s: You would not do yourself.  I have already


s: That will crush out my life within this hour;


s: But if a word could save me, and that word


s: Were not the Truth; nay, if it did but swerve


s: A hair's-breadth from the Truth, I would not say it!


s: As for my wife, my Martha and my Martyr,--


s: Whose virtues, like the stars, unseen by day,


s: Though numberless, do but await the dark


s: And taught me how to live by her example,


s: Giles Corey!  Come!  The hour has struck!


s: SCENE III-- A street in the Village.  Enter GLOYD and others.


s: If the old man will die, and will not speak?


s: SCENE IV. -- A field near the graveyard, GILES COREY lying dead,


s: with a great stone on his breast.  The Sheriff at his head,


s: RICHARD GARDNER at his feet.  A crowd behind.  The bell tolling.


s: This is the Potter's Field.  Behold the fate


s: Of those who deal in Witchcrafts, and, when questioned,


s: Refuse to plead their guilt or innocence,


s: And stubbornly drag death upon themselves.


s: O sight most horrible!  In a land like this,


s: Inwrapped in our salvations, must we seek


s: In mouldering statute-books of English Courts


s: Some old forgotten Law, to do such deeds?


s: Those who lie buried in the Potter's Field


s: That sleep in honored graves with epitaphs;


s: And this poor man, whom we have made a victim,


s: SAINT JOHN wandering over the face of the Earth.


s: Queen of the East! my solace, my delight!


s: Within thy gates, and bathe in the Orontes,


s: Thy river and mine.  O Jason, my High-Priest,


s: For I have made thee so, and thou art mine,


s: The wonder of the world.  This city of David


s: And its inhabitants compared with Greeks


s: They must be made to have more gods than one;


s: They must have hippodromes, and games, and baths,


s: Stage-plays and festivals, and most of all


s: These Hebrews crowned with ivy, and arrayed


s: In skins of fawns, with drums and flutes and thyrsi,


s: Revel and riot through the solemn streets


s: Of their old town.   Ha, ha!  It makes me merry


s: Only to think of it!--Thou dost not laugh.


s: Have I not sacked the Temple, and on the altar


s: As thou wast Joshua once and now art Jason,


s: So shall this Hebrew nation be translated,


s: Their very natures and their names be changed,


s: Their manners and their laws and way of living


s: Shall all be Greek.  They shall unlearn their language,


s: Where hast thou been to-day?  Thou comest late.


s: Playing at discus with the other priests


s: There's nothing better for you lazy priests


s: Than discus-playing with the common people.


s: Now tell me, Jason, what these Hebrews call me


s: When they converse together at their games.


s: They give me when they talk among themselves,


s: And think that no one listens; what is that?


s: And who hath said it?  Who hath set in motion


s: I like their courage, but it shall not save them.


s: They shall be made to eat the flesh of swine,


s: Who work for their own ends, and not for mine


s: There is no furtherance in them.  Let them go


s: This pleases me, and furthers my designs.


s: The occasion is auspicious.  Bid them enter.


s: Approach.  Come forward; stand not at the door


s: Wagging your long beards, but demean yourselves


s: As doth become Ambassadors.  What seek ye?


s: AMBASSADOR (reading).  "To King Antiochus,


s: From the Sidonians, who live at Sichem."


s: And do not tire thyself and me with bowing!


s: "We are a colony of Medes and Persians."


s: Ye claimed exemption from the annual tribute


s: Your fields had not been planted in that year.


s: "Our fathers, upon certain frequent plagues,


s: Were long accustomed to observe that day


s: Which by the Israelites is called the Sabbath,


s: Now we, who are Sidonians, beseech thee,


s: And let our nameless temple now be named


s: This shall be done.  Full well it pleaseth me


s: But Greeks; if not by birth, yet Greeks by custom.


s: Your nameless temple shall receive the name


s: My task is easier than I dreamed.  These people


s: Meet me half-way.  Jason, didst thou take note


s: 'T is of good augury. The rest will follow


s: These are Samaritans.  The tribe of Judah


s: Being fourscore years and ten, chose rather death


s: By torture than to eat the flesh of swine.


s: The life is in the blood, and the whole nation


s: Shall bleed to death, or it shall change its faith!


s: Hundreds have fled already to the mountains


s: Hath raised the standard of revolt against thee.


s: I will burn down their city, and will make it


s: Waste as a wilderness.  Its thoroughfares


s: Shall be but furrows in a field of ashes.


s: Shall have a broad and blood-red sea upon it,


s: Stamped with the awful letters of my name,


s: SCENE I. -- THE MOTHER of the SEVEN SONS alone, listening.


s: All, all my Seven Sons; then burst asunder,


s: And let this tortured and tormented soul


s: Leap and rush out like water through the shards


s: O my dear children, mine in life and death,


s: I neither gave you breath, nor gave you life,


s: And neither was it I that formed the members


s: Who made the world, and made the heavens above us,


s: And found out the beginning of all things,


s: He gave you breath and life, and will again


s: Not your own selves, but his eternal law.


s: I do not murmur, nay, I thank thee, God,


s: That I and mine have not been deemed unworthy


s: To suffer for thy sake, and for thy law,


s: Hark! I can hear within the sound of scourges!


s: But cannot come to you.  I, who was wont


s: To wake at night at the least cry ye made,


s: And soothe your pain, but God will take you all


s: Transgress the law and customs of our fathers.


s: It is the Voice of my first-born!  O brave


s: Of dying first, as thou wast born the first.


s: God looketh on us, and hath comfort in us;


s: I knew thou wouldst not fail!--He speaks no more,


s: Thou shalt be tortured throughout all the members


s: It is Adaiah's voice.  I tremble for him.


s: And swift to change, gentle and yielding always.


s: Takest us from this present life, but God,


s: Who rules the world, shall raise us up again


s: That thou hast breathed into that timid heart


s: Witness of God! if thou for whom I feared


s: Canst thus encounter death, I need not fear;


s: That I despise them.  He who gave them to me


s: It is thy voice.  For the last time I hear it;


s: For the last time on earth, but not the last.


s: To death it bids defiance and to torture.


s: Seem unto me as naught, and less than naught.


s: Before thee.  I am waiting for the others.


s: Being put to death by men, to look for hope


s: But thou--no resurrection shalt thou have


s: Three are still living; nay, they all are living,


s: Half here, half there.  Make haste, Antiochus,


s: To reunite us; for the sword that cleaves


s: Through which our souls, impatient of release,


s: Thou doest what thou wilt.  Abide awhile,


s: And thou shalt see the power of God, and how


s: Why dost thou pause?  Thou who hast slain already


s: Their murdered infants round their necks, slay me,


s: And hang my lifeless babes about my neck.


s: Thou shalt escape unpunished, for his wrath


s: Shall overtake thee and thy bloody house.


s: One more, my Sirion, and then all is ended.


s: I will lie down and sleep as sound as they.


s: And those bright golden locks, that I so oft


s: Have curled about these fingers, even now


s: Are foul with blood and dust, like a lamb's fleece,


s: Slain in the shambles.--Not a sound I hear.


s: That might escape the lips of one who dies.


s: Doth his heart fail him?  Doth he fall away


s: In the last hour from God?  O Sirion, Sirion,


s: Art thou afraid?  I do not hear thy voice.


s: Die as thy brothers died.  Thou must not live!


s: One only lives.  Behold them where they lie


s: Can a man do such deeds, and yet not die


s: That were my children once, and still are mine,


s: I cannot watch o'er you as Rispah watched


s: In sackcloth o'er the seven sons of Saul,


s: And wash this blood away!  I cannot mourn


s: As she, the daughter of Aiah, mourned the dead,


s: From the beginning of the barley-harvest


s: Until the autumn rains, and suffered not


s: The birds of air to rest on them by day,


s: Nor the wild beasts by night.  For ye have died


s: That I ought rather to rejoice than mourn.--


s: Wherefore art thou the only living thing


s: Among thy brothers dead?  Art thou afraid?


s: O woman, I have spared him for thy sake,


s: That I would crown his life with joy and honor,


s: Heap treasures on him, luxuries, delights,


s: Make him my friend and keeper of my secrets,


s: And be as we are; but he will not listen.


s: Who art his mother, thou wouldst speak with him,


s: And wouldst persuade him.  I am sick of blood.


s: Yea, I will speak with him and will persuade him.


s: On me that bare thee, and that gave thee suck,


s: And fed and nourished thee, and brought thee up


s: With the dear trouble of a mother's care


s: Unto this age.  Look on the heavens above thee,


s: And on the earth and all that is therein;


s: Consider that God made them out of things


s: That were not; and that likewise in this manner


s: Mankind was made.  Then fear not this tormentor


s: Thy death as they did, that I may receive thee


s: Never will I obey the King's commandment,


s: That was by Moses given unto our fathers.


s: And thou, O godless man, that of all others


s: Nor puffed up with uncertain hopes, uplifting


s: Thy hand against the servants of the Lord,


s: For thou hast not escaped the righteous judgment


s: Of the Almighty God, who seeth all things!


s: My brothers, who have suffered a brief pain,


s: Are dead; but thou, Antiochus, shalt suffer


s: Unto our nation, and that thou by plagues


s: Mysterious and by torments mayest confess


s: By torments worse than any that your God,


s: Here or hereafter, hath in store for me.


s: Go to thy bed of torture in yon chamber,


s: Where lie so many sleepers, heartless mother!


s: Thy footsteps will not wake them, nor thy voice,


s: Nor wilt thou hear, amid thy troubled dreams,


s: Thy children crying for thee in the night!


s: O Death, that stretchest thy white hands to me,


s: I fear them not, but press them to my lips,


s: That are as white as thine; for I am Death,


s: Nay, am the Mother of Death, seeing these sons


s: SCENE I. -- JUDAS MACCABAEUS in armor before his tent.


s: The trumpets sound; the echoes of the mountains


s: Answer them, as the Sabbath morning breaks


s: Where the great captain of the hosts of God,


s: O'ercame the Amorites.  There was no day


s: Like that, before or after it, nor shall be.


s: The sun stood still; the hammers of the hail


s: Beat on their harness; and the captains set


s: Their weary feet upon the necks of kings,


s: Thou man of blood!--Behold the rising sun


s: Strikes on the golden letters of my banner,


s: "Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon, and thou Moon,


s: The fateful time in useless lamentation;


s: But one who bears his life upon his hand


s: Serve the designs of Him who giveth life.


s: Who and what are ye, that with furtive steps


s: Outcasts are we, and fugitives as thou art,


s: None can escape from death.  Say that ye come


s: The Temple is laid waste; the precious vessels,


s: Censers of gold, vials and veils and crowns,


s: And golden ornaments, and hidden treasures,


s: Have all been taken from it, and the Gentiles


s: With revelling and with riot fill its courts,


s: And dally with harlots in the holy places.


s: Are things profane, things by the law forbidden;


s: Nor can we keep our Sabbaths or our Feasts,


s: Must walk in their processions, bearing ivy


s: The coming of this mischief hath been sore


s: And grievous to the people.  All the land


s: The Princes and the Elders weep and wail;


s: The young men and the maidens are made feeble;


s: The beauty of the women hath been changed.


s: 'T is not enough to mourn.  Breastplate and harness


s: Are better things than sackcloth.  Let the women


s: Both men and women die; old men and young:


s: A bloody footprint in the street, by which


s: The avenging wrath of God will track thee out!


