s he was
walking backwards and forwards, enquired of the captain of the castle if
Ugo was dead yet? who answered him, Yes. He then gave himself up to the
most desperate lamentations, exclaiming, 'Oh! that I too were dead,
since I have been hurried on to resolve thus against my own Ugo!' And
then gnawing with his teeth a cane which he had in his hand, he passed
the rest of the night in sighs and in tears, calling frequently upon his
own dear Ugo. On the following day, calling to mind that it would be
necessary to make public his justification, seeing that the transaction
could not be kept secret, he ordered the narrative to be drawn out upon
paper, and sent it to all the courts of Italy.

"On receiving this advice, the Doge of Venice, Francesco Foscari, gave
orders, but without publishing his reasons, that stop should be put to
the preparations for a tournament, which, under the auspices of the
Marquis, and at the expense of the city of Padua, was about to take
place, in the square of St. Mark, in order to celebrate his advancement
to the ducal chair.

"The Marquis, in addition to what he had already done, from some
unaccountable burst of vengeance, commanded that as many of the married
women as were well known to him to be faithless, like his Parisina,
should, like her, be beheaded. Amongst others, Barberina, or, as some
call her, Laodamia Romei, wife of the court judge, underwent this
sentence, at the usual place of execution; that is to say, in the
quarter of St. Giacomo, opposite the present fortress, beyond St.
Paul's. It cannot be told how strange appeared this proceeding in a
prince, who, considering his own disposition, should, as it seemed, have
been in such cases most indulgent. Some, however, there were who did not
fail to commend him." [_Memorie per la Storia di Ferrara_, Raccolte da
Antonio Frizzi, 1793, iii. 408-410. See, too, _Celebri Famiglie
Italiane_, by Conte Pompeo Litta, 1832, Fasc. xxvi. Part III. vol. ii.]

[413] {507} [The revise of _Parisina_ is endorsed in Murray's
handwriting, "Given to me by Lord Byron at his house, Saturday, January
13, 1816."]

[414] The lines contained in this section were printed as set to music
some time since, but belonged to the poem where they now appear; the
greater part of which was composed prior to _Lara_, and other
compositions since published. [Note to _Siege, etc._, First Edition,
1816.]

[qy]
_Francisca walks in the shadow of night_,
_But it is