 
 is in most instances fallacious, may be presumed from the fact adverted to in the 
 text, namely, that the same nutriment which supports the child before its birth, 
 is still destined to its use afterwards, tho' differently modified, according to the 
 difference in the relative situation of the parties ; from which it may be established, 
 as a general rule (not however without some particular exceptions) that she who 
 can support a child to its full birth, can also, if she chooses, support it after- 
 wards. Whoever has attentively observed the extreme and almost superabundant 
 
 caution
 
 NOTES .... CANTO I. 3 
 
 caution of nature apparent in the preservation and increase of both the animal and 
 vegetable creation, will not easily be led to believe, that at this crisis, of all others 
 the most important, she has left her work imperfect. 
 
 C/") Up t ^e breasts, a living river, sprung. 
 
 " An quia spiritu multo, et calore exalbuit non idem sanguis est nunc in 
 " uberibus, qui in utero fuit ? Nonne hac quoque in re, solertia naturae evidens 
 t( est ? quod postquam sanguis ille opifex in penetralibus suis omne corpus ho- 
 " minis finxit, adventanti jam partus tempore, in supernas se partes profert, et ad 
 " fovenda vitae, atque lucis rudimenta praesto est, 8c recens natis notum & famili- 
 " arem victum offert." 
 
 Favorin. ut supr. 
 
 (g) With strength unconquer'd and resistless rage. 
 
 The instinctive affection of brute animals towards their young, is so powerful 
 as to have been frequently employed by the poets in describing the most extreme 
 attachment and fidelity. 
 
 1 ' As for his whelps 
 
 <( The lion stands ; him thro' some forest drear 
 " Leading his little ones, the hunters meet; 
 " Fire glimmers in his looks, and down he draws 
 f( His whole brow into frowns, covering his eyes j 
 " So, guarding slain Patroclus, Ajax lour'd." 
 
 Cowper's Iliad, .17. 
 
 Ariosto, in his Orlando, canto 19, st. 7, has the following beautiful comparison. 
 " Come orsa che 1' alpestre cacciatore 
 tf Nella petrosa tana assalit' abbia, 
 (f Sta sopra i figli con incerto core , 
 " E freme in suona di pieta e rabbia; 
 " Ira la invita, e natural furore, 
 " A spiegar 1' unghie, a insanguinar le labbia, 
 " Amor la intenerisce, e la ritira 
 " Ariguardare i figli in mezzo all' ira." 
 
 A Peru
 
 4 NOTES .... CANTO L 
 
 () Peru, or Spain, or either India sends. 
 
 It is related by Plutarch, that when Julius Caesar saw some rich strangers 
 walking through the streets of Rome, fondling and playing with lapdogs and mon- 
 keys which they carried with them, he asked, whether their wives did not bear 
 children. But what would Csesar have thought in our days, says the Italian 
 annotator, if he had seen even a mother, bestow upon the offspring of a brute 
 that fondness and attention which she denies to her own child ? This detestable 
 custom, which outrages nature, and satirizes humanity, is probably more frequent 
 in Italy than in this country ; but is not even here so totally banished, as to ren- 
 der the application of this passage of the poem wholly irrelevant. 
 
 (i) No other debt your injur'd offspring knows. 
 
 t( Facit parentes bonitas, non necessitas." 
 
 Says Phaedrus in the xv. fable of his 3d book, the whole of which is strikingly 
 apposite to this subject. 
 
 (/) At length the mercenary aid is found. 
 
