No More Learning

In a dark period of five hundred years, Rome was per-
petually afflicted by the sanguinary quarrels of the nobles and the
people, the Guelphs and Ghibelines, the Colonna and Ursini; and
if much has escaped the knowledge, and much is unworthy of
the notice, of history, I have exposed in the two preceding chap-
ters the causes and effects of the public disorders. At such a
time, when every quarrel was decided by the sword and none
could trust their lives or properties to the impotence of law, the
powerful citizens were armed for safety, or offense, against the
domestic enemies whom they feared or hated. Except Venice
alone, the same dangers and designs were common to all the
free republics of Italy; and the nobles usurped the prerogative
of fortifying their houses and erecting strong towers that were
capable of resisting a sudden attack. The cities were filled with


## p. 6325 (#299) ###########################################

EDWARD GIBBON
6325
these hostile edifices; and the example of Lucca, which contained
three hundred towers, her law which confined their height to
the measure of fourscore feet, may be extended with suitable lati-
tude to the more opulent and populous States. The first step of
the senator Brancaleone in the establishment of peace and just-
ice, was to demolish (as we have already seen) one hundred and
forty of the towers of Rome; and in the last days of anarchy
and discord, as late as the reign of Martin the Fifth, forty-four
still stood in one of the thirteen or fourteen regions of the city.
To this mischievous purpose the remains of antiquity were most
readily adapted: the temples and arches afforded a broad and
solid basis for the new structures of brick and stone; and we can
name the modern turrets that were raised on the triumphal monu-
ments of Julius Cæsar, Titus, and the Antonines. With some slight
alterations, a theatre, an amphitheatre, a mausoleum, was trans-
formed into a strong and spacious citadel. I need not repeat
that the mole of Adrian has assumed the title and form of the
castle of St. Angelo; the Septizonium of Severus was capable of
standing against a royal army; the sepulchre of Metella has sunk
under its outworks; the theatres of Pompey and Marcellus were
occupied by the Savelli and Ursini families; and the rough fort-
ress has been gradually softened to the splendor and elegance of
an Italian palace. Even the churches were encompassed with
arms and bulwarks, and the military engines on the roof of St.
Peter's were the terror of the Vatican and the scandal of the
Christian world. Whatever is fortified will be attacked; and
whatever is attacked may be destroyed. Could the Romans
have wrested from the popes the castle of St. Angelo, they had
resolved by a public decree to annihilate that monument of servi-
tude. Every building of defense was exposed to a siege; and in
every siege the arts and engines of destruction were laboriously
employed. After the death of Nicholas the Fourth, Rome, with-
out a sovereign or a senate, was abandoned six months to the
fury of civil war. "The houses," says a cardinal and poet of the
times, «< were crushed by the weight and velocity of enormous
stones; the walls were perforated by the strokes of the battering-
ram; the towers were involved in fire and smoke; and the
assailants were stimulated by rapine and revenge. " The work
was consummated by the tyranny of the laws; and the factions
of Italy alternately exercised a blind and thoughtless vengeance
on their adversaries, whose houses and castles they razed to the


## p. 6326 (#300) ###########################################

6326
EDWARD GIBBON
ground. In comparing the days of foreign, with the ages of
domestic hostility, we must pronounce that the latter have been
far more ruinous to the city; and our opinion is confirmed by
the evidence of Petrarch. "Behold, " says the laureate, "the
relics of Rome, the image of her pristine greatness! neither time
nor the Barbarian can boast the merit of this stupendous destruc-
tion: it was perpetrated by her own citizens, by the most illus-
trious of her sons; and your ancestors [he writes to a noble
Annibaldi] have done with battering-ram what the Punic hero
could not accomplish with the sword. " The influence of the two
last principles of decay must in some degree be multiplied by
each other, since the houses and towers which were subverted
by civil war required a new and perpetual supply from the mon-
uments of antiquity.
These general observations may be separately applied to the
amphitheatre of Titus, which has obtained the name of the Coli-
seum, either from its magnitude or from Nero's colossal statue;
an edifice, had it been left to time and nature, which might per-
haps have claimed an eternal duration. The curious antiqua-
ries who have computed the numbers and seats are disposed to
believe that above the upper row of stone steps the amphitheatre
was encircled and elevated with several stages of wooden galler-
ies, which were repeatedly consumed by fire, and restored by the
emperors. Whatever was precious, or portable, or profane, the
statues of gods and heroes, and the costly ornaments of sculpture
which were cast in brass or overspread with leaves of silver
and gold, became the first prey of conquest or fanaticism, of the
avarice of the Barbarians or the Christians. In the massy stones
of the Coliseum, many holes are discerned; and the two most
probable conjectures represent the various accidents of its decay.
These stones were connected by solid links of brass or iron, nor
had the eye of rapine overlooked the value of the baser metals;
the vacant space was converted into a fair or market; the arti-
sans of the Coliseum are mentioned in an ancient survey; and
the chasms were perforated or enlarged to receive the poles that
supported the shops or tents of the mechanic trades. Reduced to
its naked majesty, the Flavian amphitheatre was contemplated
with awe and admiration by the pilgrims of the North; and their
rude enthusiasm broke forth in a sublime proverbial expression,
which is recorded in the eighth century, in the fragments of the
venerable Bede: "As long as the Coliseum stands, Rome shall


