 | Imaginary Sonnets |  |
45
MICHAEL ANGELO TO HIS STATUE OF DAY.
(1535.)
Thou strong, swift Day, that with a single leap
Dost tip with gold the hundred-humpèd spine
Of this broad rocky Tuscan Apennine,
Then down the blue and misty valleys creep;
Dost tip with gold the hundred-humpèd spine
Of this broad rocky Tuscan Apennine,
Then down the blue and misty valleys creep;
Thou findest Freedom everywhere asleep,
And men as listless as the grunting swine;
And pourest down the splendour of thy shine
Just as before, though God's own angels weep:
And men as listless as the grunting swine;
And pourest down the splendour of thy shine
Just as before, though God's own angels weep:
Therefore I give thee neither face nor eyes,
But leave thy head unhewn, until such time
As Freedom burst her slumber and shall rise,
But leave thy head unhewn, until such time
As Freedom burst her slumber and shall rise,
O thou who ripenest the grapes that climb
The roadside trees, and heatest harvest's skies,
That men may feed and wallow in the slime.
The roadside trees, and heatest harvest's skies,
That men may feed and wallow in the slime.
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