Israel left Egypt, stop the waves in stone, Or fanes be built of grandeur yet unknown. The stream of his great thoughts shall spring from me,' Amidst the clash of swords, and clang of helms, Shall be the Age of Beauty, and while whelms, The genius of my country shall arise, Quest' è Mosè, quando scendea del monte, 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! ["And who is he that, shaped in sculptured stone Unparallel'd, while language seems to start But had they raised this awe-commanding form, Then had they with less guilt their work adored."-ROGERS.] 3 The Last Judgment, in the Sistine Chapel. 4 I have read somewhere (if I do not err, for I cannot recollect where,) that Dante was so great a favourite of Michael Angelo's, that he had designed the whole of the Divina Commedia but that the volume containing these studies was lost by sea.[It was upon the margin of a folio copy of Dante that Michael Angelo drew pen and ink illustrations of the text. The vessel which carried the precious volume foundered on its way from Leghorn to Civita Vecchia. Duppa states in the Life of Michael Angelo that it is obvious throughout his works that he had fed his imagination from the poems of Dante.] Sovereigns shall pause amidst their sport of war, All beauty upon earth, compell'd to praise, Emblems and monuments, and prostitute Her charms to pontiffs proud,' who but employ To bear a burthen, and to serve a need, But free; who sweats for monarchs is no more Or step to grandeur through the paths of shame, From lowliness, or tempted thence in vain, The inner war of passions deep and fierce? Florence! when thy harsh sentence razed my roof, 5 See the treatment of Michael Angelo by Julius II., and his neglect by Leo X.[Julius II. enjoyed his conversation, and encouraged his attendance at the Vatican, but one morning as he was entering, he was stopped by the person in waiting, who said, "I have an order not to let you in." Michael Angelo, indignant at the insult, left Rome that very evening. Though Julius despatched courier after courier to bring him back, it was some months before a reconciliation was effected. On the Pope observing, "In the stead of your coming to us, you seem to have expected that we should wait upon you," Michael Angelo apologised with dignity, and matters resumed their ancient course.] I loved thee; but the vengeance of my verse, Thy pride, thy wealth, thy freedom, and even that, The sway of petty tyrants in a state; For such sway is not limited to kings, And demagogues yield to them but in date, Which make men hate themselves, and one another, 6 Who has the whole world for a dungeon strong, [In his "Convito," Dante speaks of his banishment, and the poverty and distress which attended it, in very affecting terms. About the year 1316, his friends obtained his restoration to his country and his possessions, on condition that he should pay a certain sum of money, and, entering a church, avow himself guilty, and ask pardon of the republic. "Far," he replied, "from the man who is familiar with philosophy, be the senseless baseness of a heart of earth, that could imitate the infamy of some others, by offering himself up as it were in chains. Far from the man who cries aloud for justice, this compromise, by his money, with his persecutors! No, my Father, this is not the way that shall lead me back to my country. But I shall return with hasty steps, if you or any other can open to me a way that shall not derogate from the fame and honour of Dante; but if by no such way Florence can be entered, then Florence I shall never enter. What shall I not every where enjoy the sight of the sun and stars? and may I not seek and contemplate, in every corner of the earth under the canopy of heaven, consoling and delightful truth, without first rendering myself inglorious, nay infamous, to the people and republic of Florence Bread, I hope, will not fail me."] The ashes thou shalt ne'er obtain-Alas! "What have I done to thee, my people?" Stern The limits of man's common malice, for Raised by thy will, all thine in peace or war, And for this thou hast warr'd with me.-'Tis done: When Truth shall strike their eyes through many a tear, 7 "E scrisse più volte 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. [His countrymen showed, too late, that they knew the value of what they had lost. At the beginning of the next century, they entreated that the ashes of their illustrious citizen might be restored to them; but the people of Ravenna were unwilling to part with the honourable memorial of their own hospitality. No better success attended the subsequent negotiations of the Florentines, though renewed under the auspices of Leo X., and conducted through the powerful mediation of Michael Angelo.] |