## p. 6327 (#301) ###########################################

EDWARD GIBBON
6327
டயம்
stand; when the Coliseum falls, Rome will fall; when Rome
falls, the world will fall. " In the modern system of war a situ-
ation commanded by the three hills would not be chosen for a
fortress: but the strength of the walls and arches could resist
the engines of assault; a numerous garrison might be lodged in
the inclosure; and while one faction occupied the Vatican and
the Capitol, the other was intrenched in the Lateran and the
Coliseum.
The abolition at Rome of the ancient games must be under-
stood with some latitude; and the carnival sports of the Testa-
cean Mount and the Circus Agonalis were regulated by the law
or custom of the city. The senator presided with dignity and
pomp to adjudge and distribute the prizes, the gold ring, or the
pallium, as it was styled, of cloth or silk. A tribute on the
Jews supplied the annual expense; and the races on foot, on
horseback, or in chariots, were ennobled by a tilt and tourna-
ment of seventy-two of the Roman youth. In the year 1332 a bull-
feast, after the fashion of the Moors and Spaniards, was celebrated
in the Coliseum itself; and the living manners are painted in a
diary of the times. A convenient order of benches was restored,
and a general proclamation as far as Rimini and Ravenna invited
the nobles to exercise their skill and courage in this perilous ad-
venture. The Roman ladies were marshaled in three squadrons
and seated in three balconies, which on this day, the third of Sep-
tember, were lined with scarlet cloth. The fair Jacova di Rovere
led the matrons from beyond the Tiber, a pure and native race
who still represent the features and character of antiquity. The
remainder of the city was divided as usual between the Colonna
and Ursini: the two factions were proud of the number and
beauty of their female bands: the charms of Savella Ursini are
mentioned with praise, and the Colonna regretted the absence of
the youngest of their house, who had sprained her ankle in the
garden of Nero's tower. The lots of the champions were drawn
by an old and respectable citizen; and they descended into the
arena, or pit, to encounter the wild bulls, on foot as it should
seem, with a single spear. Amidst the crowd, our annalist has
selected the names, colors, and devices of twenty of the most
conspicuous knights. Several of the names are the most illus-
trious of Rome and the ecclesiastical State: Malatesta, Polenta,
Della Valle, Cafarello, Savelli, Capoccio, Conti, Annibaldi, Altieri,
Corsi: the colors were adapted to their taste and situation; the
I
B


## p. 6328 (#302) ###########################################

6330
EDWARD GIBBON
heavens, the bell rang, the prophet of the Capitol reported the
prodigy, and the Senate was admonished of the impending dan-
ger. " A second example, of less importance though of equal
absurdity, may be drawn from the two marble horses, led by two
naked youths, which have since been transported from the baths
of Constantine to the Quirinal Hill. The groundless application
of the names of Phidias and Praxiteles may perhaps be excused:
but these Grecian sculptors should not have been removed above
four hundred years from the age of Pericles to that of Tiberius;
they should not have been transformed into two philosophers or
magicians, whose nakedness was the symbol of truth or knowl-
edge, who revealed to the Emperor his most secret actions, and
after refusing all pecuniary recompense, solicited the honor of
leaving this eternal monument of themselves. Thus, awake to
the power of magic, the Romans were insensible to the beauties
of art: no more than five statues were visible to the eyes of
Poggius; and of the multitudes which chance or design had
buried under the ruins, the resurrection was fortunately delayed
till a safer and more enlightened age. The Nile, which now
adorns the Vatican, had been explored by some laborers in dig-
ging a vineyard near the temple, or convent, of the Minerva: but
the impatient proprietor, who was tormented by some visits of
curiosity, restored the unprofitable marble to its former grave.
The discovery of the statue of Pompey, ten feet in length, was
the occasion of a lawsuit. It had been found under a partition
wall: the equitable judge had pronounced that the head should
be separated from the body to satisfy the claims of the contig-
uous owners; and the sentence would have been executed if
the intercession of a cardinal and the liberality of a pope had not
rescued the Roman hero from the hands of his barbarous coun-
trymen.
But the clouds of barbarism were gradually dispelled, and the
peaceful authority of Martin the Fifth and his successors restored
the ornaments of the city as well as the order of the ecclesias-
tical State. The improvements of Rome since the fifteenth cen-
tury have not been the spontaneous produce of freedom and
industry. The first and most natural root of a great city is the
labor and populousness of the adjacent country, which supplies
the materials of subsistence, of manufactures, and of foreign trade.
But the greater part of the Campagna of Rome is reduced to a
dreary and desolate wilderness; the overgrown estates of the


## p. 6329 (#303) ###########################################

EDWARD GIBBON
6331
princes and the clergy are cultivated by the lazy hands of indi-
gent and hopeless vassals; and the scanty harvests are confined
or exported for the benefit of a monopoly. A second and more
artificial cause of the growth of a metropolis is the residence of
a monarch, the expense of a luxurious court, and the tributes of
dependent provinces. Those provinces and tributes had been lost
in the fall of the Empire: and if some streams of the silver of
Peru and the gold of Brazil have been attracted by the Vatican,
the revenues of the cardinals, the fees of office, the oblations of
pilgrims and clients, and the remnant of ecclesiastical taxes, afford
a poor and precarious supply, which maintains however the idle-
ness of the court and city. The population of Rome, far below
the measure of the great capitals of Europe, does not exceed one
hundred and seventy thousand inhabitants; and within the spa-
cious inclosure of the walls the largest portion of the seven hills
is overspread with vineyards and ruins. The beauty and splendor
of the modern city may be ascribed to the abuses of the govern-
ment, to the influence of superstition. Each reign (the excep-
tions are rare) has been marked by the rapid elevation of a new
family, enriched by the childless pontiff at the expense of the
Church and country. The palaces of these fortunate nephews are
the most costly monuments of elegance and servitude: the per-
fect arts of architecture, painting, and sculpture have been pros-
tituted in their service; and their galleries and gardens are
decorated with the most precious works of antiquity which taste
or vanity has prompted them to collect. The ecclesiastical reve-
nues were more decently employed by the popes themselves in
the pomp of the Catholic worship; but it is superfluous to enu-
merate their pious foundations of altars, chapels, and churches,
since these lesser stars are eclipsed by the sun of the Vatican, by
the dome of St. Peter, the most glorious structure that ever has
been applied to the use of religion.
use of religion. The fame of Julius the
Second, Leo the Tenth, and Sixtus the Fifth is accompanied by
the superior merit of Bramante and Fontana, of Raphael and
Michael Angelo; and the same munificence which had been dis-
played in palaces and temples was directed with equal zeal to
revive and emulate the labors of antiquity. Prostrate obelisks
were raised from the ground and erected in the most conspicu-
ous places; of the eleven aqueducts of the Cæsars and consuls,
three were restored; the artificial rivers were conducted over a
long series of old, or of new arches, to discharge into marble


