[7] A stornello a fiore consists generally of a couplet beginning with an invocation to a flower, as:
Fior di limone!
Limone è agro e non si puoi mangiare
Ma son più agre le pene d'amore.
Fior di granato!
Se li sospiri mie fossere fuocco,
Tutto il mondo sarebbe buciato.
See also the stornelli in Browning's Fra Lippo Lippi of two of which Richard's are variants.
[8] Palliano or Pagliano, for the name is variously spelled.
[9] John Addington Symonds further relates in what strange ways fate fulfilled this prediction. "Disaster fell on each of the five brothers. The first of them, Ottavio, was killed by a cannon-ball at sea in honorable combat with the Turk. Another, Girolamo, who sought refuge in France, was shot down in an ambuscade while pursuing his amours with a gentle lady. A third, Alessandro, died under arms before Paris in the troops of General Farnese. A fourth, Luca, was imprisoned at Rome for his share of the step-mother's murder, but was released on the plea that he had avenged the wounded honour of his race. He died, however, poisoned by his own brother Marcantoni in 1599. Marcantoni was arrested on suspicion and imprisoned in Torre di Nona, where he confessed his guilt. He was shortly afterward beheaded on the little square before the bridge of St. Angelo."
[10] Hamilton was aided in his work by Piranesi whose engravings record the state of the ruins at this time.
[11] The same figure is depicted in the frescoes of Pompeii, and here the deep blue of an Italian night glittering with stars gives the added touch of colour.