s: It is enough.  Go to the sutler's tents;


s: Those of you who are men, put on such armor


s: As ye may find; those of you who are women,


s: Buckle that armor on; and for a watchword


s: Whisper, or cry aloud, "The Help of God."


s: That comest here in this mysterious guise


s: Armed with thy shirt of mail from head to heel,


s: Into my presence.  Wherefore dost thou turn


s: Thy face from me?  A herald speaks his errand


s: With forehead unabashed.  Thou art a spy sent by Nicanor.


s: Thou art indeed Nicanor.  I salute thee.


s: What brings thee hither to this hostile camp


s: Thou hast the nobler virtues of thy race,


s: Without the failings that attend those virtues.


s: Thou canst be strong, and yet not tyrannous,


s: Is it to see our cities sacked and pillaged,


s: Our people slain, or sold as slaves, or fleeing


s: At night-time by the blaze of burning towns;


s: Polluted with strange gods?  Are these things peace?


s: These are the dire necessities that wait


s: I seek to stay.  Let there be peace between


s: Shall not be found, because he is returned


s: Unto his dust; his thought has come to nothing.


s: There is no peace between us, nor can be,


s: And thee there lies a waving wall of tents,


s: And horsemen seven thousand.  What hast thou


s: Whose breath shall scatter your white tents abroad,


s: War, war, and only war.  Go to thy tents


s: That shall be scattered, as by you were scattered


s: Ho, there, my captains!  Have safe-conduct given


s: And come yourselves to me.--Farewell, Nicanor!


s: The hour is come.  Gather the host together


s: For battle.  Lo, with trumpets and with songs


s: Go forth to meet them, praying in your hearts,


s: The morning sun is shining on their shields


s: Of gold and brass; the mountains glisten with them,


s: And shine like lamps.  And we who are so few


s: And poorly armed, and ready to faint with fasting,


s: How shall we fight against this multitude?


s: In multitudes, but in the strength that cometh


s: From heaven above.  The Lord forbid that I


s: Should do this thing, and flee away from them.


s: Nay, if our hour be come, then let us die;


s: Wilt thou fight on the Sabbath, Maccabaeus?


s: Ay; when I fight the battles of the Lord,


s: I fight them on his day, as on all others.


s: That fled once to these hills, and hid themselves


s: In caves?  How their pursuers camped against them


s: Upon the Seventh Day, and challenged them?


s: And how they answered not, nor cast a stone,


s: Nor stopped the places where they lay concealed,


s: But meekly perished with their wives and children,


s: We who are fighting for our laws and lives


s: And let our watchword be, "The Help of God!"


s: Last night I dreamed a dream; and in my vision


s: This done, in the like manner there appeared


s: Much for the people and the Holy City,--


s: God's prophet Jeremias."  And the prophet


s: Held forth his right hand and gave unto me


s: "Take thou this holy sword, a gift from God,


s: And with it thou shalt wound thine adversaries."


s: Sound from Beth-horon; from the battle-field


s: And leave a memory of great deeds behind us.


s: Lord, thou didst send thine Angel in the time


s: Didst slay a hundred fourscore and five thousand.


s: Wherefore, O Lord of heaven, now also send


s: And through the might of thy right arm let those


s: Be stricken with terror that have come this day


s: The outer Courts of the Temple at Jerusalem.


s: Float from her battlements, and o'er her gates


s: Nicanor's severed head, a sign of terror,


s: The Mother with her Seven Sons was murdered,


s: And vanish as a cloud.  First let us cleanse


s: Waste like a wilderness.  Its golden gates


s: Wrenched from their hinges and consumed by fire;


s: Shrubs growing in its courts as in a forest;


s: Upon its altars hideous and strange idols;


s: And strewn about its pavement at my feet


s: Its Sacred Books, half burned and painted o'er


s: Our beauty and our glory are laid waste!


s: The Gentiles have profaned our holy places!


s: This sound of trumpets, and this lamentation,


s: The heart-cry of a people toward the heavens,


s: Stir me to wrath and vengeance.  Go, my captains;


s: Deep in its inner courts, we found this man,


s: As are these tattered volumes of the Law


s: Wast thou in other days, but thou art now


s: A priest of Satan.  Traitor, thou art Jason.


s: There hangs the head of one who was a Greek.


s: What should prevent me now, thou man of sin,


s: From hanging at its side the head of one


s: With every crime against which the Decalogue


s: Or even to any little child, shown mercy?


s: With which he struck; but hast been such a weapon,


s: It tempted him to strike.  So thou hast urged him


s: To double wickedness, thine own and his.


s: Among his women still, and from his windows


s: Throwing down gold by handfuls, for the rabble


s: Running in air, in cloth of gold, and armed


s: Whose presence is corruption; to be with them


s: Degrades us and deforms the things we do.


s: The weakness of my nature, that hath made me


s: Upon this day, the five and twentieth day


s: Of the month Caslan, was the Temple here


s: And thee, his instrument.  Upon this day


s: Shall it be cleansed.  Thou, who didst lend thyself


s: There can be nothing clean where thou art present.


s: Who burned the Temple gates; and if they find thee


s: Will surely slay thee.  I will spare thy life


s: To punish thee the longer.  Thou shalt wander


s: Among strange nations.  Thou, that hast cast out


s: So many from their native land, shalt perish


s: In a strange land.  Thou, that hast left so many


s: Unburied, shalt have none to mourn for thee,


s: Nor sepulchre with thy fathers.--Get thee hence!


s: (Music.  Procession of Priests and people,


s: with citherns, harps, and cymbals.  JUDAS


s: head, and they go into the inner courts.)


s: Through the Gate Beautiful I see them come


s: With branches and green boughs and leaves of palm,


s: I should be with them, should be one of them,


s: But in an evil hour, an hour of weakness,


s: From the old faith, and did not clutch the new,


s: For the new faith I cannot make mine own,


s: In gods or men.  Then what mysterious charm,


s: And keeps me gazing like a curious child


s: Have raised their altar?--Striking stones together,


s: They take fire out of them, and light the lamps


s: In the great candlestick.  They spread the veils,


s: And set the loaves of showbread on the table.


s: The incense burns; the well-remembered odor


s: Creeps over me again!--A childish fancy!--


s: And hark! they sing with citherns and with cymbals,


s: And all the people fall upon their faces,


s: Upon his homeward journey, crowned with triumph.


s: To see a friend's face, or to hear a voice


s: That had the slightest tone of comfort in it!


s: Here let us rest awhile.  Where are we, Philip?


s: And yonder mountain range is the Orontes.


s: Why did I leave it?  Why have I been tempted


s: By coverings of gold and shields and breastplates


s: What a defeat it was!  The Persian horsemen


s: Came like a mighty wind, the wind Khamaseen,


s: As if we were dead leaves, or desert sand.


s: Be comforted, my Lord; for thou hast lost


s: Skip like the grasshoppers, am made myself


s: The splendors of my court, my baths and banquets?


s: Where are my players and my dancing women?


s: Where are my sweet musicians with their pipes,


s: It is not so.  If thou wouldst sleep awhile,


s: Dost thou remember, Philip, the old fable


s: Told us when we were boys, in which the bear


s: And is stung blind by bees?  I am that beast,


s: These thoughts will be as covered and forgotten


s: As are the tracks of Pharaoh's chariot-wheels


s: I know not Hebrew; but my High-Priest Jason,


s: Who saw a little cloud rise from the sea


s: Like a man's hand and soon the heaven was black


s: With clouds and rain.  Here, Philip, read; I cannot;


s: I see that cloud.  It makes the letters dim


s: Even Lysias laughs at me!--Go on, go on.


s: "We pray thee hasten thy return.  The realm


s: Is falling from thee.  Since thou hast gone from us


s: Form all our annals.  First he overthrew


s: Thy forces at Beth-horon, and passed on,


s: And then Emmaus fell; and then Bethsura;


s: Enough, enough!  Go call my chariot-men;


s: We will drive forward, forward, without ceasing,


s: I will wipe out his nation, and will make


s: (Throws up his hands, and sinks into the


s: The King is ill!  What is it, O my Lord?


s: Nothing.  A sudden and sharp spasm of pain,


s: As if the lightning struck me, or the knife


s: 'T is passed, even as it came.  Let us set forward.


s: Weak as an infant.  Ye will have to lead me.


s: Thou wouldst be named,--it is alike to me,--


s: Thou shalt not die; we will not let thee die!


s: How canst thou help it, Philip?  O the pain!


s: Stab after stab.  Thou hast no shield against


s: Garnish with goodly gifts the Holy Temple.


s: Thy people, whom I judged to be unworthy


s: Bring here the royal litter.  We will bear him


s: I perish through great grief in a strange land.


s: Take thou my royal robes, my signet-ring,


s: In all my towns, say that their dying monarch


s: Wisheth them joy, prosperity, and health.


s: I who, puffed up with pride and arrogance,


s: Thought all the kingdoms of the earth mine own,


s: If I would but outstretch my hand and take them,


s: Michel, piu che mortal, Angel divino. -- ARIOSTO.


s: ch' a l'abito dell' arte e man che trema. -- DANTE, Par. xiii.,


s: In other forms, as clouds restore in rain


s: Of ruined tombs; the passion and the pain


s: Of hearts, that long have ceased to beat, remain


s: To throb in hearts that are, or are to be.


s: So from old chronicles, where sleep in dust


s: Names that once filled the world with trumpet tones,


s: I build this verse; and flowers of song have thrust


s: Their roots among the loose disjointed stones,


s: Quickened are they that touch the Prophet's bones.


s: Will you then leave me, Julia, and so soon,


s: To pace alone this terrace like a ghost?


s: A whole month of to-morrows were too soon.


s: Needs not your presence.  No one waits for you.


s: Stay one day longer with me.  They who go


s: Feel not the pain of parting; it is they


s: Who stay behind that suffer.  I was thinking


s: Have been, and are, our destinies.  Your husband,


s: The good Vespasian, an old man, who seemed


s: Died in your arms; but mine, in all the flower


s: And promise of his youth, was taken from me


s: As by a rushing wind.  The breath of battle


s: Breathed on him, and I saw his face no more,


s: Save as in dreams it haunts me.  As our love


s: Was for these men, so is our sorrow for them.


s: Yours a child's sorrow, smiling through its tears;


s: But mine the grief of an impassioned woman,


s: Who drank her life up in one draught of love.


s: Behold this locket.  This is the white hair


s: Of my Vespasian.  This is the flower-of-love,


s: This amaranth, and beneath it the device


s: True to his memory; and the ancient castle,


s: Where we have lived together, where he died,


s: For one who is too young, and feels too keenly


s: The joy of life, to give up all her days


s: To sorrow for the dead.  While I am true


s: And mourn for still, I do not make a show


s: Of all the grief I feel, nor live secluded


s: Drape my whole house in mourning, and drive forth


s: In coach of sable drawn by sable horses,


s: Dear Julia!  Friendship has its jealousies


s: As well as love.  Who waits for you at Fondi?


s: A friend of mine and yours; a friend and friar.


s: The famous artist, who has come from Rome


s: To paint my portrait.  That is not a sin.


s: Do not call up to me those days departed


s: When I was young, and all was bright about me,


s: And the vicissitudes of life were things


s: Impossible.  Ah, then I dreamed your dreams,


s: And now, grown older, I look back and see


s: What would our lives become, what we ourselves?