 That there are instances in which it is impracticable or improper for the 
 mother to give suck to her child, cannot be denied. By a certain absurd cus- 
 tom, which has often prevailed, and may soon prevail again in this island, the 
 nipple of the female breast is frequently so depressed as to render it throughout 
 life totally unfit for the purpose for which it was by nature intended, and the mo- 
 ther, though enjoying a strong ancl healthy constitution, and with the sincerest dis- 
 positions to perform this first duty to her offspring, finds herself debarred of the 
 pleasure, and perhaps irreparably injured in her health, from the effects of this 
 worse than barbarous fashion. Neither can it be contended, that where the mo- 
 ther is affected by any chronic or hereditary malady, she ought to bring up her 
 child with her own milk ; on the contrary, every effort ought to be made, 
 consistent with the health of the foster-mother, to obliterate by more health- 
 ful nutriment, the effects of the original taint. But except in these instances, 
 and perhaps some few others of a similar nature, it may be asserted with con- 
 fidence, that every mother can and ought to suckle her own offspring. The 
 pretence that a woman is of too delicate a habit to afford sufficient nutriment 
 for a child, is fully refuted by the undeniable fact, that she has already supported 
 it to the time of its birth. " Une femme qui est devenue grosse," says the au- 
 thor
 
 NOTES .... CANTO I. 5 
 
 thor above cited, " & qui malgre la delicatesse de son temperament, a conduit 
 " sa grosesse a terme, est a plus forte raison en etat d' allaiter son enfant ; car il 
 " faut plus de force pour former un enfant que pour le nourrir." M. de Puzos. 
 
 (/) So jour stalled offspring vegetates and lives. 
 
 " Sed nihil interest (hoc enim dicitur) dum alatur, & vivat, cujus id lacte fiat." 
 
 Favor, ut sup. 
 
 (m] His earliest wants a stranger breast supplies. 
 
 " Cur igitur iste qui hoc dicit, si in capessendis naturae sensibus turn obsurduit, 
 " lion id quoque nihil interesse putat, cujus in corpore, cujusque ex sanguine con- 
 " cretus homo &c coalitus sit." Favor, ut supr. 
 
 (n) A groveling being with a groveling mind. 
 
 " Quae (malum !) igitur ratio est, nobilitatem istam nati modo hominis, cor- 
 " pusque, 8c animum benigne ingenitis primordiis inchoatum, insitivo, degeneri- 
 " que alimento lactis alieni corrumpere ? praesertim si ista, quam ad praebendum 
 <f lac tune adhibebitis, aut serva, aut servilis ; &, ut plerumque solet, externae at- 
 ff que barbarse nationis ; si improba, si informis, si impudica, si temulenta est. 
 " Patiemurne igitur, infantem hunc nostrum pernicioso contagio infici, & spiri- 
 " turn ducere in animum, atque in corpus suum, ex corpore 8c animo deterrimo?" 
 
 Favor, ut supr. 
 (0} The mother's office with a stream as pure. 
 
 This custom among the Spanish matrons of assisting each other in the impor- 
 tant office of rearing their offspring, is, as we are informed by the annotations of 
 Ranza, more peculiar to Gallicia, than the other provinces of that country. It 
 cannot perhaps be denied, that if this duty must be performed by a substitute, it 
 is a far more agreeable idea to intrust it to a person of character and honour, who 
 has generosity enough to undertake it gratuitously, that to one whose dispositions 
 and character are unknown ; but it must also be confessed, that however laudable 
 the custom may be, there is little hope, in the present state of society, of seeing 
 it extended to this country, nor perhaps even in that case would it be attended 
 with all the advantages expected from it. It will be sufficient if our dames of 
 fashion condescend to perform this duty for themselves, without requiring them 
 
 to
 
 6 NOTES CANTO II. 
 
 to afford their assistance to another. A custom in a great degree similar, and not 
 less commendable, seems to have been established among the Romans, where 
 some matron of distinguished credit and character, devoted herself to the care of 
 an infant family, and to the formation of their minds to habits of modesty and 
 virtue, without however interfering in the office of nutrition, which was wholly 
 performed by the mother herself. Of this character of a nurse a beautiful picture 
 is given in the treatise De Oratoribus, attributed by some to Tacitus, and by 
 others to Quintilian. " Jam primum suus cuique films ex casta parente natus, 
 " non in cella emtae Nutricis, sed gremio, ac sinu Matris educabatur ; cujus 
 " praecipua laus erat tueri domum, & inservire liberis. Eligebatur autem aliqua 
 " major natu, propinqua, cujus probatis, spectatisque moribus omnis cujuspiam 
 " familiae suboles committeretur, coram qua neque dicere fas erat, quod turpe 
 " dictu, neque facere quod inhonestum factu videretur. Ac non studia modo, 
 " curasque, sed remissiones etiam, lususque puerorum, sanctitate quadam, ac ve- 
 " recundia temperabat. Sic Corneliam Gracchorum, sic Aureliam Caesaris, sic 
 " Attiam Augusti matrem prsefuisse educationibus, ac produxisse principes liberos 
 " accepimus. Quse disciplina, ac severitas eo pertinebat, ut sincera, & integra, 
 " & nullis pravitatibus detorta uniuscujusque natura, toto statim pectore arripe- 
 " ret artes honestas ; & sive ad rem militarem, sive ad juris scientiam, sive ad 
 " eloquentiae studium inclinasset, id solum ageret, id universum hauriret." 
 
