Note 620 — Chapter VIII
Reading edition
The word I have translated "magpie" is gaza in the autograph. This has been interpreted as a slip of the pen for ganza; but it may be a Lombardism for gazza. In the latter case we should translate it "magpie," in the former "sweetheart." I prefer to read gazza, as the ironical analogy between a magpie and a poet is characteristic of Ariosto.