CIV. "Twss not for fiction chose Rousseau this spot, CV. Lausanne! and Ferney! ye have been the abodes 23 Of names which unto you bequeath'd a name; Mortals, who sought and found, by dangerous roads, A path to perpetuity of fame: They were gigantic minds, and their steep aim, Was, Titan-like, on daring doubts to pile Thoughts which should call down thunder, and the flame Of Heaven, again assail'd, if Heaven the while On man and man's research could deign do more than smile. CVI. The one was fire and fickleness, a child, A wit a various, gay, grave, sage; or wild, Historian, bard, philosopher, combined; He multiplied himself among mankind, - Breathed most in ridicule; — which, as the wind, Blew where it listed, laying all things prone, Now to o'erthrow a fool, and now to shake a throne. CVII. The other, deep and slow, exhausting thought, Which stung his foes to wrath, which grew from And doom'd him to the zealot's ready Hell, Which answers to all doubts so eloquently well. CVIII. Yet, peace be with their ashes, - for by them, If merited, the penalty is paid; It is not ours to judge, far less condemn; The hour must come when such things shall be made Known unto all, or hope and dread allay'd By slumber, on one pillow, in the dust, Which, thus much we are sure, must lie decay'd; And when it shall revive, as is our trust, 'Twill be to be forgiven, or suffer what is just. CIX. But let me quit man's works, again to read To their most great and growing region, where CX. Italia! too, Italia! looking on thee, Thou wert the throne and grave of empires; still, CXI. Thus far I have proceeded in a theme We are not what we have been, and to deem and to steel The heart against itself; and to conceal, With a proud caution, love, or hate, or aught, Passion or feeling, purpose, grief or zeal, Which is the tyrant spirit of our thought, Is a stern task of soul: -No matter, it is taught.. CXII. And for these words, thus woven into song, I stood and stand alone, -remembered or forgot. XCIII. I have not loved the world, nor the world me; Nor coin'd my cheek to smiles, -nor cried aloud They could not deem me one of such; I stood Had I not filed 24 my mind, which thus itself subdued. E |