 (/>) And various as the breasts on which they hung. 
 
 " Id hercle ipsum est, quod saepenumero miramur, quosdam pudicarum mu- 
 " lierum liberos, parentum suorum neque corporibus neque animis similes exsis- 
 " tere." Favorin. in Cell. 
 
 CANTO II. 
 
 (q) And cause defects that manhood may retain. 
 
 As the absurd custom of binding down infants hand and foot with bandages, 
 lest their limbs should shoot out into excrescencies and irregularities, has at length 
 given way to the voice of reason and common sense, so it may yet be hoped, that 
 the custom referred to in the poem, which is neither less unnatural nor less inju- 
 rious
 
 NOTES , . . . CANTO II. 7 
 
 rious, will in time give way to admonitions frequently repeated, and to the influ- 
 ence of those excellent examples, the number of which is now daily increasing 
 among our fair countrywomen. 
 
 (r) On the young babe the Imitative stains. 
 
 The progress of reason and the increasing influence of good sense, have at length 
 nearly banished an opinion formerly very prevalent, and productive of great un- 
 happiness to the female sex, namely, that the child before its birth is liable to be 
 partially affected by the imagination of the mother. It cannot indeed be doubted 
 that any circumstance which produces a powerful effect on the mother herself, as 
 sudden fright, apprehension, or distress, will affect the infant of which she is 
 pregnant, and may even occasion its death. But, that peculiar impressions on the 
 mind of the mother during pregnancy, produce external marks on the body of the 
 infant, is an assertion, which after all the pretended proofs that have been alledg- 
 ed in support of it, an attentive inquirer will still be inclined to deny. Not so 
 however the Italian commentator Ranza, who is strongly disposed to countenance 
 the idea, and relates a story of a woman, who after gazing for the first time with 
 great curiosity on an elephant, produced a child with a divided upper lip, from 
 whence appeared a projection resembling an elephant's trunk. That infants are 
 occasionally brought into the world with peculiar defects or singularities is cer- 
 tain ; but it is perhaps equally certain, that these singularities would have existed 
 if no such impressions on the imagination had taken place, and that when such 
 circumstance occurs, the mother, unwilling to be supposed to have deviated from 
 the rest of the world without a cause, endeavours in the events of nine months, 
 to recall some one which may be presumed to have occasioned the peculiarity of 
 appearance observable in her offspring. The reasons that might be adduced for 
 this incredulity on a subject which has yet many adherents, are briefly these, 
 
 1. The circumstances are not connected together by the usual relation of 
 cause and effect. Every woman in the course of her pregnancy experiences innu- 
 merable sensations of surprize, desire, aversion, or dread, and yet no indications of 
 it appear in her offspring. Whilst the incidents to which these deformities are re- 
 ferred, are frequently of the most trivial nature, and such as without having been 
 called to mind by some future circumstance, would have been wholly forgotten. 
 
 2. In insanity or lunacy, the imagination is so strongly impressed as to take 
 for reality things the most preposterous, and yet no instances are recorded of chil- 
 dren under such circumstances having exhibited peculiar marks. 
 