## p. 6330 (#304) ###########################################

6330
EDWARD GIBBON
heavens, the bell rang, the prophet of the Capitol reported the
prodigy, and the Senate was admonished of the impending dan-
ger. " A second example, of less importance though of equal
absurdity, may be drawn from the two marble horses, led by two
naked youths, which have since been transported from the baths
of Constantine to the Quirinal Hill. The groundless application
of the names of Phidias and Praxiteles may perhaps be excused:
but these Grecian sculptors should not have been removed above
four hundred years from the age of Pericles to that of Tiberius;
they should not have been transformed into two philosophers or
magicians, whose nakedness was the symbol of truth or knowl-
edge, who revealed to the Emperor his most secret actions, and
after refusing all pecuniary recompense, solicited the honor of
leaving this eternal monument of themselves. Thus, awake to
the power of magic, the Romans were insensible to the beauties
of art: no more than five statues were visible to the eyes of
Poggius; and of the multitudes which chance or design had
buried under the ruins, the resurrection was fortunately delayed
till a safer and more enlightened age. The Nile, which now
adorns the Vatican, had been explored by some laborers in dig-
ging a vineyard near the temple, or convent, of the Minerva: but
the impatient proprietor, who was tormented by some visits of
curiosity, restored the unprofitable marble to its former grave.
The discovery of the statue of Pompey, ten feet in length, was
the occasion of a lawsuit. It had been found under a partition
wall: the equitable judge had pronounced that the head should
be separated from the body to satisfy the claims of the contig-
uous owners; and the sentence would have been executed if
the intercession of a cardinal and the liberality of a pope had not
rescued the Roman hero from the hands of his barbarous coun-
trymen.
But the clouds of barbarism were gradually dispelled, and the
peaceful authority of Martin the Fifth and his successors restored
the ornaments of the city as well as the order of the ecclesias-
tical State. The improvements of Rome since the fifteenth cen-
tury have not been the spontaneous produce of freedom and
industry. The first and most natural root of a great city is the
labor and populousness of the adjacent country, which supplies
the materials of subsistence, of manufactures, and of foreign trade.
But the greater part of the Campagna of Rome is reduced to a
dreary and desolate wilderness; the overgrown estates of the


## p. 6331 (#305) ###########################################

EDWARD GIBBON
6331
princes and the clergy are cultivated by the lazy hands of indi-
gent and hopeless vassals; and the scanty harvests are confined
or exported for the benefit of a monopoly. A second and more
artificial cause of the growth of a metropolis is the residence of
a monarch, the expense of a luxurious court, and the tributes of
dependent provinces. Those provinces and tributes had been lost
in the fall of the Empire: and if some streams of the silver of
Peru and the gold of Brazil have been attracted by the Vatican,
the revenues of the cardinals, the fees of office, the oblations of
pilgrims and clients, and the remnant of ecclesiastical taxes, afford
a poor and precarious supply, which maintains however the idle-
ness of the court and city. The population of Rome, far below
the measure of the great capitals of Europe, does not exceed one
hundred and seventy thousand inhabitants; and within the spa-
cious inclosure of the walls the largest portion of the seven hills
is overspread with vineyards and ruins. The beauty and splendor
of the modern city may be ascribed to the abuses of the govern-
ment, to the influence of superstition. Each reign (the excep-
tions are rare) has been marked by the rapid elevation of a new
family, enriched by the childless pontiff at the expense of the
Church and country. The palaces of these fortunate nephews are
the most costly monuments of elegance and servitude: the per-
fect arts of architecture, painting, and sculpture have been pros-
tituted in their service; and their galleries and gardens are
decorated with the most precious works of antiquity which taste
or vanity has prompted them to collect. The ecclesiastical reve-
nues were more decently employed by the popes themselves in
the pomp of the Catholic worship; but it is superfluous to enu-
merate their pious foundations of altars, chapels, and churches,
since these lesser stars are eclipsed by the sun of the Vatican, by
the dome of St. Peter, the most glorious structure that ever has
been applied to the use of religion. The fame of Julius the
Second, Leo the Tenth, and Sixtus the Fifth is accompanied by
the superior merit of Bramante and Fontana, of Raphael and
Michael Angelo; and the same munificence which had been dis-
played in palaces and temples was directed with equal zeal to
revive and emulate the labors of antiquity. Prostrate obelisks
were raised from the ground and erected in the most conspicu-
ous places; of the eleven aqueducts of the Cæsars and consuls,
three were restored; the artificial rivers were conducted over a
long series of old, or of new arches, to discharge into marble


## p. 6332 (#306) ###########################################

6332
EDWARD GIBBON
basins a flood of salubrious and refreshing waters: and the spec-
tator, impatient to ascend the steps of St. Peter's, is detained by
a column of Egyptian granite, which rises between two lofty and
perpetual fountains to the height of one hundred and twenty
feet. The map, the description, the monuments of ancient Rome
have been elucidated by the diligence of the antiquarian and the
student; and the footsteps of heroes, the relics, not of supersti-
tion but of empire, are devoutly visited by a new race of pil
grims from the remote and once savage countries of the North.
All the foregoing selections are made from The History of the Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire'


## p. 6333 (#307) ###########################################

6333
WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
(1836-)
W
HEN, after appearing from time to time in the London Fun,
the 'Bab Ballads' were published in book form in 1870,
everybody, young and old, found them provocative of hearty
laughter. "Much sound and little sense," was the title-page motto.
Perhaps the fact that Mr. Gilbert's readers did not know why they
laughed was one great charm of the ballads. The humor was felt,
not analyzed, and involved no mental fatigue. If there was "little
sense," no continuity of meaning, there was usually significant sug-
gestion; and social foibles were touched off
with good-natured irony in a delightfully
inconsequent fashion. The "much sound"
was a spirited lyric swing which clung to
the memory, a rich rhythm, and a rollick-
ing spontaneity, which disregarded consid-
erations of grammar and pronunciation in a
way that only added to the fun.

The 'Bab Ballads,' and 'More Bab Bal-
lads' which appeared in 1872, have become
classic. In many of them may be found the
germs of the librettos which have made Gil-
bert famous in comic opera. 'Pinafore,'
'The Mikado,' 'Patience,' and many others
of a long and well-known list written to Sir
Arthur Sullivan's music, have furnished the public with many popular
songs. A volume of dainty lyrics has been made up from them; and,
entitled 'Songs of a Savoyard' (from the Savoy Theatre of London,
where the operas were first represented), was published in 1890.
Mr. Gilbert was born in London November 18th, 1836, and edu-
cated in that city; after his graduation from the University of Lon-
don he studied law, and was called to the bar of the Inner Temple in
1863. Five years later he became a captain of the Royal Aberdeen-
shire Highlanders. The success of his first play, 'Dulcamara,' in
1866, led him to abandon the law, and he has since devoted himself
to authorship.
WILLIAM S. GILBERT


## p. 6334 (#308) ###########################################

6334
WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
CAPTAIN REECE
OF
F ALL the ships upon the blue,
No ship contained a better crew
Than that of worthy Captain Reece,
Commanding of The Mantle piece.
He was adored by all his men,
For worthy Captain Reece, R. N. ,
Did all that lay within him to
Promote the comfort of his crew.
If ever they were dull or sad,
Their captain danced to them like mad,
Or told, to make the time pass by,
Droll legends of his infancy.
A feather-bed had every man,
Warm slippers and hot-water can,
Brown windsor from the captain's store;
A valet, too, to every four.
Did they with thirst in summer burn,
Lo! seltzogenes at every turn;
And on all very sultry days
Cream ices handed round on trays.
Then, currant wine and ginger pops
Stood handily on all the "tops";
And also, with amusement rife,
A "Zoetrope, or Wheel of Life. "
New volumes came across the sea
From Mr. Mudie's libraree;
The Times and Saturday Review
Beguiled the leisure of the crew.
Kind-hearted Captain Reece, R. N. ,
Was quite devoted to his men;
In point of fact, good Captain Reece
Beatified The Mantelpiece.
One summer eve, at half-past ten,
He said (addressing all his men):—
"Come, tell me, please, what I can do
To please and gratify my crew.


