And when at length the winged wanderers stoop, And task most hopeless! but some such have been : Were prouder than more dazzling fame unblest. Than the volcano's fierce eruptive crest, Whose splendour from the black abyss is flung, A temporary torturing flame is wrung, Shines for a night of terror, then repels Its fire back to the hell from whence it sprung, The hell which in its entrails ever dwells. CANTO IV. MANY are poets who have never penn'd And be the new Prometheus of new men, The form which their creations may essay, bear ; Are bards. The kindled marble's bust may wear glow, Break no commandment, for high heaven is there Of poesy which peoples but the air With thought and beings of our thought reflected, Art shall resume and equal even the sway In Roman works wrought by Italian hands, Such as all flesh shall flock to kneel in: ne'er As this, to which all nations shall repair, And lay their sins at this huge gate of heaven. The daring charge to raise it shall be given, His chisel bid the Hebrew,13 at whose word Which form the empire of eternity. Amidst the clash of swords and clang of helms, Shall be the age of beauty, and while whelms The genius of my country shall arise, Shall feel the power of that which they destroy; To tyrants who but take her for a toy Emblems and monuments, and prostitute Her charms to pontiffs proud, 16 who but employ The man of genius as the meanest brute To bear a burthen, and to serve a need, To sell his labours, and his soul to boot. Who toils for nations may be poor indeed, But free; who sweats for monarchs is no more Than the gilt chamberlain, who, clothed and fee'd, Stands sleek and slavish bowing at his door. Oh, Power that rulest and inspirest! how Is it that they on earth, whose earthly power Is likest thine in heaven in outward show, Least like to thee in attributes divine, Tread on the universal necks that bow; And then assure us that their rights are thine? And how is it that they, the sons of fame, Whose inspiration seems to them to shine From high, they whom the nations oftest name, their days in penury or pain, Or step to grandeur through the paths of shame, And wear a deeper brand and gaudier chain? Of if their destiny be borne aloof From lowliness, or tempted thence in vain, In their own souls sustain a harder proof, Must pass The inner war of passions deep and fierce? my roof, Thy pride, thy wealth, thy freedom, and even that, The sway of petty tyrants in a state; For such sway is not limited to kings, And demagogues yield to them but in date, As swept off sooner; in all deadly things Which make men hate themselves and one another, In discord, cowardice, cruelty, all that springs To fly back to thee in despite of wrong, Who has the whole world for a dungeon strong, The ashes thou shalt ne'er obtain.-Alas! "What have I done to thee, my people?" "7 Stern Raised by thy will, all thine in peace or war, And for this thou hast warr'd with me.-'T is done : not overleap the eternal bar may Built up between us, and will die alone, Beholding, with the dark eye of a seer, The evil days to gifted souls foreshown, Foretelling them to those who will not hear, As in the old time, till the hour be come When truth shall strike their eyes through many a tear, And make them own the prophet in his tomb. NOTES. Note 1. Page 419. 'Midst whom my own bright Beatrice bless'd. The reader is requested to adopt the Italian pronunciation of Beatrice, sounding all the syllables. Canzone, in which Dante describes the person of Beatrice, strophe third. in which he represents Right, Generosity, and Temperance, as banished from among men, and seeking refuge from Love, who inhabits his bosom. Note 4. Page 421. The dust she dooms to scatter. "Ut si quis prædictorum ullo tempore in fortiam dicti communis pervenerit, talis perveniens igne comburatur, sic quod moriatur." Second sentence of Florence against Dante and the fourteen accused with him.— The Latin is worthy of the sentence. Note 5. Page 422. Where yet my boys are, and that fatal she. This lady, whose name was Gemma, sprung from one of the most powerful Guelf families, named Donati. Corso Donati was the principal adversary of the Ghibellines. She is described as being " Admodum morosa, ut de Xantippe Socratis philosophi conjuge scriptum esse legimus," according to Giannozzo Manetti. But Lionardo Aretino is scandalized with Boccace, in his life of Dante, for saying that literary men should not marry. "Qui in Boccacio non ha pazienza, e dice, le mogli esser contrarie agli studj; e non si ricorda che Socrate il più nobile filosofo che mai fosse, ebbe moglie e figliuoli e ufficj della Repubblica nella sua Città; e Aristotele che, &c., &c. ebbe due mogli in varj tempi, ed ebbe figliuoli, e ricchezze assai.-E Marco Tullio e Catone-e Varrone-e Seneca-ebbero moglie," &c., &c. It is odd that honest Lionardo's examples, with the exception of Seneca, and, for any thing I know, of Aristotle, are not the most felicitous. Tully's Terentia, and Socrates' Xantippe, by no means contributed to their husbands' happiness, whatever they might do to their philosophy-Cato gave away his wife-of Varro's we know nothing-and of Seneca's, only that she was disposed to die with him, but recovered, and lived several years afterwards. But, says Lionardo, "L'uomo è animale civile, secondo piace a tutti i filosofi." And thence concludes that the greatest proof of the animal's civism is "la prima congiunzione, dalla quale moltiplicata nasce la Città." |