The Works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti Edited with Preface and Notes by William M. Rossetti: Revised and Enlarged Edition |
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CAPITOLO:
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 | The Works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti |  |
CAPITOLO:
A. M. SALVINI TO FRANCESCO REDI, 16---
Know then, dear Redi, (sith thy gentle heartWould read my riddle and my mystery,)—
That I am thinking from men's thoughts apart;
And that I learn deeper theology
While my soul travails over Dante's page,
Than with long study in the schools might be.
Many and many things, holy and sage,
To the dim mind his mighty words unveil,
Thralling it with a welcome vassalage:
Nor doth his glorious lamp flicker or fail
By reason of that vapoury shrouding strange,
Which in like argument may much prevail.
534
He took the leap of Chaos;—high, and low,
And to the middle region's state of change.
Bright things, and dubious things, and things of woe,
Thence to the mind he spake with pictured speech,
Making the tongue cry out, “They must be so!”
The how and wherefore will be told of each;
And that his soul might take its flight and roam,
Beatrice gave him wings of boundless reach.
O hallowed breast, the Muses' chosen home,
Blest be the working of thy steadfast aim,
And blest thy fancy through all time to come,
Which whispers now, and now with words of flame
Like sudden thunder makes the heart to pause;
Whence laurel to thy brow and myrtle came.
For in love-speaking, so to love's sweet laws
Thy verse is subject, that no truer truth
From passion's store the stricken spirit draws.
But pent in Hell's huge coil, for pity and ruth
Thy voice is slow and broken and profound,
To the harsh echoes singing sorrowful sooth;
And thy steps stumble in the weary bound;—
Of that dim maze where nothing is that shines
Stalking the desolate circles round and round.
Then through the prisoned air which sobs and pines
With Purgatorial grief, up dost thou soar
To Paradise, on the sun's dazzling lines.
There all the wonders thou dost reckon o'er
Of that great Joy that never waxeth old,—
A mighty hearing seldom heard before.
To us by thee pleasures and woes are told,
What path to fly from, in whose steps to tread,
That from man's mind the veil may be unrolled.
But oh! thine angry tones, awful and dread,
What time God puts the thunder in thy mouth,
Upon His foes the righteous wrath to shed!
Then, then thy thoughts are of a mighty growth;—
Then does the terror of His holy curse
Hurtle from East to West, from North to South;—
Then heavy sorrow 'ginn'st thou to rehearse;—
Then Priests and Princes tremble and are pale,
More than with ague shaken at thy verse.
Though in thy praise all human praises fail,
Even of the few who love thee and who bless,—
The scoffing of the herd shall not prevail.
Thy words are weights, under whose mighty stress
Tyrants and evil men shall shrink and quail;
True seeds of an undying perfectness.
| The Works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti | |