The genius of my country shall arise, A cedar towering o'er the wilderness, Lovely in all its branches to all eyes, Fragrant as fair, and recognised afar,

Wafting its native incense through the skies.
Sovereigns shall pause amid their sport of war,
Wean'd for an hour from blood, to turn and gaze
On canvass or on stone; and they who mar
All beauty upon earth, compell'd to praise,

Shall feel the power of that which they destroy;
And art's mistaken gratitude shall raise

To tyrants who but take her for a toy

Emblems and monuments, and prostitute

Her charms to pontiffs proud, 16 who but employ The man of genius as the meanest brute

To bear a burthen, and to serve a need,

To sell his labours, and his soul to boot. Who toils for nations may be poor indeed, But free; who sweats for monarchs is no more Than the gilt chamberlain, who, clothed and fee'd, Stands sleek and slavish bowing at his door. Oh, Power that rulest and inspirest! how Is it that they on earth, whose earthly power Is likest thine in heaven in outward show, Least like to thee in attributes divine,. Tread on the universal necks that bow; And then assure us that their rights are thine? And how is it that they, the sons of fame, Whose inspiration seems to them to shine From high, they whom the nations oftest name, Must pass their days in penury or pain, Or step to grandeur through the paths of shame, And wear a deeper brand and gaudier chain? Of if their destiny be borne aloof

From lowliness, or tempted thence in vain, In their own souls sustain a harder proof,

The inner war of passions deep and fierce? Florence! when thy harsh sentence razed my roof, I loved thee, but the vengeance of my verse, The hate of injuries, which every year Makes greater and accumulates my curse, Shall live, outliving all thou holdest dear,

Thy pride, thy wealth, thy freedom, and even that, The most infernal of all evils here,

The sway of petty tyrants in a state;

For such sway is not limited to kings,

And demagogues yield to them but in date,

As swept off sooner; in all deadly things

Which make men hate themselves and one another,

In discord, cowardice, cruelty, all that springs
From Death, the Sin-born's incest with his mother,
In rank oppression in its rudest shape,

The faction chief is but the sultan's brother,
And the worst despot's far less human ape.
Florence! when this lone spirit which so long
Yearn'd, as the captive toiling at escape,
To fly back to thee in despite of wrong,
An exile, saddest of all prisoners,

Who has the whole world for a dungeon strong,
Seas, mountains, and the horizon's verge for bars,
Which shut him from the sole small spot of earth
Where, whatsoe'er his fate-he still were hers,
His country's, and might die where he had birth;—
Florence! when this lone spirit shall return
To kindred spirits, thou wilt feel my worth,
And seek to honour with an empty urn

The ashes thou shalt ne'er obtain.-Alas!
"What have I done to thee, my people?" 17 Stern
Are all thy dealings, but in this they pass
The limits of man's common malice, for
All that a citizen could be, I was:

Raised by thy will, all thine in peace or war,

And for this thou hast warr'd with me.-'T is done :

I

Built

may not overleap the eternal bar

Sup between us, and will die alone, Beholding, with the dark eye of a seer, The evil days to gifted souls foreshown, Foretelling them to those who will not hear, As in the old time, till the hour be come

When truth shall strike their eyes through many a tear,

And make them own the prophet in his tomb.

NOTES.

Note 1. Page 419.

'Midst whom my own bright Beatrice bless'd.

The reader is requested to adopt the Italian pronunciation of Beatrice, sounding all the syllables.

Canzone, in which Dante describes the person of Beatrice, strophe third.

in which he represents Right, Generosity, and Temperance, as banished from among and seeking refuge from Love, who inhabits his bosom.

men,

Note 4. Page 421.

The dust she dooms to scatter.

"Ut si quis prædictorum ullo tempore in fortiam dicti communis pervenerit, talis perveniens igne comburatur, sic quod moriatur."

Second sentence of Florence against Dante and the fourteen accused with him.The Latin is worthy of the sentence.

Note 5. Page 422.

Where yet my boys are, and that fatal she.

