And at a banquet, served with honour there, Eyes not unwet, I ween, with grateful tears, Their lovely ancestors, the Brides of VENICE. 66 nio it was second to none. "I sottoportici," says Sansovino, writing in 1580, sono ogni giorno frequentati da i mercatanti Fiorentini, Genovesi, Milanesi, Spagnuoli, Turchi, e d'altre nationi diverse del mondo, i quali vi concorrono in tanta copia, che questa piazza è annoverata fra le prime dell' universo." It was there that the Christian held discourse with the Jew; and Shylock refers to it, when he says, 66 Signor Antonio, many a time and oft, In the Rialto you have rated me—” 'Andiamo a Rialto'-' L'ora di Rialto''-were on every tongue; and continue so to the present day, as we learn from the comedies of Goldoni, and particularly from his Mercanti. There is a place adjoining, called Rialto Nuovo; and so called, according to Sansovino, " perchè fù fabbricato dopo il vecchio." FOSCARI. LET us lift up the curtain, and observe Men eminent alike in war and peace; Such as in effigy shall long adorn The walls of VENICE-to shew what she was! Their garb is black, and black the arras is, * The Council of Ten and the Giunta, "nel quale," says Sanuto," fù messer lo doge." The Giunta at the first examination consisted of ten Patricians, at the last of twenty. This story and the Tragedy of the Two Foscari were published, within a few days of each other, in November 1821. That low and dismal moaning. Half withdrawn, A little to the left, sits one in crimson, A venerable man, fourscore and five. Cold drops of sweat stand on his furrowed brow. Suffering the Question. Twice to die in peace, To save, while yet he could, a falling house, And there he sits, a spectacle of woe, 6 6 Condemned in bitter mockery to wear The bauble he had sighed for. Once again The screw is turned; and, as it turns, the Son Looks up, and, in a faint and broken tone, Murmurs My Father! The old man shrinks back, And in his mantle muffles up his face. Art thou not guilty?' says a voice, that once Would greet the Sufferer long before they met, · Art thou not guilty?—No! Indeed I am not !' But all is unavailing. In that Court Groans are confessions; Patience, Fortitude, He hears the sentence, Banishment to CANDIA. And he is gone from all he loves in life! To be called up, when, in his lonely hours, Starting as from some wild and uncouth dream, All followed; at whose nuptials, when he won Numbers eight Doges-to convey her home, * She was a Contarini; a name coeval with the Republic, and illustrated by eight Doges. On the occasion of their marriage the Bùcentaur came out in its splendour; and a bridge of boats was thrown across the Cànal Grande for the Bridegroom and his retinue of three hundred horse. Sanuto dwells with pleasure on the costliness of the dresses and the magnificence of the processions by land and water. The tournaments in the place of St. Mark lasted three days, and were attended by thirty thousand people. |