 3. In
 
 8 NOTES .... CANTO II. 
 
 3. In the animal as well as vegetable system, there are many circumstances 
 difficult to comprehend, but none that involve a contradiction of the known and 
 established laws of nature ; but a greater contradiction to those laws can scarcely 
 be conceived, than that a mere idea passing through the brain of the mother, 
 should attach itself to some particular part of the child. Nature does not perform 
 miracles ; her operations are consistent. 
 
 4. Appearances of this nature on the offspring are not usually resemblances 
 of those objects which the mother may reasonably be supposed to have most ar- 
 dently desired. If the doctrine were true, we should probably see our offspring 
 marked with other figures than those of cherries and of strawberries ; and should 
 occasionally have to admire the imitative wonders of a gold watch, a diamond 
 necklace, a noble coronet, or a crane-necked coach. 
 
 (s) On the young babe the birth of yesterday. 
 
 If this argument be adduced to shew that the child is liable to be affected in 
 its health by the milk of the nurse, as an adult is by the. nutriment which he re- 
 ceives, there can be no hesitation in assenting to it, but if, as it appears by the 
 context, the author means to shew that the disposition of the infant's mind is al- 
 tered by the nature of his nutriment, the examples are not strictly apposite. A 
 man may be relieved by medicine, intoxicated by strong liquors, or injured by 
 poison, but it may not follow from thence, that a child imbibes the disposition 
 of his nurse. A defective argument is however no proof that the proposition which 
 it is intended to support, is untrue. The idea that the nurse imparts to the child 
 dispositions similar to her own, is of very ancient standing, " Nee unquam eos," 
 says Columella, lib. vii. cap. 12. " quorum genesam volumus indolem conservare, 
 ff patiemur alienae nutricis uberibus educari : quoniam semper, et lac et spiritus 
 11 maternus longe magis ingenii atque incrementa corporis auget." The intem- 
 perance of Tiberius is upon the same principle ascribed to his nurse by an Italian 
 author. 
 
 " Fu conosciuto quanto il latte puo, 
 
 " Nella nutrice, che allatto Tiberio, 
 
 " La qual sempre a' suoi di s' imbriac6 : 
 " Ond' egli ancor non stetti mai sul serio, 
 
 " Perche sempre era cotto, e si beeva, 
 
 " Che non Tiberio, detto fu Biberio." Fagiuoli. 
 
 The
 
 NOTES CANTO II. 9 
 
 The same author attributes the want of affection frequently observable among 
 brothers, to a like cause. 
 
 " Da che credete voi, nasca 1' amara, 
 
 " Discrepanza d' umori, e che s' avverra, 
 
 " Che de' fratelli e la concordia rara ? 
 " Perche ebber varie balie, ed i pensieri, 
 
 " Bevver col latte, lor diversi, e varj ; 
 
 " Ond' altri pigri sono, altri son fieri." 
 
 (t) Soon mourns its fragrance lost, its strength decay' d. 
 
 " In arboribus etiam 8c frugibus major plerumque vis, & potestas est ad ea- 
 " rum indolem vel detrectandam, vel augendam, aquarum atque terrarum, quze 
 " alunt, quam ipsius quod jacitur seminis. Ac saepe videas arborem Ijetam & 
 " nitentem in alium locum transpositam, deteriori succo deperiisse." 
 
 Favorin. ap. Gell. 
 
 (u) And to a mother's office joins the name. 
 
 " Ipsius quoque infantis affectio animi, amoris, consuetudinis, in ea sola unde 
 " alitur, occupatur ; & proinde (ut in expositis usu venit) matris, quae genuit, 
 " neque sensum ullum, neque desiderium csepit. Ac propterea obliteratis, & a- 
 " bolitis nativae pietatis elementis, quicquid ita educati liberi amare patrem, atque 
 " matrem videntur, magnam fere partem non naturalis ille amor est, sed civilis 
 " & opiniabilis." Favorin. ut sup. 
 
 (iu] Who dies untimely, than who lives forgot. 
 
