Parisina is a 586-line poem written byLord Byron. It was probably written between 1812 and 1815, and published on 13 February 1816.
It is based on a story related byEdward Gibbon in hisMiscellaneous Works (1796) aboutNiccolò III d'Este, one of the dukes ofFerrara in the 15th century. Niccolò found out thatParisina Malatesta, his second wife, had an incestuous relationship with his bastard son Ugo and had both of them put to death.
In Byron's poem, Azo (his version of Niccolò) learns of the affair when Parisina mutters the name of Hugo (Ugo) in her sleep. In another embellishment by Byron, Parisina and Hugo were engaged to be married before Azo decided to marry her. Also, Azo sentences only Hugo to death; Parisina's fate is unknown, except for the fact that she is forced to witness Hugo's execution and utters a shriek that indicates approaching madness. Azo is tormented by his decision.
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