s: Dreams or illusions, call them what you will,


s: They lift us from the commonplace of life


s: I am no saint; I feel the world we live in


s: Comes before that which is to be here after,


s: Let the soft wind that wafts to us the odor


s: Of orange blossoms, let the laughing sea


s: And the bright sunshine bathing all the world,


s: 'T is always flattering to a woman's pride


s: Ah, Julia, she that makes herself a dove


s: Is eaten by the hawk.  Be on your guard,


s: The horror of that night, when Barbarossa,


s: The Moorish corsair, landed on our coast


s: How in the dead of night, when all were sleeping,


s: He scaled the castle wall; how I escaped,


s: And in my night-dress, mounting a swift steed,


s: Fled to the mountains, and took refuge there


s: Among the brigands.  Then of all my friends


s: To come with his retainers to my rescue.


s: Strange stories of the splendors of his palace,


s: And how, apparelled like a Spanish Prince,


s: He rides through Rome with a long retinue


s: And Turks and Tartars, in fantastic dresses,


s: Hardly of age, or little more than that;


s: Beautiful, generous, fond of arts and letters,


s: On many instruments.  In Rome, his palace


s: Escaping from the tyranny of his cousin,


s: At Itri, in the courtyard of his palace,


s: That always thrills me with a noble sound,


s: That all should follow; one who works and prays,


s: For work is prayer, and consecrates his life


s: Till art and life are one; a man who holds


s: Such place in all men's thoughts, that when they speak


s: Of great things done, or to be done, his name


s: The portrait of your hero, and in colors


s: Brighter than Titian's; I might warn you also


s: Against the dangers that beset your path;


s: He might admire me: being but flesh and blood,


s: With his slouched hat, and boots of Cordovan,


s: A trivial word!  Look, how the setting sun


s: And there Vesuvius with its plume of smoke,


s: And the great city stretched upon the shore


s: And yon long line of lights, those sunlit windows


s: Blaze like the torches carried in procession


s: I have no heart to feel the beauty of it!


s: These level flags, and wearier still my thoughts


s: Treading the broken pavement of the Past,


s: And make me ready for to-morrow's journey.


s: I will go with you; for I would not lose


s: One hour of your dear presence.  'T is enough


s: I need not speak to you, nor hear you speak;


s: MICHAEL ANGELO's Studio.  He is at work on the cartoon of the


s: Come here to lay this heavy task upon me?


s: Were not the paintings on the Sistine ceiling


s: Enough for them?  They saw the Hebrew leader


s: Waiting, and clutching his tempestuous beard,


s: Shook in their sepulchre.  I heard the sound;


s: They only heard the sound of their own voices.


s: To do this work, that they must needs seek me?


s: Fra Bastian, my Era Bastian, might have done it;


s: Like leaden weights upon a dead man's eyes,


s: Press down his lids; and so the burden falls


s: To make me do their work and leave my own;


s: Blow, ye bright angels, on your golden trumpets


s: To the four corners of the earth, and wake


s: The dead to judgment!  Ye recording angels,


s: Open your books and read?  Ye dead awake!


s: Rise from your graves, drowsy and drugged with death,


s: Look round amazed, and know not where they are!


s: Wakes like a wind at midnight, and the soul


s: That call us onward.  Then the work we do


s: Never grows weary.  But how different is it


s: When all the wisdom of the world appears


s: In a sick-room, and all our work seems useless,


s: What is it guides my hand, what thoughts possess me,


s: That I have drawn her face among the angels,


s: Where she will be hereafter?  O sweet dreams,


s: That through the vacant chambers of my heart


s: Walk in the silence, as familiar phantoms


s: Frequent an ancient house, what will ye with me?


s: 'T is said that Emperors write their names in green


s: When under age, but when of age in purple.


s: So Love, the greatest Emperor of them all,


s: Writes his in green at first, but afterwards


s: First love or last love,--which of these two passions


s: Is more omnipotent?  Which is more fair,


s: The star of morning or the evening star?


s: The hour when we look forth to the unknown,


s: And the advancing day consumes the shadows,


s: Or that when all the landscape of our lives


s: Lies stretched behind us, and familiar places


s: Gleam in the distance, and sweet memories


s: The objects we behold, that soon must vanish?


s: What matters it to me, whose countenance


s: Is like the Laocoon's, full of pain; whose forehead


s: Is a ploughed harvest-field, where three-score years


s: Have sown in sorrow and have reaped in anguish;


s: Have been as if they were not, or at most


s: A flutter of wings, a sound, and then a silence?


s: To flatter and delude myself with visions


s: Of never-ending friendship with fair women,


s: In which the things that cannot be take shape,


s: Distant and near and low and loud the bells,


s: Jangle and wrangle in their airy towers,


s: Discordant as the brotherhoods themselves


s: In their dim cloisters.  The descending sun


s: And crowns it with the aureole of a saint.


s: I will go forth and breathe the air a while.


s: Here let us rest a while, until the crowd


s: Has left the church.  I have already sent


s: Were not amiss, to bring us back to earth.


s: How like a Saint or Goddess she appears;


s: At once the artist's worship and despair!


s: Welcome, Maestro.  We were waiting for you.


s: To come to us, who linger here like gossips


s: These are all friends of mine and friends of yours.


s: If friends of yours, then are they friends of mine.


s: Pardon me, gentlemen.  But when I entered


s: Who still maintains that our Italian tongue


s: Should be called Tuscan.  But for that offence


s: And all such titles from the Tuscan tongue.


s: It matters not.  Let them all go together,


s: But something of politeness would go with them;


s: We should lose something of the stately manners


s: Is not what occupies my thoughts at present,


s: Has granted me permission, long desired,


s: To build a convent in this neighborhood,


s: Where the old tower is standing, from whose top


s: How I shall build; how large to make the convent,


s: That is the noblest art of all the arts.


s: Are merely shadows cast by outward things


s: On stone or canvas, having in themselves


s: As substance shadow.  Long, long years ago,


s: Standing one morning near the Baths of Titus,


s: Rise from its grave of centuries, like a ghost


s: The knotted serpents from its limbs, I heard,


s: From its white, parted lips.  And still I marvel


s: At the three Rhodian artists, by whose hands


s: This miracle was wrought.  Yet he beholds


s: Far nobler works who looks upon the ruins


s: If God should give me power in my old age


s: As those were in their glory, I should count


s: My age more excellent than youth itself,


s: And all that I have hitherto accomplished


s: Art is the gift of God, and must be used


s: Which aims at this.  When St. Hilarion blessed


s: O'erpowered all magic; and the people shouted


s: That Christ had conquered Marnas.  So that art


s: Which bears the consecration and the seal


s: Over all others.  Those few words of yours


s: Inspire me with new confidence to build.


s: What think you?  The old walls might serve, perhaps,


s: Some purpose still.  The tower can hold the bells.


s: I see no bar nor drawback to this building,


s: And on our homeward way, if it shall please you,


s: Let us now go to the old walls you spake of,


s: A richly furnished apartment in the Palace of CARDINAL IPPOLITO.


s: I am bewildered.  These Numidian slaves,


s: In strange attire; these endless ante-chambers;


s: This lighted hall, with all its golden splendors,


s: Pictures, and statues!  Can this be the dwelling


s: Who had not where to lay his head?  These statues


s: Are not of Saints; nor is this a Madonna,


s: This lovely face, that with such tender eyes


s: Looks down upon me from the painted canvas.


s: My heart begins to fail me.  What can he


s: Care for the imperilled liberties of Florence,


s: Feel not the pangs of banishment.  All doors


s: Are open to them, and all hands extended,


s: The poor alone are outcasts; they who risked


s: All they possessed for liberty, and lost;


s: And wander through the world without a friend,


s: Sick, comfortless, distressed, unknown, uncared for.


s: Enter CARDINAL HIPPOLITO, in Spanish cloak and slouched hat.


s: I pray you pardon me that I have kept you


s: But at my time of life, and with my habits,


s: Troublesome; I could neither ride nor walk,


s: Nor do a thousand things, if I were dressed


s: Like an old dowager.  It were putting wine


s: Young as the young Astyanax into goblets


s: That shall come after him.  It does you honor;


s: But greater honor still the love you bear


s: To Florence, our dear country, and whose annals


s: I hope your hand will write, in happier days


s: That tells the time as well by night as day.


s: So no excuse.  I know what brings you here.


s: The Duke, my cousin, the black Alessandro,


s: Whose mother was a Moorish slave, that fed


s: The sheep upon Lorenzo's farm, still lives


s: The Wild Boar in the gardens of Lorenzo,


s: The beast obscene, should be the monument


s: No house is sacred from his lusts.  The convents


s: Are turned by him to brothels, and the honor


s: Have been abolished.  All the magistrates


s: Are now his creatures.  Liberty is dead.


s: Is wiped away, and even our Tuscan tongue


s: And worst of all his impious hand has broken


s: That, sounding through three centuries, has led


s: The Florentines to victory,--lest its voice


s: Ten little years have made!  We all remember


s: Those better days, when Niccola Capponi,


s: Of the Old Palace, with the blast of trumpets,


s: Proclaimed to the inhabitants that Christ


s: Was chosen King of Florence; and already


s: Christ is dethroned, and slain, and in his stead


s: Reigns Lucifer!  Alas, alas, for Florence!


s: Florence and France!  But I say Florence only,


s: Or only with the Emperor's hand to help us


s: Of help is there from him.  He has betrothed


s: His daughter Margaret to this shameless Duke.


s: Once the Duke's friends and intimates are with us,


s: We shall soon see, then, as Valori says,


s: Whether the Duke can best spare honest men,


s: Our griefs before the Emperor, though I fear


s: With this new war against the Algerines,


s: From our ambassadors; nor will I trust them,


s: Republicans and fugitives from Florence,


s: Against the Turk.  I shall have time enough


s: As of good omen.  May the power that sends it


s: Its banished citizens.  The soul of Florence


s: Is now outside its gates.  What lies within


s: Is but a corpse, corrupted and corrupting.


s: Heaven help us all, I will not tarry longer,


s: Enter FRA SEBASTIANO; Turkish attendants.


s: Contrasts with that of the spare Florentine


s: And noblest of them all; but he has made me


s: From all the rude collisions of our life,


s: Is surely jesting.  If you knew the life


s: Of artists as I know it, you might think


s: The world I love, and that I fain would live in;


s: Of all the painters, sculptors, and musicians


s: With infinite tenderness, in plain Italian,


s: In word or deed, yet such a song as that.


s: And in a Papal mass, seemed out of place;


s: In everything.  We cannot make the world


s: Go right.  'T is not my business to reform


s: Or less than nothing, since I am at best


s: With greater or less skill, as best he may,


s: The honor, nay, the glory, of portraying


s: A privilege like that?  See there the portrait


s: Rebuking you with its divine expression.


s: Are you not penitent?  He whose skilful hand


s: Painted that lovely picture has not right


s: To vilipend the art of portrait-painting.


s: Strolling together down the crowded Corso,


s: We stopped, well pleased, to see your Eminence


s: Pass on an Arab steed, a noble creature,


s: When they are Arab horses, much admired,


s: When I am gone, but not till I am gone,--


s: Some ten mule-loads of provender, and say


s: Your master sends them to him as a present.