## p. 6335 (#309) ###########################################

WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
6335
"By any reasonable plan
I'll make you happy if I can,-
My own convenience count as nil:
It is my duty, and I will. »
Then up and answered William Lee
(The kindly captain's coxwain he,
A nervous, shy, low-spoken man);
He cleared his throat, and thus began:-
"You have a daughter, Captain Reece,
Ten female cousins and a niece,
A ma, if what I'm told is true,
Six sisters, and an aunt or two.
"Now, somehow, sir, it seems to me,
More friendly-like we all should be,
If you united of 'em to
Unmarried members of the crew.
"If you'd ameliorate our life,
Let each select from them a wife;
And as for nervous me, old pal,
Give me your own enchanting gal! "
Good Captain Reece, that worthy man,
Debated on his coxwain's plan:-
"I quite agree," he said, "O Bill:
It is my duty, and I will.
"My daughter, that enchanting gurl,
Has just been promised to an Earl,
And all my other familee
To peers of various degree.
"But what are dukes and viscounts to
The happiness of all my crew?
The word I gave you I'll fulfill;
It is my duty, and I will.
"As you desire it shall befall;
I'll settle thousands on you all,
And I shall be, despite my hoard,
The only bachelor on board. "
-
The boatswain of the Mantelpiece,
He blushed and spoke to Captain Reece:
-


## p. 6336 (#310) ###########################################

6336
WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
"I beg your Honor's leave," he said:-
"If you would wish to go and wed,
"I have a widowed mother who
Would be the very thing for you-
She long has loved you from afar:
She washes for you, Captain R. "
The captain saw the dame that day-
Addressed her in his playful way:-
"And did it want a wedding ring?
It was a tempting ickle sing!
-
"Well, well, the chaplain I will seek,
We'll all be married this day week
At yonder church upon the hill;
It is my duty, and I will! »
The sisters, cousins, aunts, and niece,
And widowed ma of Captain Reece,
Attended there as they were bid:
It was their duty, and they did.
THE YARN OF THE NANCY BELL
WAS on the shores that round our coast
'TWA From Deal to Ramsgate span,
That I found alone on a piece of stone
An elderly naval man.
His hair was weedy, his beard was long,
And weedy and long was he;
And I heard this wight on the shore recite,
In a singular minor key:-
"Oh, I am a cook, and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig. "
And he shook his fists and he tore his hair,
Till I really felt afraid,
For I couldn't help thinking the man had been drinking,
And so I simply said:—


## p. 6337 (#311) ###########################################

WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
6337
"O elderly man, it's little I know
Of the duties of men of the sea,
And I'll eat my hand if I understand
However you can be
"At once a cook, and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig. "
And he gave a hitch to his trousers, which
Is a trick all seamen larn,
And having got rid of a thumping quid,
He spun his painful yarn:
-
'Twas in the good ship Nancy Bell
That we sailed to the Indian Sea,
And there on a reef we come to grief,
Which has often occurred to me.
"And pretty nigh all the crew was drowned
(There was seventy-seven o' soul),
And only ten of the Nancy's men
Said 'Here! ' to the muster-roll.
"There was me and the cook and the captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And the bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig.
"For a month we'd neither wittles nor drink,
Till a-hungry we did feel;
So we drawed a lot, and accordin', shot
The captain for our meal.
"The next lot fell to the Nancy's mate,
And a delicate dish he made;
Then our appetite with the midshipmite
We seven survivors stayed.
"And then we murdered the bo'sun tight,
And he much resembled pig;
Then we wittled free, did the cook and me
On the crew of the captain's gig.
"Then only the cook and me was left,
And the delicate question, "Which
XI-397


## p. 6338 (#312) ###########################################


6338
WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
Of us two goes to the kettle? ' arose,
And we argued it out as sich.
"For I loved that cook as a brother, I did,
And the cook he worshiped me;
But we'd both be blowed if we'd either be stowed
In the other chap's hold, you see.
"I'll be eat if you dines off me,' says Tom;
'Yes, that,' says I, 'you'll be:
I'm boiled if I die, my friend,' quoth I;
And Exactly so,' quoth he.
"Says he, 'Dear James, to murder me
Were a foolish thing to do,
For don't you see that you can't cook me,
While I can and will-cook you? '
"So he boils the water, and takes the salt
And the pepper in portions true
(Which he never forgot), and some chopped shalot,
And some sage and parsley too.
<<"Come here,' says he, with a proper pride,
Which his smiling features tell;
Twill soothing be if I let you see
How extremely nice you'll smell. '
"And he stirred it round and round and round,
And he sniffed at the foaming froth;
When I ups with his heels, and smothers his squeals.
In the scum of the boiling broth.
"And I eat that cook in a week or less,
And as I eating be
The last of his chops, why, I almost drops,
For a wessel in sight I see!
—
"And I never larf, and I never smile,
And I never lark nor play,
But sit and croak, and a single joke
I have - which is to say:-
-
«Oh, I am a cook, and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig! ""


## p. 6339 (#313) ###########################################


WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
6339
THE BISHOP OF RUM-TI-FOO
F
ROM east and south the holy clan
Of bishops gathered to a man;
To Synod, called Pan-Anglican,
In flocking crowds they came.
Among them was a bishop who
Had lately been appointed to
The balmy isle of Rum-ti-Foo,
And Peter was his name.
His people-twenty-three in sum
They played the eloquent tum-tum,
And lived on scalps served up in rum
The only sauce they knew.
When first good Bishop Peter came
(For Peter was that bishop's name),
To humor them, he did the same
As they of Rum-ti-Foo.
-
His flock, I've often heard him tell,
(His name was Peter) loved him well,
And summoned by the sound of bell,
In crowds together came.
"Oh, massa, why you go away?
Oh, Massa Peter, please to stay. "
(They called him Peter, people say,
Because it was his name. )
He told them all good boys to be,
And sailed away across the sea;
At London Bridge that bishop he
Arrived one Tuesday night;
And as that night he homeward strode
To his Pan-Anglican abode,
He passed along the Borough Road,
And saw a gruesome sight.
He saw a crowd assembled round
A person dancing on the ground,
Who straight began to leap and bound
With all his might and main.
To see that dancing man he stopped,
Who twirled and wriggled, skipped and hopped,
Then down incontinently dropped,
And then sprang up again.