 " Et praeter haec autem, quis illud etiam negligere, aspernarique possit, quod 
 " quas partus suos deserunt, ablegantque a se se, & aliis nutriendos dedunt, vin- 
 ' f culum illud, coagulumque animi, atque amoris, quo parentes cum filiis Natura 
 " consociat, interscindunt, aut certe quidem diluunt, deteruntque ? Nam ubi in- 
 (f fantis aliorsum dati facta ex oculis amolitio est, vigor ille maternae flagrantiae 
 " sensim, atque paullatim restinguitur, omnisque impatientissimae sollicitudinis 
 " strepitus consilescit." Favorin. ut sup. 
 
 (#) O'er lawless love to wave his scorpion rod. 
 
 The resentment shewn by the author against hired nurses, may in many in- 
 stances
 
 10 NOTES CANTO II. 
 
 stances be just, but he has totally forgotten to enumerate the injuries and disad- 
 vantages which the nurse herself experiences. The first sacrifice which she is re- 
 quired to make, a sacrifice necessary perhaps for her subsistence, is to suppress 
 her maternal feelings, and by discarding her own child, make way for that of 
 another. From that moment all her cares and attention are expected to be trans- 
 ferred to her adopted child, as effectually as if her affections had been changed by 
 a miracle, or an act of parliament. When this point is accomplished, and she can 
 " forget her sucking child," she is then qualified for her office, and has all the 
 trouble and anxiety of a mother without her enjoyments. This employment she 
 is to exercise under the immediate direction and controul of a superior, who, con- 
 scious that she has deserted her own duty, weakly endeavours to compensate for 
 the performance of it by an extraordinary degree of fondness for her child, and the 
 nurse (whose affection for it is often much more sincere than that of the mother) 
 is continually harrassed with directions, cautions, and reproofs, that embitter 
 every moment of her life. If her negligence affords a just ground of complaint, 
 her fondness excites a secret jealousy in the breast of the mother, who, whilst she 
 refuses to take those methods which nature has prescribed, to secure the affections 
 of a child, repines when she sees them transferred to another. That the dreadful 
 circumstance to which the author adverts in the text, sometimes happens, cannot 
 be denied ; but it may with confidence be asserted, that it is at least as usual for 
 the nurse to receive infection from the child, as the child from the nurse ; and for 
 this relinquishment of the dearest ties in nature, this abdication of her own hum- 
 ble but peaceful roof, and renunciation of domestic enjoyment ; this certainty of 
 suffering much, and probability of becoming a prey to disorders which may never 
 be eradicated, she is to rest satisfied with a pitiful compensation in money, whilst 
 the dissipated mother pursues her pleasures, and joins in the sentiments of the poet 
 against the pride, the obstinacy, and the extravagance of a hireling nurse. 
 
 (jy) For witness, Ariosto's scenes peruse. 
 
 I suppositi, a comedy of that author. This circumstance may sometimes hap- 
 pen, says the Italian editor, but perhaps not so frequently as it is suspected. For 
 the parent, observing with disgust, low dispositions and vulgar manners in a child 
 that has been long intrusted to a hired nurse, is apt to conceive that it is impos- 
 sible such child can be his own. He should however remember, continues the 
 editor, that the manners and disposition of the child are precisely those of the 
 nurse who suckled and caressed him, and instilled into him her own sentiments 
 and habits. 
 
 * With
 
 NOTES CANTO II. 11 
 
 () With sage examples drawn from ancient times. 
 
 It would be strange indeed if the authority of antiquity should be required in 
 support of a practice so essentially necessary to the very existence of the human 
 race, as that of a mother giving suck to her own child ; and it is certainly only 
 as a satire upon his countrywomen, that Tacitus notes this circumstance as a 
 particularity in the manners of the ancient Germans. " Sua quamque mater 
 " uberibus alit, nee ancillis ac nutricibus delegantur." If the reverse of this 
 had been true, and the historian had remarked that women of rank thought 
 themselves degraded if they nursed their own offspring, and such task was there- 
 fore delegated to the lowest of the people, it might have been thought extraordi- 
 nary, and would have nearly rivalled that fashionable practice among the in- 
 habitants of the south sea islands, of exposing their children ; a practice much 
 more similar, both in its motives and effects, to that of sending out a child to 
 nurse, than is generally imagined. " An non expositionis genus est, infantulum 
 " tenerum, adhuc a matre rubentem, matrem spirantem, matris opem ea voce 
 <f implorantem, quae movere dicitur et feras, tradere mulieri fortassis nee corpore 
 " salubri, nee moribus integris ; denique cui pluris sit pecuniae pauxillum, quam 
 totus infans tuus ?" Erasm. in Puerpera. 
 