s: Thymoetes, who received the wooden horse


s: Into the walls of Troy.  That book of Virgil


s: And shall, some day, when we have leisure for it,


s: Be pleased to read you.  When I speak of Troy


s: And of a lovelier Helen, our dear Countess


s: The adventure with the corsair Barbarossa,


s: I should not want a better theme than that:


s: The lovely lady fleeing through the night


s: In wild disorder; and the brigands' camp


s: With the red fire-light on their swarthy faces.


s: The portrait of the corsair, when we bring him


s: A prisoner chained to Naples: for I feel


s: To-morrow with the sword.  Hassan, come hither;


s: Bring me the Turkish scimitar that hangs


s: Beneath the picture yonder.  Now unsheathe it.


s: 'T is a Damascus blade; you see the inscription


s: In fashion and in finish!  It is perfect.


s: To say that it is yours and not to mean it.


s: Full of such weapons.  When you paint the portrait


s: You have not been rewarded as you should be


s: For painting the Gonzaga.  Throw this bauble


s: Into the scale, and make the balance equal.


s: Fra Bastian, I am growing tired of Rome,


s: The old dead city, with the old dead people;


s: Priests everywhere, like shadows on a wall,


s: And morning, noon, and night the ceaseless sound


s: Of convent bells.  I must be gone from here;


s: Though Ovid somewhere says that Rome is worthy


s: To be the dwelling-place of all the Gods,


s: I must be gone from here.  To-morrow morning


s: Some Turkish galleys, and bring back in chains


s: The famous corsair.  Thus would I avenge


s: A canto to their poems, and describe you


s: First you shall sup with me.  My seneschal


s: It sounds so like a verse of the Aeneid,--


s: Has brought me eels fresh from the Lake of Fondi,


s: And Lucrine oysters cradled in their shells:


s: These, with red Fondi wine, the Caecu ban


s: That Horace speaks of, under a hundred keys


s: Shall stain the pavement with it, make a feast


s: And Vernage wine once killed a Pope of Rome!


s: 'T was a French Pope; and then so long ago;


s: Who knows?--perhaps the story is not true.


s: Room in the Palace of JULIA GONZAGA.  Night.


s: I speak to you, Valdesso, with that frankness


s: Which is the greatest privilege of friendship.--


s: Speak as I hardly would to my confessor,


s: Upon your confidence, then I may claim it.


s: And happiest then when you command me most.


s: You know my outward life, my rank and fortune;


s: A widow rich and flattered, for whose hand


s: In marriage princes ask, and ask it only


s: To be rejected.  All the world can offer


s: Lies at my feet.  If I remind you of it,


s: Beauty and intellect; and the signal grace


s: To lead a spotless life amid temptations,


s: That you know not; 't is known but to myself,


s: A mind perplexed with doubts and apprehensions,


s: A heart dissatisfied with all around me,


s: And with myself, so that sometimes I weep,


s: Discouraged and disgusted with the world.


s: If we would pass in safety, we must keep


s: Our eyes fixed steadfast on the shore beyond,


s: For if we cast them on the flowing stream,


s: The head swims with it; so if we would cross


s: The running flood of things here in the world,


s: Our souls must not look down, but fix their sight


s: You think I am too worldly; that my head


s: Swims with the giddying whirl of life about me.


s: And  wayward, and I soon fall back again


s: There are too many week-days for one Sunday.


s: Then take the Sunday with you through the week,


s: To idle tongues, what men might say of me


s: On certain days, for my affairs, or visits


s: And so I pass my life in these two worlds,


s: The fear of man, and not the love of God,


s: That led you to this step.  Why will you not


s: In that original sin, by which all fell.


s: To wish well to that Adam, our first parent,


s: As much as he did.  Let us think of this,


s: And stop the painful jangle of these wires.


s: You tune your heart-strings to a higher key


s: Point out to me the way of this perfection,


s: And I will follow you; for you have made


s: But lead me privately, so that the world


s: Hear not my steps; I would not give occasion


s: I understand you fully.  Then, what need


s: If you already know it, why not tell me?


s: To speak without reserve; and with all frankness,


s: If you divine the truth, will I confess it.


s: From the vexatious thoughts that come and go


s: Through your imagination, and would have me


s: Which you may walk in, and not wound your feet;


s: You would attain to the divine perfection,


s: And yet not turn your back upon the world;


s: But not reveal it in your outward actions;


s: You would have patience, but without the rude


s: You would despise the world, but in such fashion


s: The world should not despise you in return;


s: Would clothe the soul with all the Christian graces,


s: Would feed the soul with spiritual food,


s: Yet not too saint-like in the eyes of men;


s: In short, would lead a holy Christian life


s: In such a way that even your nearest friend


s: Would not detect therein one circumstance


s: To show a change from what it was before.


s: As the most skilful painter ever painted


s: You think you can win heaven by compromise,


s: Proclaim it from the house-top, but preserve it


s: As something precious, hidden in your heart,


s: As I, who half believe and tremble at it.


s: Why must you?  You imperil both yourself


s: And friends by your imprudence.  Pray, be patient.


s: You have occasion now to show that virtue


s: Which you lay stress upon.  Let us return


s: To our lost pathway.  Show me by what steps


s: Are ringing; it is midnight; I must leave you.


s: And yet I linger.  Pardon me, dear Countess,


s: Since you to-night have made me your confessor,


s: If I so far may venture, I will warn you


s: For I have no concealments in my conduct;


s: More than in friendships that I entertain


s: With you and others?  I ne'er sat with him


s: Vittoria put to me, when I last saw her.


s: I make you the same answer.  That was not


s: A pledge of love, but of pure gratitude.


s: Recall the adventure of that dreadful night


s: Landed upon the coast, and in the darkness


s: Attacked my castle.  Then, without delay,


s: The Cardinal came hurrying down from Rome


s: That in an hour like that I did not weigh


s: Too nicely this or that, but granted him


s: A boon that pleased him, and that flattered me?


s: Only beware lest, in disguise of friendship


s: Steal in and seize the castle, not by storm


s: Farewell; but ere you go look forth and see


s: How night hath hushed the clamor and the stir


s: Of the tumultuous streets.  The cloudless moon


s: Roofs the whole city as with tiles of silver;


s: The dim, mysterious sea in silence sleeps;


s: And straight into the air Vesuvius lifts


s: His plume of smoke.  How beautiful it is!


s: Come to my arms and to my heart once more;


s: My soul goes out to meet you and embrace you,


s: To see your face, to hear your voice again!


s: You bring with you a breath as of the morn,


s: When we were young.  When did you come from Fondi?


s: You need not speak the word; I understand you.


s: But just returned from a long journey northward.


s: I have been staying with that noble woman


s: Oh, tell me of the Duchess.  I have heard


s: Flaminio speak her praises with such warmth


s: I chid you once at Ischia, when you told me


s: That brave Fra Bastian was to paint your portrait.


s: For I confess to something still more strange.


s: I pray you, do not jest with me!  You now,


s: Or you should know, that never such a thought


s: Entered my breast.  I am already married.


s: To hear these words.  Oh, this will be a portrait


s: The drawing will be better for your presence;


s: The presence of great men doth take from me


s: All power of speech.  I only gaze at them


s: Or the inhabitants of some other planet.


s: Of yours as well as mine,--the Lady Julia,


s: 'T is long since I have seen your face, my lady;


s: The privilege of age to speak with frankness.


s: When Michael Angelo condescends to flatter


s: Or praise me, I am proud, and not offended.


s: You know I have not words to speak your praise.


s: Your manifold perfections from all eyes,


s: And make yourself more saint-like day by day.


s: And day by day men worship you the wore.


s: But now your hour of martyrdom has come.


s: And meet my fate with fortitude.  You find me


s: Upon the Cross, beneath which you have written


s: "Men have forgotten how much blood it costs."


s: If you will call that labor which is pleasure,


s: Just as you are.  The light falls well upon you.


s: That should be given to the Sistine Chapel.


s: Old men work slowly.  Brain and hand alike


s: Are dull and torpid.  To die young is best,


s: My dear Maestro! have you, then, forgotten


s: For all defence, he read there to his Judges


s: A fabulous story, that will lead old men


s: So you may show to cavilers your painting


s: And what I saw there in the ducal palace.


s: Well, first, then, of Duke Ercole: a man


s: Cold in his manners, and reserved and silent,


s: But from state policy, and certain reasons


s: Concerning the investiture of the duchy,


s: I should not like the Duke.  These silent men,


s: Who only look and listen, are like wells


s: That have no water in them, deep and empty.


s: How could the daughter of a king of France


s: And then the Duchess,--how shall I describe her,


s: Or tell the merits of that happy nature,


s: Which pleases most when least it thinks of pleasing?


s: Not beautiful, perhaps, in form and feature,


s: Yet with an inward beauty, that shines through


s: Each look and attitude and word and gesture;


s: A something in her presence and her ways


s: That makes her beautiful beyond the reach


s: That grace her court, and make it good to be there;


s: And Anne de Parthenai, who sings so sweetly;


s: All lovely women, full of noble thoughts


s: Boccaccio would have envied you such dames.


s: I fear he hardly would have comprehended


s: The story of Griselda.  That is something


s: Daughter of Fulvio, the learned scholar,


s: A marvellous child, who at the spinning wheel,


s: And in the daily round of household cares,


s: Hath learned both Greek and Latin; and is now


s: Of Princess Anne.  This beautiful young Sappho


s: That she had written, with a voice whose sadness


s: Thrilled and o'ermastered me, and made me look


s: Frost kills the flowers that blossom out of season;


s: The Duke's physician; and a pale young man,


s: Charles d'Espeville of Geneva, whom the Duchess


s: Doth much delight to talk with and to read,


s: For he hath written a book of Institutes


s: The Duchess greatly praises, though some call it


s: Were there to sing you madrigals, and praise


s: The voice that filled those halls with melody


s: And laid a wreath upon it, for the words


s: Michael, less man than angel, and divine?


s: Who, being looked upon with much disfavor


s: The Scourge of Princes, also called Divine.


s: Who play their bag-pipes in the streets of Rome


s: And will deserve it better than some poets.


s: One that comes buzzing in through every window,


s: And stabs men with his sting.  A bitter thought


s: Passed through my mind, but it is gone again;


s: Where once an Emperor, humbled in his pride,


s: Held the Pope's stirrup, as his Holiness


s: His thunders at the house of the Colonna,


s: With endless bitterness!--Among the nuns


s: Herself in soul a nun!  And now she chides me


s: For my too frequent letters, that disturb


s: And keep me from my work; now graciously


s: She thanks me for the crucifix I sent her,


s: And says that she will keep it: with one hand


s: Inflicts a wound, and with the other heals it.


s: "Profoundly I believed that God would grant you


s: A supernatural faith to paint this Christ;


s: I wished for that which I now see fulfilled


s: So marvellously, exceeding all my wishes.


s: Nor more could be desired, or even so much.


s: And greatly I rejoice that you have made


s: For the Archangel Michael will place you,


s: Upon the Lord's right hand!  And waiting that,


s: To this sweet Christ for you, and to beseech you


s: To hold me altogether yours in all things."