This lady, whose name was Gemma, sprung from one of the most powerful Guelf families, named Donati. Corso Donati was the principal adversary of the Ghibellines. She is described as being " Admodum morosa, ut de Xantippe Socratis philosophi conjuge scriptum esse legimus," according to Giannozzo Manetti. But Lionardo Aretino is scandalized with Boccace, in his life of Dante, for saying that literary men should not marry. "Qui in Boccacio non ha pazienza, e dice, le mogli esser contrarie agli studj; e non si ricorda che Socrate il più nobile filosofo che mai fosse, ebbe moglie e figliuoli e ufficj della Repubblica nella sua Città; e Aristotele che, &c., &c. ebbe due mogli in varj tempi, ed ebbe figliuoli, e ricchezze assai.—E Marco Tullio-e Catone-e Varrone-e Seneca-ebbero moglie," &c., &c. It is odd that honest Lionardo's examples, with the exception of Seneca, and, for any thing I know, of Aristotle, are not the most felicitous. Tully's Terentia, and Socrates' Xantippe, by no means contributed to their husbands' happiness, whatever they might do to their philosophy-Cato gave away his wife-of Varro's we know nothing-and of Seneca's, only that she was disposed to die with him, but recovered, and lived several years afterwards. But, says Lionardo, "L'uomo è animale civile, secondo piace a tutti i filosofi." And thence concludes that the greatest proof of the animal's civism is "la prima congiunzione, dalla quale moltiplicata nasce la Città."

Note 6. Page 425.

Nine moons shall rise o'er scenes like this and set.

See "Sacco di Roma," generally attributed to Guicciardini.

There is another

written by a Jacopo Buonaparte Gentiluomo Samminiatese che vi si trovò pre

sente.

Note 7. Page 427.

Conquerors on foreign shores and the far wave.

Alexander of Parma, Spinola, Pescara, Eugene of Savoy, Montecuccoli.

Note 8. Page 427.

Discoverers of new worlds, which take their name.

Columbus, Americus Vespucius, Sebastian Cabot.

Note 9. Page 428.

He who once enters in a tyrant's hall, &c.

A verse from the Greek tragedians, with which Pompey took leave of Cornelia on entering the boat in which he was slain.

Note 10. Page 428.

And the first day which sees the chain enthral, etc.

The verse and sentiment are taken from Homer.

The statue of Moses on the monument of Julius II.

SONETTO

Di Giovanni Battista Zappi.

Chi è costui, che in dura pietra scolto,
Siede gigante; e le piu illustri, e conte
Prove dell' arte avanza, ha vive, e pronte
Le labbia si, che le parole ascolto?
Quest' è Mosè ben me 'l diceva il folto
Onor del mento, e 'l doppio raggio in fronte,
Quest' è Mosè, quando scendea dal monte,

E gran parte del Nume avea nel volto.

Tal era allor, che le sonanti, e vaste
Acque ei sospese a se d' intorno, e tale

Quando il mar chiuse, e ne fè tomba altrui.

E voi sue turbe un rio vitello alzaste?

Alzata aveste imago a questa eguale;

Ch' era men fallo l' adorar costui.

Note 14. Page 431.

Over the damn'd before the Judgment throne.

The last judgment in the Sistine chapel.

Note 15. Page 431.

The stream of his great thoughts shall spring from me.

I have read somewhere (if I do not err, for I cannot recollect where) that Dante was so great a favourite of Michel Angiolo's, that he had designed the whole of the Divina Commedia ; but that the volume containing these studies was lost by sea.

Note 16. Page 432.

Her charms to pontiffs proud, who but employ, &c.

See the treatment of Michel Angiolo by Julius II., and his neglect by Leo X.

"E scrisse più volte

Note 17. Page 433.

"What have I done to thee, my people?"

non solamente a particolari cittadini del reggimento, ma ancora al popolo, e intra l'altre una epistola assai lunga che comincia :-Popule mi, quid feci tibi."

Vita di Dante scritta da Lionardo Aretino.

I