## p. 6340 (#314) ###########################################

6340
WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
The bishop chuckled at the sight.
"This style of dancing would delight
A simple Rum-ti-Foozleite:
I'll learn it if I can,
To please the tribe when I get back. "
He begged the man to teach his knack.
"Right reverend sir, in half a crack! "
Replied that dancing man.
The dancing man he worked away,
And taught the bishop every day;
The dancer skipped like any fay -
Good Peter did the same.
The bishop buckled to his task,
With battements and pas de basque.
(I'll tell you, if you care to ask,
That Peter was his name. )
"Come, walk like this," the dancer said;
"Stick out your toes-stick in your head,
Stalk on with quick, galvanic tread
Your fingers thus extend;
The attitude's considered quaint. "
The weary bishop, feeling faint,
Replied, "I do not say it ain't,
But Time! ' my Christian friend! »
"We now proceed to something new:
Dance as the Paynes and Lauris do,
Like this one, two-one, two-one, two. "
The bishop, never proud,
But in an overwhelming heat
(His name was Peter, I repeat)
Performed the Payne and Lauri feat,
And puffed his thanks aloud.
-
Another game the dancer planned:
"Just take your ankle in your hand,
And try, my lord, if you can stand
Your body stiff and stark.
If when revisiting your see
You learnt to hop on shore, like me,
The novelty would striking be.
And must attract remark. "


## p. 6341 (#315) ###########################################


WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
6341
"No," said the worthy bishop, "no;
That is a length to which, I trow,
Colonial bishops cannot go.
You may express surprise
At finding bishops deal in pride-
But if that trick I ever tried,
I should appear undignified
In Rum-ti-Foozle's eyes.
"The islanders of Rum-ti-Foo
Are well-conducted persons, who
Approve a joke as much as you,
And laugh at it as such;
But if they saw their bishop land,
His leg supported in his hand,
The joke they wouldn't understand
'Twould pain them very much! "
GENTLE ALICE BROWN
I'
T WAS a robber's daughter, and her name was Alice Brown;
Her father was the terror of a small Italian town;
Her mother was a foolish, weak, but amiable old thing:
But it isn't of her parents that I'm going for to sing.
As Alice was a-sitting at her window-sill one day,
A beautiful young gentleman he chanced to pass that way;
She cast her eyes upon him, and he looked so good and true,
That she thought, "I could be happy with a gentleman like you! »
And every morning passed her house that cream of gentlemen;
She knew she might expect him at a quarter unto ten;
A sorter in the Custom-house, it was his daily road
(The Custom-house was fifteen minutes' walk from her abode).
But Alice was a pious girl, who knew it wasn't wise
To look at strange young sorters with expressive purple eyes;
So she sought the village priest to whom her family confessed,
The priest by whom their little sins were carefully assessed.
"O holy father," Alice said, "'twould grieve you, would it not,
To discover that I was a most disreputable lot?
Of all unhappy sinners I'm the most unhappy one! "
The padre said, "Whatever have you been and gone and done? »


## p. 6342 (#316) ###########################################

6342
WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
1
·
"I have helped mamma to steal a little kiddy from its dad,
I've assisted dear papa in cutting up a little lad,
I've planned a little burglary and forged a little cheque,
And slain a little baby for the coral on its neck! "
The worthy pastor heaved a sigh, and dropped a silent tear,
And said, "You mustn't judge yourself too heavily, my dear:
It's wrong to murder babies, little corals for to fleece;
But sins like these one expiates at half-a-crown apiece.
"Girls will be girls- you're very young, and flighty in your mind;
Old heads upon young shoulders we must not expect to find;
We mustn't be too hard upon these little girlish tricks-
Let's see five crimes at half-a-crown- exactly twelve-and-six. "
―――
"O father," little Alice cried, "your kindness makes me weep,
You do these little things for me so singularly cheap;
Your thoughtful liberality I never can forget;
But oh! there is another crime I haven't mentioned yet!
"A pleasant-looking gentleman, with pretty purple eyes,
I've noticed at my window, as I've sat a-catching flies;
He passes by it every day as certain as can be-
I blush to say I've winked at him and he has winked at me! "
"For shame! " said Father Paul, "my erring daughter! On my word,
This is the most distressing news that I have ever heard.
Why, naughty girl, your excellent papa has pledged your hand
To a promising young robber, the lieutenant of his band!
"This dreadful piece of news will pain your worthy parents so!
They are the most remunerative customers I know;
For many, many years they've kept starvation from my doors:
I never knew so criminal a family as yours!
"The common country folk in this insipid neighborhood
Have nothing to confess, they're so ridiculously good;
And if you marry any one respectable at all,
Why, you'll reform, and what will then become of Father Paul? "
The worthy priest, he up and drew his cowl upon his crown,
And started off in haste to tell the news to Robber Brown-
To tell him how his daughter, who was now for marriage fit,
Had winked upon a sorter, who reciprocated it.
Good Robber Brown he muffled up his anger pretty well;
He said, "I have a notion, and that notion I will tell:


## p. 6343 (#317) ###########################################

WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
6343
I will nab this gay young sorter, terrify him into fits,
And get my gentle wife to chop him into little bits.
"I've studied human nature, and I know a thing or two:
Though a girl may fondly love a living gent, as many do-
A feeling of disgust upon her senses there will fall
When she looks upon his body chopped particularly small. "
He traced that gallant sorter to a still suburban square;
He watched his opportunity, and seized him unaware;
He took a life-preserver and he hit him on the head,
And Mrs. Brown dissected him before she went to bed.
And pretty little Alice grew more settled in her mind;
She never more was guilty of a weakness of the kind;
Until at length good Robber Brown bestowed her pretty hand
On the promising young robber, the lieutenant of his band.
THE CAPTAIN AND THE MERMAIDS
SING a legend of the sea,
So hard-a-port upon your lee!
A ship on starboard tack!
I
She's bound upon a private cruise —
(This is the kind of spice I use
To give a salt-sea smack).
Behold, on every afternoon
(Save in a gale or strong monsoon)
Great Captain Capel Cleggs
(Great morally, though rather short)
Sat at an open weather-port
And aired his shapely legs.
And mermaids hung around in flocks,
On cable chains and distant rocks,
To gaze upon those limbs;
For legs like those, of flesh and bone,
Are things "not generally known"
To any merman timbs.
But mermen didn't seem to care
Much time (as far as I'm aware)
With Cleggs's legs to spend;
Though mermaids swam around all day
And gazed, exclaiming, "That's the way
A gentleman should end!