s: Well, I will write less often, or no more,


s: But wait her coming.  No one born in Rome


s: Can live elsewhere; but he must pine for Rome,


s: Trodden by priestly feet.  This I endure,


s: That crowned great heroes of the sword and pen,


s: To walk the streets in which a Virgil walked,


s: Or Trajan rode in triumph; but far more,


s: And most of all, because the great Colonna


s: Breathes the same air I breathe, and is to me


s: This feeling overmasters me.  I know not


s: And ever was best pleased when most alone,


s: For the first time old age seems lonely to me.


s: Of the great master of our Tuscan tongue,


s: Whose words, like colored garnet-shirls in lava,


s: Betray the heat in which they were engendered.


s: Of others, but repaid their meagre gifts


s: He was a by-word, and in streets of towns


s: Was mocked by children, like the Hebrew prophet,


s: Go up, thou bald head! from a generation


s: That, wanting reverence, wanteth the best food


s: The soul can feed on.  There's not room enough


s: For age and youth upon this little planet.


s: Age must give way.  There was not room enough


s: I hear reverberate the gates of Florence,


s: He came, and he is gone.  The people knew not


s: What manner of man was passing by their doors,


s: Until he passed no more; but in his vision


s: Of souls condemned or pardoned, and hath left


s: I strive in vain to draw here on the margin


s: But the Colonna's.  Each hath his ideal,


s: That is his guide.  No Grecian art, nor Roman,


s: Hath yet revealed such loveliness as hers.


s: Parting with friends is temporary death,


s: As all death is.  We see no more their faces,


s: That we are not forgotten.  Who shall say


s: That from the world of spirits comes no greeting,


s: The thoughts that visit us, we know not whence,


s: As friends, who wait outside a prison wall,


s: Through the barred windows speak to those within.


s: As quiet as the lake that lies beneath me,


s: This convent seems.  Above, below, all peace!


s: Silence and solitude, the soul's best friends,


s: Are with me here, and the tumultuous world


s: Makes no more noise than the remotest planet.


s: Of heaven among the blessed souls ascended,


s: Who, living in the faith and dying for it,


s: Have gone to their reward, I do not sigh


s: That I am still alive.  Turn those dear eyes,


s: That open to their tears such uncontrolled


s: Have patience; I will come to thee at last.


s: A few more goings in and out these doors,


s: A few more chimings of these convent bells,


s: A few more prayers, a few more sighs and tears,


s: And the long agony of this life will end,


s: And I shall be with thee.  If I am wanting


s: Ye minds that loiter in these cloister gardens,


s: Or speak or think of him, or weep for him.


s: Floats, with its white apparel blown abroad,


s: And wafted up to heaven.  It fades away,


s: And melts into the air.  Ah, would that I


s: Could thus be wafted unto thee, Francesco,


s: A cloud of white, an incorporeal spirit!


s: My father said, the first time he beheld


s: This handsome face.  But say farewell, not welcome.


s: I come to take my leave.  I start for Florence


s: These feet, made sore by your vile Roman pavements.


s: Come with me; you are wanted there in Florence.


s: How damp and cold it was!  How my bones ached


s: And my head reeled, when I was working there!


s: I am too old.  I will stay here in Rome,


s: Where all is old and crumbling, like myself,


s: To hopeless ruin.  All roads lead to Rome.


s: That all men feel, and no man can describe.


s: That will not let us sleep.  I must go on


s: The bitter days I passed among the quarries


s: Road-building in the marshes; stupid people,


s: And cold and rain incessant, and mad gusts


s: Of mountain wind, like howling dervishes,


s: That spun and whirled the eddying snow about them


s: And troubles of all kinds, that ended only


s: But that was not in Florence.  You should leave


s: I see the marvellous dome of Brunelleschi,


s: Ghiberti's gates of bronze, and Giotto's tower;


s: With folded hands amid my troubled thoughts,


s: A splendid vision!  Time rides with the old


s: At a great pace.  As travellers on swift steeds


s: See the near landscape fly and flow behind them,


s: While the remoter fields and dim horizons


s: Go with them, and seem wheeling round to meet them,


s: And distant things go with as.  Pleasantly


s: Come back to me the days when, as a youth,


s: I walked with Ghirlandajo in the gardens


s: The forms august of gods and godlike men,


s: And the great world of art revealed itself


s: To my young eyes.  Then all that man hath done


s: Seemed possible to me.  Alas! how little


s: Of all I dreamed of has my hand achieved!


s: And the Last Judgment answer.  Is it finished?


s: The work is nearly done.  But this Last Judgment


s: Has been the cause of more vexation to me


s: Master of ceremonies at the Papal court,


s: Calls it improper; says that those nude forms,


s: Showing their nakedness in such shameless fashion,


s: Or wayside wine-shop, than a Papal Chapel.


s: And leave him there as master of ceremonies


s: In the Infernal Regions.  What would you


s: Who dress in silks and velvets, and wear swords,


s: Are ready with your weapon; and have all


s: Under Pope Clement at the siege of Rome,


s: Some twenty years ago.  As I was standing


s: A sea of fog, that covered all the plain,


s: Rose up above the fog, as if on horseback.


s: The figure vanished; and there rose a cry


s: Out of the darkness, long and fierce and loud,


s: But has not been; you shall hear presently.


s: During the siege I served as bombardier,


s: On the round bastion, while I stood above


s: Among my falconets.  All thought and feeling,


s: All skill in art and all desire of fame,


s: Were swallowed up in the delightful music


s: Within the enemy's trenches on the Prati,


s: And firing at him with due aim and range,


s: The eyes are dry that wept for him in Spain.


s: With such display of gunnery, and amazed


s: Gave me his benediction, and absolved me


s: Or should commit thereafter.  From that day


s: Say, have you seen our friend Fra Bastian lately,


s: To pass his days in stamping leaden seals


s: As if the lead clung to him like a sinker.


s: He paints no more, since he was sent to Fondi


s: The fair Gonzaga.  Ah, you should have seen him


s: In his brown hood, attended by four horsemen,


s: Completely armed, to frighten the banditti.


s: I think he would have frightened them alone,


s: For he was rounder than the O of Giotto.


s: He must have looked more like a sack of meal


s: But still I like him greatly.  Benvenuto


s: And work right on through censure and applause,


s: I lose all patience with you; for the gifts


s: That God hath given you are of such a kind,


s: They should be put to far more noble uses


s: Than setting diamonds for the Pope of Rome.


s: Knows why he made me what I am,--a goldsmith,


s: From any other man.  He speaks the truth.


s: Fasting and praying in the midnight darkness,


s: A crucifix in the sun, of the same substance


s: As is the sun itself.  And since that hour


s: There is a splendor round about my head,


s: That may be seen at sunrise and at sunset


s: None but yourself, who are your greatest foe.


s: He that respects himself is safe from others;


s: He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.


s: At least, forget not the celestial vision.


s: Man must have something higher than himself


s: I have been sent for into France, where grow


s: The Lilies that illumine heaven and earth,


s: For the king's table; and here in my brain


s: A statue of Mars Armipotent for the fountain


s: And so farewell, great Master.  Think of me


s: As one who, in the midst of all his follies,


s: Would the great Florentine have placed this man?


s: Whether in Phlegethon, the river of blood,


s: I know not, but most surely not with those


s: Who walk in leaden cloaks.  Though he is one


s: He doth not cloak his vices, nor deny them.


s: Come back, my thoughts, from him to Paradise.


s: As I do still, and climbed as many ladders,


s: It would be better for you.  Pray sit down.


s: Will one day take your breath away entirely.


s: That would be better, in my apprehension,


s: It did not kill me; only lamed me slightly;


s: Why do you live so high up in your house,


s: When you could live below and have a garden,


s: Sleep in the day-time; scarcely sleep at night.


s: I have not time.  Did you meet Benvenuto


s: On the first landing, going at full speed;


s: Dressed like the Spanish captain in a play,


s: With his long rapier and his short red cloak.


s: Why hurry through the world at such a pace?


s: The goal he aims at.  Patience is a plant


s: That grows not in all gardens.  You are made


s: And now, being somewhat rested, I will tell you


s: Why I have climbed these formidable stairs.


s: Who greatly honors you and all your doings,


s: I know too well what artists' suppers are.


s: You need repose from your incessant work;


s: Some recreation, some bright hours of pleasure.


s: To me, what you and other men call pleasure


s: The play of faculty; a delight like that


s: In darting through the water,--nothing more.


s: I cannot go.  The Sibylline leaves of life


s: Grow precious now, when only few remain.


s: Berni thinks somewhat better of your verses


s: Than you of his.  He says that you speak things,


s: And other poets words.  So, pray you, come.


s: With Benvenuto, in the streets of Florence,


s: And singing in the open air was pleasant.


s: There is a Frenchman here, named Rabelais,


s: Once a Franciscan friar, and now a doctor,


s: A learned man, who speaks all languages,


s: So full of strange conceits one roars with laughter


s: And lover of much wine.  He too is coming.


s: Then you will not want me, who am not witty,


s: And have no sense of mirth, and love not wine.


s: I should be like a dead man at your banquet.


s: Why should I seek this Frenchman, Rabelais?


s: And wherefore go to hear Francesco Berni,


s: To wander down long garden walks in summer,


s: Tinkling their little sonnets all day long,


s: When journeying in the forest of Ardennes!


s: "I seem to hear her, hearing the boughs and breezes


s: And leaves and birds lamenting, and the waters


s: Murmuring flee along the verdant herbage."


s: Enough.  It is all seeming, and no being.


s: If you would know how a man speaks in earnest,


s: Read here this passage, where St. Peter thunders


s: And the corruptions of the church, till all


s: The heaven about him blushes like a sunset.


s: About the Papal seals, for that concerns


s: Whereat I often redden and flash with fire!"--


s: Vituperation; gall that might have spirited


s: Describes as having one foot in the brothel


s: And the other in the hospital; who lives


s: By flattering or maligning, as best serves


s: His purpose at the time.  He writes to me


s: With easy arrogance of my Last Judgment,


s: In such familiar tone that one would say


s: And he was present, and from observation


s: Informed me how the picture should be painted.


s: These critics are!  Now, to have Aretino


s: Aiming his shafts at you brings back to mind


s: The Gascon archers in the square of Milan,


s: Shooting their arrows at Duke Sforza's statue,


s: Of envious Florentines, that at your David


s: Threw stones at night.  But Aretino praised you.


s: How to use words as weapons, and to wound


s: While seeming to defend.  But look, Bastiano,


s: See how the setting sun lights up that picture!


s: It makes her look as she will look hereafter,


s: Ah, these old hands can fashion fairer shapes


s: In marble, and can paint diviner pictures,


s: When that barbarian Jan Van Eyck discovered


s: Sign-painting, merely, for a country inn


s: Or wayside wine-shop.  'T is an art for women,


s: As you, Fra Bastiano.  Nature paints not


s: In oils, but frescoes the great dome of heaven


s: With sunset; and the lovely forms of clouds


s: Behold yon line of roofs and belfries painted


s: Sharp-cut and clear, not rounded into shadow.


s: The picture that approaches sculpture nearest


s: The open air too bright.  We ought to paint


s: As if the sun were shining through a mist.


s: 'T is easier done in oil than in distemper.


s: I have an excellent memory for forgetting,


s: But I still feel the hurt.  Wounds are not healed


s: By the unbending of the bow that made them.


s: So  say Petrarca and the ancient proverb.


