conjugal poetry, than Vittoria Colonna; such laurel wreaths did she put
upon the brow of her spouse, the Marquis of Pescara, that Ariosto was
tempted to say, in substance, that if Alexander had envied Achilles the
fame he had acquired in the songs of Homer, how much more would he have
envied Pescara those strains wherein his gifted wife had exalted his
fame above that of all contemporary heroes! Vittoria came from most
illustrious families, as her father was the Grand Constable Fabrizio
Colonna and her mother was Anna di Montefeltro, daughter of Federigo,
the first great Duke of Urbino. At the early age of four, fate joined
Vittoria in an infant marriage to the young Count d'Avalo, who was of
her own age, and who later, as the Marquis of Pescara, really became her
husband. When Vittoria was but a young girl, her beauty and her
wonderful talents, added to her high station, made her conspicuous among
her countrywomen, and her hand was often sought in marriage even by
reigning princes. Both the Duke of Savoy and the Duke of Braganza
desired to marry her, and the pope was even persuaded to plead their
cause; but all to no avail, as she had long considered her future
settled and had no desire to change it. At the age of seventeen they
celebrated their wedding, and their life together, which began with that
moment, was never marred by a single discordant note.

The first four years of their married life were spent on the island of
Ischia, where Pescara had a villa and a small estate, and there they
lived in an idyllic happiness which has almost become proverbial. The
young husband was not so studiously inclined as was his gifted wife, but
he was a manly fellow, much given to athletic pursuits, and with a
decided taste for a military career, and Vittoria was loved by him in a
most tender and noble fashion. They were denied the happiness of
children, and the young wife expresses her sorrow over this fact in her
twenty-second sonnet; but she consoles herself by adding: "since it is
not given to me to be the mother of sons who shall inherit their
father's glory, at least may I be able, by uniting my name with his in
verse, to become the mother of his great deeds and lofty fame." After
their long honeymoon had come to an end, Pescara was moved to return to
the world, or rather to enter it for the first time as a man, and he
entered the imperial army. At the age of twenty-one, as a general of
cavalry, he took part in the battle of