And there I found thee-trying once again,
What for thyself thou hadst prescribed so oft,
A change of air and diet-once again
Crossing the sea, and springing to the shore
As though thou knewest where to dine and sleep.
First in BOLOGNA didst thou plant thyself,
Serving behind a Cardinal's gouty chair,
Listening and oft replying, jest for jest;
Then in FERRARA, every thing by turns,
So great thy genius, and so Proteus-like!
Now serenading in a lover's train,
And measuring swords with his antagonist;
Now carving, cup-bearing in halls of state;
And now a guide to the lorn traveller,
A very Cicerone-yet, alas,
How unlike him who fulmined in old ROME!
Dealing out largely in exchange for pence
Thy scraps of Knowledge-thro' the grassy street
Leading, explaining-pointing to the bars
Of TASSO's dungeon, and the latin verse,
Graven in the stone, that yet denotes the door
Of ARIOSTO.
Since on the RHINE we parted; yet, methinks,
I can recall thee to the life, LUIGI,
In our long journey ever by my side;
Thy locks jet-black, and clustering round a face Open as day and full of manly daring.
Thou hadst a hand, a heart for all that came,
Herdsman or pedlar, monk or muleteer;
And few there were, that met thee not with smiles.
Mishap passed o'er thee like a summer-cloud.
Cares thou hadst none; and they, that stood to hear thee,
Caught the infection and forgot their own.
Nature conceived thee in her merriest mood,
Her happiest-not a speck was in the sky;
And at thy birth the cricket chirped, LUIGI,
Thine a perpetual voice-at every turn.
A larum to the echo. In a clime,
Where all were gay, none were so gay as thou;
Thou, like a babe, hushed only by thy slumbers;
Up hill and down, morning and noon and night,
Singing or talking; singing to thyself
When none gave ear, but to the listener talking.
OVER how many tracts, vast, measureless,
Ages on ages roll, and none appear
Save the wild hunter ranging for his prey;
While on this spot of earth, the work of man,
How much has been transacted! Emperors, Popes,
Warriors, from far and wide, laden with spoil,
Landing, have here performed their several parts,
Then left the stage to others. Not a stone
In the broad pavement, but to him who has
An eye, an ear for the Inanimate World,
In that temple-porch
(The brass is gone, the porphyry remains,)
Did BARBAROSSA fling his mantle off,
And, kneeling, on his neck receive the foot
Of the proud Pontiff-thus at last consoled
For flight, disguise, and many an aguish shake
On his stone pillow. In that temple-porch,
Old as he was, so near his hundredth year,
And blind-his eyes put out-did DANDOLO
Stand forth, displaying on his crown the cross.
There did he stand, erect, invincible,
Tho' wan his cheeks, and wet with many tears,
For in his prayers he had been weeping much;
And now the pilgrims and the people wept
With admiration, saying in their hearts,
"Surely those aged limbs have need of rest!"
-There did he stand, with his old armour on,
Ere, gonfalon in hand, that streamed aloft,
As conscious of its glorious destiny,
So soon to float o'er mosque and minaret,
He sailed away, five hundred gallant ships,
Their lofty sides hung with emblazoned shields,
Following his track to fame. He went to die;
But of his trophies four arrived ere long,
Snatched from destruction-the four steeds divine,
That strike the ground, resounding with their feet, And from their nostrils snort ethereal flame
Over that very portal-in the place
Where in an after-time, beside the Doge,
Sate one yet greater,* one whose verse shall live, When the wave rolls o'er VENICE.
High he sate, High over all, close by the ducal chair, At the right hand of his illustrious Host, Amid the noblest daughters of the realm, Their beauty shaded from the western ray By many-coloured hangings; while, beneath, Knights of all nations, some of fair renown From ENGLAND, from victorious EDWARD's court, Their lances in the rest, charged for the prize.
Here, among other pageants, and how oft
It met the eye, borne through the gazing crowd,
As if returning to console the least,
Instruct the greatest, did the Doge go round;
Now in a chair of state, now on his bier.
They were his first appearance, and his last.
The sea, that emblem of uncertainty,
Changed not so fast for many and many an age,
As this small spot. To-day 'twas full of masks;
And lo, the madness of the Carnival,
The monk, the nun, the holy legate masked!
To-morrow came the scaffold and the wheel;
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