s: But that is past.  Now I am angry with you,


s: Not that you paint in oils, but that grown fat


s: Why should I paint?  Why should I toil and sweat,


s: Which every night was empty, left behind


s: Of priests and friars and monks; and have provided


s: You have done wisely, but of that I speak not.


s: Ghiberti left behind him wealth and children;


s: But who to-day would know that he had lived,


s: If he had never made those gates of bronze


s: In the old Baptistery,--those gates of bronze,


s: His wealth is scattered to the winds; his children


s: Are long since dead; but those celestial gates


s: Survive, and keep his name and memory green.


s: But why should I fatigue myself?  I think


s: Why, there are painters in the world at present


s: Who can accomplish more in two short months


s: Than I could in two years; so it is well


s: That some one is contented to do nothing,


s: Not without reason do the people call you


s: Of all the Papal bulls is heavy upon you,


s: Sharp is the vinegar of sweet wine, and sharp


s: The words you speak, because the heart within you


s: And so am victor.  One live Pope is worth


s: He doth but sleep; for how can he be dead


s: Who lives immortal in the hearts of men?


s: He only drank the precious wine of youth,


s: The outbreak of the grapes, before the vintage


s: Was trodden to bitterness by the feet of men.


s: The gods have given him sleep.  We never were


s: Nor could be foes, although our followers,


s: Have striven to make us so; but each one worked


s: Both giving and receiving.  He perchance


s: Caught strength from me, and I some greater sweetness


s: And tenderness from his more gentle nature.


s: I have but words of praise and admiration


s: For his great genius; and the world is fairer


s: When I'm not asked to banquets.  I have reached


s: A time of life when daily walks are shortened,


s: And even the houses of our dearest friends,


s: Then we must sup without you.  We shall laugh


s: At those who toil for fame, and make their lives


s: How will men speak of me when I am gone,


s: When all this colorless, sad life is ended,


s: The wrinkled forehead, the marred countenance,


s: The rudeness of my speech, and my rough manners,


s: And never dream that underneath them all


s: There was a woman's heart of tenderness.


s: They will not know the secret of my life,


s: Locked up in silence, or but vaguely hinted


s: In uncouth rhymes, that may perchance survive


s: Each one performs his life-work, and then leaves it;


s: His influence on the age in which he lived.


s: TITIAN'S studio. A painting of Danae with a curtain before it.


s: So you have left at last your still lagoons,


s: Your City of Silence floating in the sea,


s: But I have come too late.  I should have seen


s: Rome in my youth, when all my mind was open


s: Leads me about, a blind man, groping darkly


s: Among the marvels of the past.  I touch them,


s: That one might walk bare-footed here from Venice


s: But to see once, and then to die content.


s: I must confess that these majestic ruins


s: Oppress me with their gloom.  I feel as one


s: Who in the twilight stumbles among tombs,


s: And cannot read the inscriptions carved upon them.


s: I felt so once; but I have grown familiar


s: I could not live here.  I must have the sea,


s: And the sea-mist, with sunshine interwoven


s: Like cloth of gold; must have beneath my windows


s: The laughter of the waves, and at my door


s: Their pattering footsteps, or I am not happy.


s: Paved with red basalt of the Paduan hills.


s: Tell me of art in Venice.  Three great names,


s: Illustrate your Venetian school, and send


s: A challenge to the world.  The first is dead,


s: Sudden and splendid, as the lightning paints


s: That once was painted there,--"The color of Titian,


s: Indeed, I know not.  'T was a foolish boast,


s: Are gone, who is there that remains behind


s: To seize the pencil falling from your fingers?


s: Oh there are many hands upraised already


s: To clutch at such a prize, which hardly wait


s: For death to loose your grasp,--a hundred of them;


s: Moretto, and Moroni; who can count them,


s: Will have far other thoughts than ours.  Our ruins


s: Will serve to build their palaces or tombs.


s: They will possess the world that we think ours,


s: But time will show.  There is a youth in Venice,


s: Still a mere stripling, but of such rare promise


s: That we must guard our laurels, or may lose them.


s: These are good tidings; for I sometimes fear


s: That, when we die, with us all art will die.


s: To see the young spring forward in the race,


s: Men die and are forgotten.  The great world


s: Of men that live, or have lived, or shall live


s: What is a single life, or thine or mime,


s: That we should think all nature would stand still


s: If we were gone?  We must make room for others.


s: And now, Maestro, pray unveil your picture


s: And saw the showery Jove from high Olympus


s: These golden hues from your Venetian sunsets.


s: Hint at the nature of the neighboring hills.


s: Of Padua pave your streets; your palaces


s: Are the white stones of Istria, and gleam


s: Reflected in your waters and your pictures.


s: Something of his surroundings and his habits.


s: The uttermost that can be reached by color


s: Is here accomplished.  Warmth and light and softness


s: Painted by hand of artist, dead or living,


s: For so much praise from you, who are a master;


s: While mostly those who praise and those who blame


s: Know nothing of the matter, so that mainly


s: Their censure sounds like praise, their praise like censure.


s: Wonderful! wonderful!  The charm of color


s: The gift is wanting.  I am not a painter.


s: Not one alone; and therefore I may venture


s: Have made me umpire in dispute between them


s: Which is the greater of the sister arts,


s: Painting or sculpture.  Solve for me the doubt.


s: Sculpture and painting have a common goal,


s: Whichever path he take, will find that goal


s: That painting has attained its uttermost;


s: But in the presence of my sculptured figures


s: That I account that painting as the best


s: Which most resembles sculpture.  Here before us


s: We have the proof.  Behold those rounded limbs!


s: How from the canvas they detach themselves,


s: Till they deceive the eye, and one would say,


s: Signori, pardon me; but all such questions


s: And leave you, without further interruption.


s: Your friendly visit hath much honored me.


s: But half as much of drawing as of color,


s: And the world see what it hath never seen.


s: VITTORIA COLONNA, seated in an armchair; JULIA GONZAGA, standing


s: It grieves me that I find you still so weak


s: Death is the chillness that precedes the dawn;


s: In the broad sunshine of the other life.


s: These cheeks, these eyes, these tresses that my husband


s: Once thought so beautiful, and I was proud of


s: Because he thought them so, are faded quite,--


s: Hand me the mirror.  I would fain behold


s: What change comes o'er our features when we die.


s: Thank you.  And now sit down beside me here


s: How glad I am that you have come to-day,


s: At Ischia, on the day before you left me?


s: Something unreal, that has never been,--


s: Something that I have read of in a book,


s: Have passed since then; and many things have happened


s: In those ten years, and many friends have died:


s: And loved as our Catullus; dear Valldesso,


s: The noble champion of free thought and speech;


s: Oh, do not speak of him!  His sudden death


s: O'ercomes me now, as it o'ercame me then.


s: Serves me too often as an unkind friend,


s: While I forget the things I would remember.


s: Forgive me; I will speak of him no more,


s: Has fled from Italy, and crossed the Alps,


s: Fearing Caraffa's wrath, because he taught


s: That He who made us all without our help


s: That Lily of the Loire, is bowed by winds


s: Banished from court because of this new doctrine.


s: Therefore be cautious.  Keep your secret thought


s: But speak no more, I pray; it wearies you.


s: Triumph of Death.  The book lies on the table;


s: Beside the casket there.  Read where you find


s: The leaf turned down.  'T was there I left off reading.


s: "Not as a flame that by some force is spent,


s: Departed hence in peace the soul content,


s: Keeping until the end its lustre bright.


s: Not pale, but whiter than the sheet of snows


s: That without wind on some fair hill-top lies,


s: Like a sweet slumber in her lovely eyes,


s: When now the spirit was no longer there,


s: E'en Death itself in her fair face seemed fair"--


s: Is it of Laura that he here is speaking?--


s: Her eyes are full of light and fixed on something


s: Except the painted angels on the ceiling.


s: Vittoria! speak!  What is it?  Answer me!--


s: She only smiles, and stretches out her hands.


s: Even death itself in her fair face seems fair.


s: Shines from the windows of another world.


s: Saint only have such faces.  Holy Angels!


s: Bear her like sainted Catherine to her rest!


s: Macello de' Corvi.  A room in MICHAEL ANGELO'S house.  MICHAEL


s: ANGELO, standing before a model of St. Peter's.


s: Better than thou I cannot, Brunelleschi,


s: And less than thou I will not!  If the thought


s: Could, like a windlass, lift the ponderous stones


s: And swing them to their places; if a breath


s: Could blow this rounded dome into the air,


s: As if it were a bubble, and these statues


s: Spring at a signal to their sacred stations,


s: Then were my task completed.  Now, alas!


s: Naught am I but a Saint Sebaldus, holding


s: As German artists paint him; and what years,


s: What weary years, must drag themselves along,


s: Ere this be turned to stone!  What hindrances


s: Must  block the way; what idle interferences


s: Who nothing know of art beyond the color


s: Of cloaks and stockings, nor of any building


s: Save that of their own fortunes!  And what then?


s: I must then the short-coming of my means


s: Piece out by stepping forward, as the Spartan


s: Was told to add a step to his short sword.


s: And is Fra Bastian dead?  Is all that light


s: Gone out, that sunshine darkened; all that music


s: And merriment, that used to make our lives


s: Less melancholy, swallowed up in silence


s: Like madrigals sung in the street at night


s: By passing revellers?  It is strange indeed


s: That he should die before me.  'T is against


s: The laws of nature that the young should die,


s: And the old live; unless it be that some


s: Have long been dead who think themselves alive,


s: Because not buried.  Well, what matters it,


s: Since now that greater light, that was my sun,


s: Is set, and all is darkness, all is darkness!


s: Death's lightnings strike to right and left of me,


s: And, like a ruined wall, the world around me


s: I have no friends, and want none.  My own thoughts


s: Are now my sole companions,--thoughts of her,


s: Come to me in my solitude and soothe me.


s: When men are old, the incessant thought of Death


s: Follows them like their shadow; sits with them


s: At every meal; sleeps with them when they sleep;


s: And standing by their bedside.  Then, what folly


s: Of this importunate follower, not a friend!


s: Has he become since all my friends are dead.


s: POPE JULIUS III. seated by the Fountain of Acqua Vergine,


s: Or left undone, that ye are set against him?


s: When one Pope dies, another is soon made;


s: Your Holiness, we are not set against him;


s: 'T is the old ox that draws the straightest furrow.


s: With the repairs upon St. Mary's bridge;


s: Made cofferdams, and heaped up load on load


s: Of timber and travertine; and yet for years


s: The bridge remained unfinished, till we gave it


s: Was it not he that sometime had in charge


s: Then let me tell you that your Baccio Bigio


s: To that fair harbor than the sea had done


s: Or would do in ten years.  And him you think


s: The ass that thinks himself a stag discovers


s: His error when he comes to leap the ditch.


s: Year after year goes by, and yet the work


s: And have approved it.  But here comes the artist.


s: Beware of him.  He may make Persians of you,


s: Come forward, dear Maestro!  In these gardens


s: All ceremonies of our court are banished.


s: Art I respect.  The building of this palace


s: And laying out these pleasant garden walks


s: When you need rest.  Here I escape from Rome


s: We live as hermits here; and from these heights


s: O'erlook all Rome and see the yellow Tiber


s: Cleaving in twain the city, like a sword,


s: As far below there as St. Mary's bridge.


