The "Morgante Maggiore" is the first of a series of romantic narrative
poems, which take Charlemagne and his Paladins for the heroes of their
tales. The "Mambriano" of Cieco da Ferrara is one of these. The real
name of the author was Francesco Bello. It has been said that he was
called Cecco or Cieco from his blindness--but Cecco and Cecchino is the
common Tuscan diminutive for Francesco. Little is known of this author,
except the disaster that has already been mentioned, and that he was
poor and lived at Ferrara, and recited the cantos of his poem, as they
were written, at the table of the cardinal Ippolito da Este.
[Sidenote: 1509.]
Tiraboschi quotes from the dedication of Conosciuti, who published the
"Mambriano" after the author's death; who therein begs the cardinal to
take the poem under his care, and with his accustomed benevolence not to
deny that favour to the memory of Francesco, which he so frequently and
liberally bestowed during his life. Tiraboschi adds, that such
expressions do not seem to him to accord with the idea that the poet
lived and died poor. The bounty of a patron is, however, various and
capricious, and, unless it takes the form of an annuity, seldom relieves
the wants of a dependant; and we may take Francesco's word that he was
poor when he says--"The howling of winds and roaring of waves which I
hear now abroad upon our sea, has so shattered the planks of my skiff,
that I lament that I undertook the voyage. On the other side, penury
burthens me with such need, that it seems to me, that I can never
acquire any praise if I do not overcome these winds and storms."[90] His
poem is little read, and has never been translated. We have never met
with it; but from the specimens given by Panizzi, it is evident that he
possessed ease of versification, and a considerable spring of poetic
imagery and invention.