## p. 6344 (#318) ###########################################


6344
WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
"A pair of legs with well-cut knees,
And calves and ankles such as these
Which we in rapture hail,
Are far more eloquent, it's clear
(When clothed in silk and kerseymere),
Than any nasty tail. "
And Cleggs a worthy, kind old boy-
Rejoiced to add to others' joy,
And when the day was dry,
Because it pleased the lookers-on,
He sat from morn till night-though con-
Stitutionally shy.
At first the mermen laughed, "Pooh! pooh! "
But finally they jealous grew,
And sounded loud recalls;
But vainly. So these fishy males
Declared they too would clothe their tails
In silken hose and smalls.
They set to work, these watermen,
And made their nether robes - but when
They drew with dainty touch
The kerseymere upon their tails,
They found it scraped against their scales,
And hurt them very much.
The silk, besides, with which they chose
To deck their tails by way of hose
(They never thought of shoon)
For such a use was much too thin,-
It tore against the caudal fin,
And went in ladders » soon.
So they designed another plan:
They sent their most seductive man,
This note to him to show:
"Our Monarch sends to Captain Cleggs
His humble compliments, and begs
He'll join him down below;
"We've pleasant homes below the sea
Besides, if Captain Cleggs should be
(As our advices say)
————---
1
H


## p. 6345 (#319) ###########################################


WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
6345
A judge of mermaids, he will find
Our lady fish of every kind
Inspection will repay. "
Good Capel sent a kind reply,
For Capel thought he could descry
An admirable plan
To study all their ways and laws-
(But not their lady fish, because
He was a married man).
The merman sank-the captain too
Jumped overboard, and dropped from view
Like stone from catapult;
And when he reached the merman's lair,
He certainly was welcomed there,
But ah! with what result!
They didn't let him learn their law,
Or make a note of what he saw,
Or interesting mem. ;
The lady fish he couldn't find,
But that, of course, he didn't mind
He didn't come for them.
For though when Captain Capel sank,
The mermen drawn in double rank
Gave him a hearty hail,
Yet when secure of Captain Cleggs,
They cut off both his lovely legs,
And gave him such a tail!
—
When Captain Cleggs returned aboard,
His blithesome crew convulsive roar'd,
To see him altered so.
The admiralty did insist
That he upon the half-pay list
Immediately should go.
In vain declared the poor old salt,
"It's my misfortune not my fault,"
With tear and trembling lip-
In vain poor Capel begged and begged.
"A man must be completely legged
Who rules a British ship. "
―
-


## p. 6346 (#320) ###########################################

I
I
•
·
6346
WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT
So spake the stern First Lord aloud,-
He was a wag, though very proud,
And much rejoiced to say,
"You're only half a captain now
And so, my worthy friend, I vow
You'll only get half-pay! ",
All the above selections are made from 'Fifty Bab Ballads. '
-


## p. 6347 (#321) ###########################################

6347
RICHARD WATSON GILDER
(1844-)
ICHARD WATSON GILDER is the son of a clergyman, the Rev.
William H. Gilder, who published two literary reviews in
Philadelphia. He was born in Bordentown, New Jersey,
February 8th, 1844, and with such ancestry and home influence came
easily to journalism and literary work. He got his schooling in the
Bellevue Seminary, which was founded by his father. As with so
many young Americans of the time, the war came to interrupt his
studies; and in 1863 he served in the "Emergency Corps," in the
defense of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Mr. Gil-
der is one of the American writers who
have successfully combined journalism and
literature. He began by doing newspaper
work, and then by a natural transition be-
came in 1869 editor of Hours at Home, and
shortly thereafter associate editor of Scrib-
ner's Magazine with Dr. J. G. Holland.
This representative monthly was changed
in name to The Century, and upon the
death of Dr. Holland in 1881 Mr. Gilder
became its editor-in-chief. His influence in
this conspicuous position has been whole-
some and helpful in the encouraging of lit-
erature, and in the discussion of current
questions of importance through a popular medium which reaches great
numbers of the American people. The Century under his direction
has been receptive to young writers and artists of ability, and many
since known to fame made their maiden appearance in its pages.
In addition to his influence on the literary movement, Mr. Gilder
has been active in philanthropic and political work. He has secured
legislation for the improvement of tenements in cities; he has taken
interest in the formation of public kindergartens; and given of his
time and strength to further other reforms. His influence in New
York City, too, has been a factor in developing the social aspects of
literary and art life there. From Dickinson College he has received
the degree of LL. D. , and from Princeton that of L. H. D.
Mr. Gilder's reputation as a writer is based upon his verse.
Only very occasionally does he publish an essay, though thoughtful,
strongly written editorials from his pen in his magazine are frequent.

RICHARD W. GILDER


## p. 6348 (#322) ###########################################


6348
RICHARD WATSON GILDER
But it is his verse-writing that has given him his place- a distinct
and honorable one-in American letters. The fine quality and prom-
ise of his work was recognized upon the publication of 'The New
Day in 1875, a first volume which was warmly received. It showed
the influence of Italian studies, and contained lyric work of much
imaginative beauty. The musicalness of it and the delicately ideal
treatment of the love passion were noticeable characteristics. In his
subsequent books-The Celestial Passion,' 1887; Lyrics,' 1885 and
1887; Two Worlds, and Other Poems,' 1891; 'The Great Remem-
brance, and Other Poems,' 1893: the contents of these being gathered
finally into the one volume 'Five Books of Song,' 1894 - he has given
further proof of his genuine lyric gift, his work in later years having
a wider range of themes, a broadening vision and deepening purpose.
He remains nevertheless essentially a lyrist, a maker of songs; a thor-
ough artist who has seriousness, dignity, and charm. His is an ear-
nest nature, sensitive alike to vital contemporaneous problems and to
the honey-sweet voice of the Ideal.
[All the following citations from Mr. Gilder's poems are copyrighted, and
are reprinted here by special permission of the author and his publishers. ]
TWO SONGS FROM THE NEW DAY'
I
NOT
OT from the whole wide world I chose thee,
Sweetheart, light of the land and the sea!
The wide, wide world could not inclose thee-
For thou art the whole wide world to me.
II
YEARS have flown since I knew thee first,
And I know thee as water is known of thirst;
Yet I knew thee of old at the first sweet sight,
And thou art strange to me, Love, to-night.
"ROSE-DARK THE SOLEMN SUNSET»
OSE-DARK the solemn sunset
R
That holds my thought of thee;
With one star in the heavens
And one star in the sea.
On high no lamp is lighted,
Nor where the long waves flow.


