 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
47
AT FAIDO, ON THE ST. GOTHARD
You died, but, dalesmen, you did well to die!
Than this rock amphitheatre, what scene
For your brave act could fitter e'er have been!
Above us to the sun the eagles cry,
And Chibiasco, falling from the sky
Death-white, betwixt the pines for ever green,
Gathers new strength behind its watery screen,
And passes on full-souled for liberty.
Than this rock amphitheatre, what scene
For your brave act could fitter e'er have been!
Above us to the sun the eagles cry,
And Chibiasco, falling from the sky
Death-white, betwixt the pines for ever green,
Gathers new strength behind its watery screen,
And passes on full-souled for liberty.
Brave-hearted men the tyrant's hand might slay!
And, that you suffered centuries of wrong,
Grim chestnuts down the valley still attest;
But a clear voice triumphant, and more strong
Than fierce Ticino, speaks for you to-day,
God's stream of sympathy for souls oppressed.
And, that you suffered centuries of wrong,
Grim chestnuts down the valley still attest;
But a clear voice triumphant, and more strong
Than fierce Ticino, speaks for you to-day,
God's stream of sympathy for souls oppressed.
—The people of Val Leventina revolted in 1755 against the tyranny of the cowherds of Uri, to whom they had been subject since the fifteenth century. The rebellion was terminated at this spot by the execution of the ringleaders, whose heads were fastened to the trunks of the chestnut-trees near, in the presence of three thousand men of the valley.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |