6. _Lucius Junius._ This name comes easily to Luigi's lips because
Lucius Junius Brutus inspired the Romans against Tarquin.
14. _Old Franz._ The Austrian Emperor, Francis, I. Luigi's fancy is
caught by the echoes and the flowers, but they play into his dominant
idea of the freedom of Italy.
19. _Pellicos._ Silvio Pellico was an Italian patriot who had suffered a
long imprisonment in Spielberg Castle.
122. _Andrea_, etc. Three former Italian patriots who had conspired
against Austria.
135-143. Note in these lines how little Luigi really understands of the
point at issue. His emotional temperament has been stirred to the point
of desperate action, but the "ground for killing the King" he hardly
knows.
152. _Jupiter._ The largest of the planets. When a planet rises after
midnight it becomes a morning star.
163. _Titian at Treviso._ Treviso is seventeen miles from Venice. Its
cathedral contains a fine Annunciation by Titian which Luigi and his
betrothed Chiara had planned to see together.
164. _A king lived long ago._ This song was published in 1835 and later
adapted for this poem. The song has a great effect on Luigi because
beside his mental picture of the hated Austrian ruler he now places his
old folk-king who judged his people wisely, whose dignity and grace awed
even a python, and whom the gods loved. The possibility of having good
kings stirs his waning determination to rid the earth of evil ones.