 (aa} Who to another give their offspring's due. 
 
 This circumstance is differently explained by Fagiuoli, who conceives, that 
 Romulus and Remus imbibed their ferocity with the milk that supported them. 
 " E per prova si e visto infin, che quegli, 
 " Ch' ebbe latte di bestia, fu efficace 
 " A farlo bestia diventare anch' egli. 
 " Ebbe Romolo, e Remo una vorace 
 " Lupa per Balia ; ed ambedue redaro 
 " L' inclinazione sua ladra, e rapace." 
 
 (bb) Her precepts slighted, and her bounties vain. 
 
 Reclamat . . . ipsa natura. Cur terra dicitur omnium parens ? An quod 
 gignat tantum ? Imo multo magis quod nutriat ea, quae genuit. Quod aqua 
 gignit, in aquis educatur. In terra nullum animantis, aut plant* genus nasci- 
 tur, quod eadem terra succo suo non alat ; nee est ullum animantis genus, quod 
 non alat suos foetus, ululae, leones, et viperse educant partus suos ; et homines 
 
 " suos foetus abjiciunt ?" 
 
 (cc) Give
 
 12 NOTES .... CANTO IT. 
 
 (cc) Give to the smiling babe the fostering breast. 
 
 " Quoties audis puerum tuum vagientem, crede, ilium hoc abs te flagitare 
 Cf Cum vides in pectore duos istos veluti fonticulos turgidos, ac lacteo liquore 
 " vel suapte sponte manantes, crede naturam admonere te tui officii. Ali- 
 " oqui cum infans jam fari meditabitur, ac blanda balbutie te mammam vocabit, 
 " qua fronte hoc audies ab eo, cui mammam negaris, 8c ad conducticiam mam- 
 " mam relegaris, perinde quasi caprae, aut ovi subjecisses ? Ubi jam erit fandi 
 " potens, quid si te pro matre vocet semimatrem ? Virgam expedies, opinor. 
 (l Atqui vix semimater est quse recusat alere quod peperit." Erasm. ut sup. 
 
 (dd] And trusts his nurture to a stranger's care. 
 
 (f Oro te (inquit) Mulier, sine earn totam, ac integram esse matrem filii sui. 
 " Quod est enim hoc contra Naturnum imperfectum, atque dimidiatum matris 
 " genus . . . ?" Favorin. ap Gell. 
 
 (ee) Illustrious DEVON led Britannia's train. 
 
 That example which the Italian poet could only wish for, this country has ex- 
 perienced, in the conduct of the DUCHESS OF DEVON SHIRE; who, though 
 moving in the most elevated sphere of society, with every grace of person, and 
 every accomplishment of mind, did not conceive that either these, or any other 
 circumstances attending her high rank, dispensed with the sacred obligation of a 
 mother to nurse her own offspring. On the contrary, in defiance of custom, and 
 in contempt of unfeeling fashion, she persevered in the performance of this in- 
 dispensable duty, and is said to have found her reward in the great resemblance 
 in constitution and disposition between the child she nursed and herself. 
 
 One such example as this, is a more convincing refutation of all the argu- 
 ments against this salutary custom, than can be derived either from the imagina- 
 tion of the poet, or the reasonings of the philosopher ; and it will be a lasting re- 
 proach to the present age, if SUCH AN ILLUSTRIOUS INSTANCE OF MATERNAL 
 FIDELITY, should fail of producing its full effect, in the promotion of that GREAT 
 AND RADICAL REFORM in the feelings and manners of domestic life, upon which 
 the cause of VIRTUE, of TRUTH, and of LIBERTY, and all the BEST INTERESTS 
 OF HUMAN SOCIETY immediately depend. 
 
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