s: Your Holiness not to cross it, or not often


s: Some morning you will look for it in vain;


s: It will be gone.  The current of the river


s: I strengthened all its piers, and paved its road


s: Removed the stone, and sold it, and filled in


s: There is some mystery here.  These Cardinals


s: Stand lowering at me with unfriendly eyes.


s: Now let us come to what concerns us more


s: Than bridge or gardens.  Some complaints are made


s: Concerning the Three Chapels in St. Peter's;


s: Certain supposed defects or imperfections,


s: Iconoclasts and critics.  They delight not


s: In what an artist does, but set themselves


s: Of insufficient light in the Three Chapels.


s: Is somewhere else, and not in the Three Chapels.


s: Who are the deputies that make complaint?


s: Without confusion, simple, clear, well-lighted.


s: Merits all praise, and to depart from it


s: Would be departing from the truth. San Gallo,


s: Building about with columns, took all light


s: Out of this plan; left in the choir dark corners


s: For infinite ribaldries, and lurking places


s: For rogues and robbers; so that when the church


s: Was shut at night, not five and twenty men


s: Could find them out.  It was San Gallo, then,


s: That left the church in darkness, and not I.


s: Excuse me; but in each of the Three Chapels


s: Perhaps you do not know that in the vaulting


s: Above there are to go three other windows.


s: How should we know?  You never told us of it.


s: What I intend or ought to do.  Your office


s: Is to provide the means, and see that thieves


s: Do not lay hands upon them.  The designs


s: You do forget yourself, to speak thus rudely


s: Linked with the Imperial line, and with Matilda,


s: Who gave the Church Saint Peter's Patrimony.


s: I, too, am proud to give unto the Church


s: The labor of these hands, and what of life


s: Lest he should do the same; and always bade him


s: Put on his hat, lest he unasked should do it!


s: If any one could die of grief and shame,


s: I should.  This labor was imposed upon me;


s: 'T was not for love of fame or love of gain,


s: But for the love of God.  Perhaps old age


s: Deceived me, or self-interest, or ambition;


s: Therefore, I pray your Holiness, release me;


s: Take off from me the burden of this work;


s: Who look out of the windows shall be darkened,


s: Shall be a burden, and desire shall fail,


s: Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all


s: We should not want for artists.  But the men


s: Who carry out in act their great designs


s: Are few in number; ay, they may be counted


s: Upon the fingers of this hand.  Your place


s: And cannot carry out my great conception,


s: You would but leave it to some Baccio Bigio


s: I will still bear the burden on my shoulders


s: Will keep the world in order, and will leave


s: The building of the church to me, the work


s: And shall endure, advantage not my soul,


s: JULIUS, laying his hands on MICHAEL ANGELO'S shoulders.


s: Exasperate me, but the funest conclusions


s: I draw from these events; the sure decline


s: Of art, and all the meaning of that word:


s: And lifts it from the level of low cares


s: That made the canons of the church of Seville


s: Say, "Let us build, so that all men hereafter


s: Will say that we were madmen."  Holy Father,


s: Must not be dealt with as a common mason.


s: He comes of noble blood, and for his crest


s: Bear two bull's horns; and he has given us proof


s: That he can toss with them.  From this day forth


s: The name of Baccio Bigio in my presence.


s: All great achievements are the natural fruits


s: Of a great character.  As trees bear not


s: Their fruits of the same size and quality,


s: But each one in its kind with equal ease,


s: So are great deeds as natural to great men


s: As mean things are to small ones.  By his work


s: We know the master.  Let us not perplex him.


s: A street in Rome.  BINDO ALTOVITI, standing at the door of his


s: That keeps you standing sentinel at your door,--


s: The air of this delicious summer morning.


s: The same old tale of violence and wrong.


s: Since the disastrous day at Monte Murlo,


s: When in procession, through San Gallo's gate,


s: Bareheaded, clothed in rags, on sorry steeds,


s: Were led as prisoners down the streets of Florence,


s: Amid the shouts of an ungrateful people,


s: Duke Cosimo, the tyrant, reigns supreme.


s: Florence is dead: her houses are but tombs;


s: Silence and solitude are in her streets.


s: You wrote upon your statue of the Night,


s: "Grateful to me is sleep; to be of stone


s: More grateful, while the wrong and shame endure;


s: Therefore awake me not; oh, speak in whispers."


s: Deeper than words, and darker than despair.


s: I, who have worshipped freedom from my cradle,


s: Have loved her with the passion of a lover,


s: And clothed her with all lovely attributes


s: Or the heart conjure up, now see her dead,


s: And trodden in the dust beneath the feet


s: I say no news from Florence: I am wrong,


s: And yet I will.  I see from here your house


s: Is filled with works of art.  That bust in bronze


s: Is of yourself.  Tell me, who is the master


s: Than the antiques about it; and yet they


s: Are of the best one sees.  But you have placed it


s: By far too high.  The light comes from below,


s: And injures the expression.  Were these windows


s: It would maintain its own among these works


s: With all his follies and fantastic ways,


s: Would show his genius in some work of art


s: That would amaze the world, and be a challenge


s: What have you here alone, Messer Michele?


s: Philosopher hath said.  I am a schoolboy


s: Who hath not learned his lesson, and who stands


s: Ashamed and silent in the awful presence


s: Was to be thrown alive to the wild beasts


s: But you are greater than Gaudentius was,


s: Tradition says that fifteen thousand men


s: How wonderful it is!  The queen of flowers,


s: The marble rose of Rome!  Its petals torn


s: By wind and rain of thrice five hundred years;


s: Its mossy sheath half rent away, and sold


s: Still opening its fair bosom to the sun,


s: Hang poised above it like a swarm of bees.


s: With saints for petals.  When this rose was perfect


s: Its hundred thousand petals were not Saints,


s: And even an Empress and the Vestal Virgins,


s: Could not give sweetness to a rose like this.


s: I spake not of its uses, but its beauty.


s: With blood of martyrs; and these rifted stones


s: Whose pleasure was the pain of dying men.


s: You should have been a preacher, not a painter!


s: Think you that I approve such cruelties,


s: Who built these walls, and curved these noble arches?


s: How mean our work is, when compared with theirs!


s: Look at these walls about us and above us!


s: They have been shaken by earthquake; have been made


s: A fortress, and been battered by long sieges;


s: The iron clamps, that held the stones together,


s: Have been wrenched from them; but they stand erect


s: And firm, as if they had been hewn and hollowed


s: In so far as its end and aim are nobler;


s: Its vaulted passages are made the caverns


s: Of robbers, and are haunted by the ghosts


s: New thoughts of beauty to the architect,


s: Now let us climb the broken stairs that lead


s: All things must have an end; the world itself


s: Must have an end, as in a dream I saw it.


s: There came a great hand out of heaven, and touched


s: The earth, and stopped it in its course.  The seas


s: Leaped, a vast cataract, into the abyss;


s: The forests and the fields slid off, and floated


s: Like wooded islands in the air.  The dead


s: Were hurled forth from their sepulchres; the living


s: Were mingled with them, and themselves were dead,--


s: All being dead; and the fair, shining cities


s: Naught but the core of the great globe remained,


s: The wrack of matter drifted like a cloud,


s: Back on the empty world, that with the weight


s: Reeled, staggered, righted, and then headlong plunged


s: Into the darkness, as a ship, when struck


s: By a great sea, throws off the waves at first


s: On either side, then settles and goes down


s: Into the dark abyss, with her dead crew.


s: There are great truths that pitch their shining tents


s: Outside our walls, and though but dimly seen


s: Sometime professor here in Rome, has whispered


s: It is the earth, and not the sun, that moves.


s: To which all gravitates.  One finds no rest


s: Elsewhere than here.  There may be other cities


s: That please us for a while, but Rome alone


s: Completely satisfies.  It becomes to all


s: I am but just arrived, and am now lodging


s: To kiss the feet of our most Holy Father,


s: And now am come in haste to kiss the hands


s: And yet not gone.  Twelve years are a long while.


s: To tell you all.  Suffice in brief to say


s: The King received me well, and loved me well;


s: Gave me the annual pension that before me


s: For there are other things, of greater moment,


s: I wish to speak of.  First of all, the letter


s: You wrote me, not long since, about my bust


s: Of Bindo Altoviti, here in Rome.  You said,


s: Have known you as the greatest of all goldsmiths,


s: And now I know you as no less a sculptor."


s: Ah, generous Master!  How shall I e'er thank you


s: And thought it worthy of the ancient masters,


s: And I should stand abashed here in your presence,


s: Had I done nothing worthier of your praise


s: When I left Rome for Paris, you remember


s: I promised you that if I went a goldsmith


s: To virtues.  My impatient, wayward nature,


s: That made me quick in quarrel, now has served me


s: Where meekness could not, and where patience could not,


s: As you shall hear now.  I have cast in bronze


s: In his left hand the head of the Medusa,


s: And in his right the sword that severed it;


s: His right foot planted on the lifeless corse;


s: Down-looking on the victim of his vengeance.


s: When it is placed upon the Ducal Square,


s: Half-way between your David and the Judith


s: But ah, what infinite trouble have I had


s: Francesco Ricci, and their wretched agent


s: Gorini, who came crawling round about me


s: Like a black spider, with his whining voice


s: That sounded like the buzz of a mosquito!


s: And wished a thousand times I had not left


s: My Tour do Nesle, nor e'er returned to Florence,


s: Or thought of Perseus.  What malignant falsehoods


s: They told the Grand Duke, to impede my work,


s: We see it fly; while the hour-hand of truth


s: Seems to stand still, and yet it moves unseen,


s: And wins at last, for the clock will not strike


s: Stood me in stead, and helped me to o'ercome


s: Nor think how great would be the loss to man


s: If it had not been done.  As in a building


s: Stone rests on stone, and wanting the foundation


s: Each action rests on the foregone event,


s: Speaks well of this; and yet he told the Duke


s: That, though I cast small figures well enough,


s: And proved Ser Bandinello a false prophet.


s: What a wild scene it was, as late at night,


s: A night of wind and rain, we heaped the furnace


s: With pine of Serristori, till the flames


s: Caught in the rafters over us, and threatened


s: To send the burning roof upon our heads;


s: And from the garden side the wind and rain


s: Poured in upon us, and half quenched our fires.


s: I thought that I was dying, and was forced


s: To leave the work-shop, and to throw myself


s: Appeared before me, and with dismal voice,


s: Led forth to death, exclaimed, "Poor Benvenuto,


s: Thy work is spoiled!  There is no remedy!"


s: Then, with a cry so loud it might have reached


s: The heaven of fire, I bounded to my feet,


s: And rushed back to my workmen.  They all stood


s: I fed the fire with oak, whose terrible heat


s: Soon made the sluggish metal shine and sparkle.


s: Then followed a bright flash, and an explosion,


s: As if a thunderbolt had fallen among us.


s: The covering of the furnace had been rent


s: Asunder, and the bronze was flowing over;


s: So that I straightway opened all the sluices


s: To fill the mould.  The metal ran like lava,


s: Sluggish and heavy; and I sent my workmen


s: To ransack the whole house, and bring together


s: My pewter plates and pans, two hundred of them,


s: And cast them one by one into the furnace


s: The mould was filled!  I fell upon my knees


s: And thanked the Lord; and then we ate and drank


s: And went to bed, all hearty and contented.


