 | Gathered poems of Ernest Myers |  |
73
CHAMPIONS OF ITALY
I
Two Chiefs for her Arm and her Voice New Italy found at her need,
Garibaldi breaker of bondage, Mazzini sower of seed.
By the fair Ligurian gulf were the lives of the twain begun,
On the God-wrought Terrace gigantic, the ledges that look to the sun,
Where the gold fruits glow thro' the woods darkleaved by the red sea-caves,
And the mild sea laughs to the mountain with numberless laughter of waves;
Where the opaline light of the olive leaps forth to the stir of the breeze,
And above and beneath thro' her boughs gleams the blue of the skies and the seas;
Where Columbus roamed and mused till his lonely purpose was grown
To the height of his chosen achievement, the winning of worlds unknown.
Long time he too, Garibaldi, beyond the Atlantic foam
In the worlds of Columbus wandered, but now to the land of his home
He was come at her call to her side with the west wind out of the sea
To smite, nor stay from the smiting, till Italy's children be free.
O never was champion or chief since the story of battles began
More apt for a perilous venture, more lionlike lordly a man.
Garibaldi breaker of bondage, Mazzini sower of seed.
By the fair Ligurian gulf were the lives of the twain begun,
On the God-wrought Terrace gigantic, the ledges that look to the sun,
Where the gold fruits glow thro' the woods darkleaved by the red sea-caves,
And the mild sea laughs to the mountain with numberless laughter of waves;
Where the opaline light of the olive leaps forth to the stir of the breeze,
74
Where Columbus roamed and mused till his lonely purpose was grown
To the height of his chosen achievement, the winning of worlds unknown.
Long time he too, Garibaldi, beyond the Atlantic foam
In the worlds of Columbus wandered, but now to the land of his home
He was come at her call to her side with the west wind out of the sea
To smite, nor stay from the smiting, till Italy's children be free.
O never was champion or chief since the story of battles began
More apt for a perilous venture, more lionlike lordly a man.
Nor second the force of his fellow, from exile arisen again,
Mazzini, Seër prophetic, the Leader and Lover of men.
For an ardour of old consumed him, the flame of an inborn fire
Fed from the first in his heart, when, a child in the home of his sire,
He grieved for the scorned and the smitten, and glowed to the deeds of the brave
Who gleam thro' the dim generations, more mighty to suffer and save.
Steadfast and strong was the flame; all doubts and desires and fears
Fell into its fervour and fed it thro' wasted and wearisome years:
In his high-built cell of Savona, alone with the sea and the sky,
Or in exile in lands of the North, where the rains drift drearily,
One vision still clave to his slumbers, all visions amidst and above,
One form, even Italy's phantom, the land of his birth and his love.
And his heart beat high with resolve, when he saw in the darkness arise
That face so fair in her sorrow, those wistful memorial eyes.
Such and so piteous they seemed, so piteous and holy and pure,
As the eyes of the desolate queen who in Ithaca long must endure
Drear yearning for him who came not, and wrongs of a lawless race.
Year after year she endured, for Athene gave to her grace,
Weaving the web in her chamber, or gazing seaward in care
For her lord who tarried long; yet in fulness of time he was there,
Yea, he came when they looked not for him, as sudden noon in the night,
And the mean garb fell from his shoulders, and plain in his terrible might
He sprang with a shout to the daïs and dealt forth the arrows of doom,
And the spoilers were broken before him, their ghosts fled away thro' the gloom.
Mazzini, Seër prophetic, the Leader and Lover of men.
75
Fed from the first in his heart, when, a child in the home of his sire,
He grieved for the scorned and the smitten, and glowed to the deeds of the brave
Who gleam thro' the dim generations, more mighty to suffer and save.
Steadfast and strong was the flame; all doubts and desires and fears
Fell into its fervour and fed it thro' wasted and wearisome years:
In his high-built cell of Savona, alone with the sea and the sky,
Or in exile in lands of the North, where the rains drift drearily,
One vision still clave to his slumbers, all visions amidst and above,
One form, even Italy's phantom, the land of his birth and his love.
And his heart beat high with resolve, when he saw in the darkness arise
76
Such and so piteous they seemed, so piteous and holy and pure,
As the eyes of the desolate queen who in Ithaca long must endure
Drear yearning for him who came not, and wrongs of a lawless race.
Year after year she endured, for Athene gave to her grace,
Weaving the web in her chamber, or gazing seaward in care
For her lord who tarried long; yet in fulness of time he was there,
Yea, he came when they looked not for him, as sudden noon in the night,
And the mean garb fell from his shoulders, and plain in his terrible might
He sprang with a shout to the daïs and dealt forth the arrows of doom,
And the spoilers were broken before him, their ghosts fled away thro' the gloom.
77
II
Immortal Brethren, saviour spirits fair,
Ye were not born to your dear land alone;
Earth's golden book enrols you as her own,
And of your honour all the world is heir.
For in an age sunk deep in sordid care
Ye still had ears to list a nobler tone,
Ye called to loyal hearts, and led them on,
Loyal to love, disdainful of despair.
Ye were not born to your dear land alone;
Earth's golden book enrols you as her own,
And of your honour all the world is heir.
For in an age sunk deep in sordid care
Ye still had ears to list a nobler tone,
Ye called to loyal hearts, and led them on,
Loyal to love, disdainful of despair.
The earthquake and the thunder and the fire,
These in your godlike struggle clothed you o'er,
And clouds confused of lurid vapour dire.
Now in the firmament's untroubled floor
Shine your twin stars whereto our souls aspire,
Moved with the moving heaven for evermore.
These in your godlike struggle clothed you o'er,
And clouds confused of lurid vapour dire.
Now in the firmament's untroubled floor
Shine your twin stars whereto our souls aspire,
Moved with the moving heaven for evermore.
| Gathered poems of Ernest Myers | |