## p. 6349 (#323) ###########################################


RICHARD WATSON GILDER
6349
Save the one star of evening
And the shadow star below.
Light of my life, the darkness
Comes with the twilight dream;
Thou art the bright star shining,
And I but the shadowy gleam.
NON SINE DOLORE
HAT, then, is Life,- what Death?
Thus the Answerer saith;
WHA
O faithless mortal, bend thy head and listen:
Down o'er the vibrant strings,
That thrill, and moan, and mourn, and glisten,
The Master draws his bow.
A voiceless pause: then upward, see, it springs,
Free as a bird with unimprisoned wings!
In twain the chord was cloven,
While, shaken with woe,
With breaks of instant joy all interwoven,
Piercing the heart with lyric knife,
On, on the ceaseless music sings,
Restless, intense, serene;
Life is the downward stroke; the upward, Life;
Death but the pause between.
—
Then spake the Questioner: If 't were only this,
Ah, who could face the abyss
That plunges steep athwart each human breath?
If the new birth of Death
Meant only more of Life as mortals know it,
What priestly balm, what song of highest poet,
Could heal one sentient soul's immitigable pain?
All, all were vain!
If, having soared pure spirit at the last,
Free from the impertinence and warp of flesh
We find half joy, half pain, on every blast;
Are caught again in closer-woven mesh
Ah! who would care to die
From out these fields and hills, and this familiar sky;
These firm, sure hands that compass us, this dear humanity?


## p. 6350 (#324) ###########################################

6350
RICHARD WATSON GILDER
Again the Answerer saith:
O ye of little faith,
Shall then the spirit prove craven,
And Death's divine deliverance but give
A summer rest and haven?
By all most noble in us, by the light that streams
Into our waking dreams,
Ah, we who know what Life is, let us live!
Clearer and freer, who shall doubt?
Something of dust and darkness cast forever out;
But Life, still Life, that leads to higher Life,
Even though the highest be not free from immortal strife.
The highest! Soul of man, oh be thou bold,
And to the brink of thought draw near, behold!
Where, on the earth's green sod,
Where, where in all the universe of God,
Hath strife forever ceased?
When hath not some great orb flashed into space
The terror of its doom? When hath no human face
Turned earthward in despair,
For that some horrid sin had stamped its image there?
If at our passing Life be Life increased,
And we ourselves flame pure unfettered soul,
Like the Eternal Power that made the whole
And lives in all he made
From shore of matter to the unknown spirit shore;
If, sire to son, and tree to limb,
Cycle on countless cycle more and more
We grow to be like him;
If he lives on, serene and unafraid,
Through all his light, his love, his living thought,
One with the sufferer, be it soul or star;
If he escape not pain, what beings that are
Can e'er escape while Life leads on and up the unseen way and far?
If he escape not, by whom all was wrought,
Then shall not we,
Whate'er of godlike solace still may be,-
For in all worlds there is no Life without a pang, and can be naught.
-
No Life without a pang! It were not Life,
If ended were the strife-
Man were not man, nor God were truly God!
See from the sod


## p. 6351 (#325) ###########################################


RICHARD WATSON GILDER
6351
The lark thrill skyward in an arrow of song:
Even so from pain and wrong
Upsprings the exultant spirit, wild and free.
He knows not all the joy of liberty
Who never yet was crushed 'neath heavy woe.
He doth not know,
Nor can, the bliss of being brave
Who never hath faced death, nor with unquailing eye
Hath measured his own grave.
Courage, and pity, and divinest scorn-
Self-scorn, self-pity, and high courage of the soul;
The passion for the goal;
The strength to never yield though all be lost-
All these are born
Of endless strife; this is the eternal cost
Of every lovely thought that through the portal
Of human minds doth pass with following light.
Blanch not, O trembling mortal!
But with extreme and terrible delight
Know thou the truth,
Nor let thy heart be heavy with false ruth.
No passing burden is our earthly sorrow,
That shall depart in some mysterious morrow.
'Tis His one universe where'er we are
One changeless law from sun to viewless star.
Were sorrow evil here, evil it were forever,
—
Beyond the scope and help of our most keen endeavor
God doth not dote,
His everlasting purpose shall not fail.
Here where our ears are weary with the wail
And weeping of the sufferers; there where the Pleiads float-
Here, there, forever, pain most dread and dire
Doth bring the intensest bliss, the dearest and most sure.
'Tis not from Life aside, it doth endure
Deep in the secret heart of all existence.
It is the inward fire,
The heavenly urge, and the divine insistence.
Uplift thine eyes, O Questioner, from the sod!
It were no longer Life,
If ended were the strife;
Man were not man, God were not truly God.


## p. 6352 (#326) ###########################################

6352
RICHARD WATSON GILDER
·
·
"HOW PADEREWSKI PLAYS»
I
I'
F SONGS were perfume, color, wild desire;
If poets' words were fire
That burned to blood in purple-pulsing veins;
If with a bird-like thrill the moments throbbed to hours;
If summer's rains
Turned drop by drop to shy, sweet, maiden flowers;
If God made flowers with light and music in them,
And saddened hearts could win them;
If loosened petals touched the ground
With a caressing sound;
If love's eyes uttered word
No listening lover e'er before had heard;
If silent thoughts spake with a bugle's voice;
If flame passed into song and cried, "Rejoice! Rejoice! "
If words could picture life's, hope's, heaven's eclipse
When the last kiss has fallen on dying eyes and lips;
If all of mortal woe
Struck on one heart with breathless blow on blow;
If melody were tears, and tears were starry gleams
That shone in evening's amethystine dreams;
Ah yes, if notes were stars, each star a different hue,
Trembling to earth in dew;
Or if the boreal pulsings, rose and white,
Made a majestic music in the night;
If all the orbs lost in the light of day
In the deep, silent blue began their harps to play;
And when in frightening skies the lightnings flashed
And storm-clouds crashed,
If every stroke of light and sound were but excess of beauty;
If human syllables could e'er refashion
That fierce electric passion;
If other art could match (as were the poet's duty)
The grieving, and the rapture, and the thunder
Of that keen hour of wonder,—
That light as if of heaven, that blackness as of hell,—
How Paderewski plays then might I dare to tell.
II
How Paderewski plays! And was it he
Or some disbodied spirit which had rushed
From silence into singing; and had crushed


