SECT. VIII. Of JANUARY and MAY, The WIFE of BATH, and TRANSLATIONS of STATIUS and OVID, and the IMITATIONS of fome ENGLISH POETs. T HE first dawnings of polite literature in Italy, appeared in talewriting and fables. Boccace gave a currency and vogue to this fpecies of compofition. He collected many of the common tales of his country, and delivered them in VOL. II. the B |