s: It was two hours before the break of day.


s: That could have happened to no man alive


s: When he inquired of them: "'T was not a man,


s: Perfect in every part, save the right foot


s: There was just bronze enough to fill the mould;


s: How you have turned your vices into virtues.


s: But wherefore do I prate of this?  I came


s: Through me invites you to return to Florence,


s: And offers you great honors, even to make you


s: His Senators!  That is enough.  Since Florence


s: Was changed by Clement Seventh from a Republic


s: To be a Florentine.  That dream is ended.


s: The Grand Duke Cosimo now reigns supreme;


s: I hoped to see my country rise to heights


s: Pauses, lets go its hold, and slides again


s: Death rattle in its throat.  I am too old


s: To hope for better days.  I will stay here


s: And die in Rome.  The very weeds, that grow


s: Among the broken fragments of her ruins,


s: Are sweeter to me than the garden flowers


s: Fairer than all the villas that encircle


s: Has been beheaded; Guicciardini poisoned;


s: Philippo Strozzi strangled in his prison.


s: To flourish in?  What is there to prevent


s: Your friends are dead, so are your enemies.


s: This wretched mountebank, whom flatterers


s: Unpleasant in the mouths of those who speak it


s: And in the ears of those who hear it, sends me


s: And with such subtle and infernal malice,


s: Is the express great devil, and not you.


s: Well, now he writes to me that, as a Christian,


s: He says I show mankind that I am wanting


s: Profess perfection?  Why, 't is only men


s: The malice of this creature.  He would taint you


s: Without their heavenly glory, and the saints


s: Appear half clothed.  But I, who am a Christian,


s: With half-averted eyes even in a brothel.


s: He is at home there, and he ought to know


s: What men avert their eyes from in such places;


s: From the Last Judgment chiefly, I imagine.


s: The boldness of my marvellous work unpunished;


s: 'T is sure to prove the ruin of my fame!


s: I had pursued the instructions that he gave me


s: Concerning heaven and hell and paradise,


s: In that same letter, known to all the world,


s: Nature would not be forced, as she is now,


s: With such great talent; that I stand myself


s: Of Julius, still unfinished, for the reason


s: His tomb while he was living; and he speaks


s: Of heaps of gold this Pope bequeathed to me,


s: And calls it robbery;--that is what he says.


s: To draw his pen, and flourish it in the face


s: How skilfully they do it.  Had you followed


s: The advice he gave, or even thanked him for it,


s: You would have seen another style of fence.


s: 'T is but his wounded vanity, and the wish


s: To see his name in print.  So give it not


s: A moment's thought; it soon will be forgotten.


s: For a rude speech thrown at me in the street,


s: He does not ask your labor or your service;


s: Only your presence in the city of Florence,


s: As he may ask, and you may choose to give.


s: You have my answer.  Nothing he can offer


s: Shall tempt me to leave Rome.  My work is here,


s: And only here, the building of St. Peter's.


s: Have fallen from me, are no longer mine;


s: I have passed on beyond them, and have left them


s: As milestones on the way.  What lies before me,


s: That is still mine, and while it is unfinished


s: No one shall draw me from it, or persuade me,


s: By promises of ease, or wealth, or honor,


s: Complete, as now I see it in my thought.


s: Sculpture is more divine, and more like Nature,


s: That fashions all her works in high relief,


s: And that is sculpture.  This vast ball, the Earth,


s: Was moulded out of clay, and baked in fire;


s: Men, women, and all animals that breathe


s: Are statues, and not paintings.  Even the plants,


s: The flowers, the fruits, the grasses, were first sculptured,


s: Sculpture is more than painting.  It is greater


s: To raise the dead to life than to create


s: Phantoms that seem to live.  The most majestic


s: Of the three sister arts is that which builds;


s: The eldest of them all, to whom the others


s: Are but the hand-maids and the servitors,


s: And no more from the marble hew those forms


s: Will there be room for in my work.  Their station


s: But things move slowly.  There are hindrances,


s: And jealousies of artists, that annoy me.


s: Surprised by death, that unexpected guest,


s: Who waits for no man's leisure, but steps in,


s: And then perhaps I may go back to Florence;


s: Attack the marble blocks with the same fury


s: I must have learned it early from my nurse


s: For the first sounds I heard were of the chisel


s: With it he sent me something of his making,--


s: A Mercury, with long body and short legs,


s: A messenger of the gods could have short legs.


s: It was no more like Mercury than you are,


s: But rather like those little plaster figures


s: Who see no difference between what is best


s: And what is only good, or not even good;


s: So that poor artists stand in their esteem


s: On the same level with the best, or higher.


s: All men are not born artists, nor will labor


s: Your color-grinder six and twenty years,


s: That see not; but in every block of marble


s: As if it stood before me shaped and perfect


s: To hew away the stone walls that imprison


s: But I grow old and weak.  What wilt thou do


s: So many years hast thou been serving me;


s: But rather as a friend than as a servant.


s: We have grown old together.  Dost thou think


s: When he is free from service?  Take this purse,


s: Ay, it will make thee rich.  Thou shalt not die


s: I cannot have them with me on the journey


s: That I am undertaking.  The last garment


s: That men will make for me will have no pockets.


s: URBINO, kissing the hand of MICHAEL ANGELO.


s: Not a word more.  Go now to bed, old man.


s: Thou hast served Michael Angelo.  Remember,


s: Henceforward thou shalt serve no other master.


s: How still it is among these ancient oaks!


s: Uplift the leafy boughs, and let them fall


s: With scarce a sound.  Such sylvan quietudes


s: Become old age.  These huge centennial oaks,


s: That may have heard in infancy the trumpets


s: Man's brief existence, that with all his strength


s: He cannot stretch beyond the hundredth year.


s: This little acorn, turbaned like the Turk,


s: Which with my foot I spurn, may be an oak


s: The fierce wild boar, and tossing in its arms


s: The cradled nests of birds, when all the men


s: They and their children, and their children's children,


s: Shall be but dust and mould, and nothing more.


s: Through openings in the trees I see below me


s: And snow-white oxen grazing in the shade


s: Of the tall poplars on the river's brink.


s: But wasted all my years immured in cities,


s: And breathed the stifling atmosphere of streets,


s: Now come to thee for refuge.  Here is peace.


s: Dotting the mountain side with points of light,


s: And here St. Julian's convent, like a nest


s: Of curlews, clinging to some windy cliff.


s: Down sinks the sun, red as Apollo's quoit,


s: That, by the envious Zephyr blown aside,


s: Struck Hyacinthus dead, and stained the earth


s: With his young blood, that blossomed into flowers.


s: Dread demons haunt the earth; hermits inhabit


s: Wrinkled and brown and gnarled like them with age,


s: The questions that perplex, the hopes that cheer him?


s: The old, old dream, that never will come true;


s: The dream that all my life I have been dreaming,


s: I have had mine; but none of them came true;


s: They were but vanity.  Sometimes I think


s: Not in possessing; for the things possessed


s: Lose half their value.  Tell me of your dream.


s: The yearning of my heart, my sole desire,


s: That like the sheaf of Joseph stands up right,


s: While all the others bend and bow to it;


s: The passion that torments me, and that breathes


s: New meaning into the dead forms of prayer,


s: The rest are merely names.  I think of it


s: I have just fled from it.  It is beleaguered


s: By Spanish troops, led by the Duke of Alva.


s: But still for me 't is the Celestial City,


s: That had been laid upon me, I could bear it,


s: I am nailed hand and foot, and I am dying!


s: You would but see a man of fourscore years,


s: With sunken eyes, burning like carbuncles,


s: Who sits at table with his friends for hours,


s: And miscreant Moors.  And with what soldiery


s: Think you he now defends the Eternal City?


s: And yet in fact these bright angelic legions


s: Going in their gilt coaches to High Mass.


s: The catacombs, the convents, and the churches;


s: At Ara Coeli.  But I shall not see them.


s: The actors in them.  Stay here in your convent,


s: For he who goes to Rome may see too much.


s: The smoke of incense and of altar candles


s: In Rome for thirty years and more, and know


s: The jarring of the wheels of that great world,


s: Its jealousies, its discords, and its strife.


s: Here in your convent, here among your woods,


s: Where only there is peace.  Go not to Rome.


s: Who went to Rome; you may have heard of him;


s: His name was Luther; and you know what followed.


s: It is the convent bell; it rings for vespers.


s: Let us go in; we both will pray for peace.


s: MICHAEL ANGELO'S studio.  MICHAEL ANGELO, with a light,


s: working upon the Dead Christ.  Midnight.


s: Thy form and features?  Do I stand too near thee?


s: Or dost thou hold my hand, and draw me back,


s: Let him who knows not what old age is like


s: Have patience till it comes, and he will know.


s: I once had skill to fashion Life and Death


s: And Sleep, which is the counterfeit of Death;


s: Grateful to me is sleep!  More grateful now


s: Than it was then; for all my friends are dead;


s: And she is dead, the noblest of them all.


s: I saw her face, when the great sculptor Death,


s: Whom men should call Divine, had at a blow


s: Her cold white hand.  What was it held me back


s: From kissing her fair forehead, and those lips,


s: Good-evening, or good-morning, for I know not


s: That I could slip through bolted door or window?


s: To see what keeps you from your bed so late.


s: MICHAEL ANGELO, coming forward with the lamp.


s: You have been revelling with your boon companions,


s: The drawing you once showed him of the dome


s: What is the marble group that glimmers there


s: By our long friendship and the love I bear you,


s: An empty theatre,--its lights extinguished,


s: That once have been.  I am so old that Death


s: Oft plucks me by the cloak, to come with him


s: And some day, like this lamp, shall I fall down,


s: And my last spark of life will be extinguished.


s: So near to death, and yet so far from God!


s: And, sprinkled o'er her fragrant leaves,


s: This world would school each wandering thought


s: Time steals them from us, chances strange,


s: The glorious strength that youth imparts


s: These gifts in Fortune's hands are found;


s: In treacherous smiles life's serious task,


s: Pontiff and priest, and sceptred throng?


s: Tourney and joust, that charmed the eye,


s: Where are the high-born dames, and where


s: To kneel, and breathe love's ardent flame,


s: That flamed from the hot forge of Death,


s: Would that the life which thou dost give


s: And he, the good man's shield and shade,


s: Why should their praise in verse be sung?


s: He fought the Moors, and, in their fall,


s: Which, with the hand of youth, he traced


s: "Since thou hast been, in battle-strife,


s: "And thou, brave knight, whose hand has poured


s: In heaven shalt thou receive, at length,


s: Were vain, when 't is God's sovereign will


s: Shepherd! who with thine amorous, sylvan song


s: Hast broken the slumber that encompassed me,


s: Who mad'st thy crook from the accursed tree,


s: On which thy powerful arms were stretched so long!


s: Lead me to mercy's ever-flowing fountains;


s: For thou my shepherd, guard, and guide shalt be;


s: Thy feet all beautiful upon the mountains.


s: Hear, Shepherd! thou who for thy flock art dying,


s: O, wash away these scarlet sins, for thou


s: O, wait! to thee my weary soul is crying,


s: Wait for me!  Yet why ask it, when I see,


s: With feet nailed to the cross, thou 'rt waiting still for me!


s: Lord, what am I, that with unceasing care,


s: Thou didst seek after me, that thou didst wait