## p. 6353 (#327) ###########################################


RICHARD WATSON GILDER
6353
Into one startled hour a life's felicity,
And highest bliss of knowledge-that all life, grief, wrong,
Turn at the last to beauty and to song!
WHA
HAT is a sonnet? 'Tis the pearly shell
That murmurs of the far-off murmuring sea;
A precious jewel carved most curiously;
It is a little picture painted well.
What is a sonnet? 'Tis the tear that fell
THE SONNET
From a great poet's hidden ecstasy;
A two-edged sword, a star, a song-ah me!
Sometimes a heavy-tolling funeral bell.
This was the flame that shook with Dante's breath;
The solemn organ whereon Milton played,
And the clear glass where Shakespeare's shadow falls:
A sea this is- - beware who ventureth!
—
For like a fiord the narrow floor is laid
Mid-ocean deep to the sheer mountain walls.
AMERICA
From The Great Remembrance>
L
AND that we love! Thou Future of the World!
Thou refuge of the noble heart oppressed!
Oh, never be thy shining image hurled
From its high place in the adoring breast
Of him who worships thee with jealous love!
Keep thou thy starry forehead as the dove
All white, and to the eternal Dawn inclined!
Thou art not for thyself, but for mankind,
And to despair of thee were to despair
Of man, of man's high destiny, of God!
Of thee should man despair, the journey trod
Upward, through unknown eons, stair on stair,
By this our race, with bleeding feet and slow,
Were but the pathway to a darker woe
Than yet was visioned by the heavy heart
Of prophet. To despair of thee! Ah no!
For thou thyself art Hope; Hope of the World thou art!
XI-398


## p. 6354 (#328) ###########################################


6354
RICHARD WATSON GILDER
ON THE LIFE-MASK OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
THIS
HIS bronze doth keep the very form and mold
Of our great martyr's face. Yes, this is he:
That brow all wisdom, all benignity;
That human, humorous mouth; those cheeks that hold
Like some harsh landscape all the summer's gold;
That spirit fit for sorrow, as the sea
For storms to beat on; the lone agony
Those silent, patient lips too well foretold.
Yes, this is he who ruled a world of men
As might some prophet of the elder day-
Brooding above the tempest and the fray
With deep-eyed thought and more than mortal ken.
A power was his beyond the touch of art
Or armed strength-his pure and mighty heart.
—
"CALL ME NOT DEAD »
CA
ALL me not dead when I, indeed, have gone
Into the company of the ever-living
High and most glorious poets! Let thanksgiving
Rather be made. Say:-"He at last hath won
Rest and release, converse supreme and wise,
Music and song and light of immortal faces;
To-day, perhaps, wandering in starry places,
He hath met Keats, and known him by his eyes.
To-morrow (who can say ? ) Shakespeare may pass,
And our lost friend just catch one syllable
Of that three-centuried wit that kept so well;
Or Milton; or Dante, looking on the grass
Thinking of Beatrice, and listening still
To chanted hymns that sound from the heavenly hill. "
AFTER-SONG
From The New Day'
TH
HROUGH love to light! Oh, wonderful the way
That leads from darkness to the perfect day!
From darkness and from sorrow of the night
To morning that comes singing o'er the sea.
Through love to light! Through light, O God, to thee,
Who art the love of love, the eternal light of light!
:


## p. 6355 (#329) ###########################################

6355
GIUSEPPE GIUSTI
(1809-1850)
IUSEPPE GIUSTI, an Italian satirical poet, was born of an influ-
ential family, May 12th, 1809, in the little village of Mon-
summano, which lies between Pistoja and Pescia, and was
in every fibre of his nature a Tuscan. As a child he imbibed the
healthful, sunny atmosphere of that Campagna, and grew up loving
the world and his comrades, but with a dislike of study which con-
vinced himself and his friends that he was born to no purpose.
He
was early destined to the bar, and began his law studies in Pistoja
and Lucca, completing them a number of
years later at Pisa, where he obtained his
degree of doctor.

In 1834 he went to Florence, under pre-
tence of practicing with the advocate Ca-
poquadri; but here as elsewhere he spent
his time in the world of gayety, whose fas-
cination and whose absurdity he seems to
have felt with equal keenness. His dislike
of study found its exception in his love of
Dante, of whom he was a reverent student.
He was himself continually versifying, and
his early romantic lyrics are inspired by
lofty thought. His penetrating humor, how-
ever, and his instinctive sarcasm, whose
expression was never unkind, led him soon to abandon idealism and
to distinguish himself in the field of satire, which has no purer rep-
resentative than he. His compositions are short and terse, and are
seldom blemished by personalities. He was wont to say that absurd
persons did not merit even the fame of infamy. He leveled his wit
against the lethargy and immoralities of the times, and revealed them
clear-cut in the light of his own stern principles and patriotism.
The admiration and confidence which he now began to receive
from the public was to him a matter almost of consternation, wont
as he was to consider himself a good-for-nothing. He confesses
somewhat bashfully however that there was always within him,
half afraid of itself, an instinct of power which led him to say in
his heart, Who knows what I may be with time? His frail constitu-
tion and almost incessant physical suffering account for a natural
indolence against which he constantly inveighs, but above which he
GIUSEPPE GIUSTI


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GIUSEPPE GIUSTI
was powerless to rise except at vehement intervals. No careless-
ness, however, marks his work. He was a tireless reviser, and pos-
sessed the rare power of cutting, polishing, and finishing his work
with exquisite nicety, without robbing it of vigor. His writings ex-
erted a distinct political and moral influence. His is not alone the
voice of pitiless and mocking irony, but it is that of the humanita-
rian, who in overthrow and destruction sees only the first step toward
the creation of something better. When war broke out he laid aside
his pen, saying that this was no time for a poet to pull down, and
that hi was not the power to build up. His health forbade his
entering the army, which was a cause of poignant sorrow to him.