CVIII. Yet, peace be with their ashes,--for by them, 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 The earth to her embrace compels the powers of air. CX. Italia! too, Italia! looking on thee Full flashes on the soul the light of ages, Since the fierce Carthaginian almost won thee, Who glorify thy consecrated pages; Thou wert the throne and grave of empires: still, Thus far I have proceeded in a theme CXII. And for these words, thus woven into song, I stood and stand alone, remembered or forgot. 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 (could, Of thoughts which were not their thoughts, and still Had I not filed (24) my mind, which thus itself subdued. CXIV. I have not loved the world, nor the world me,- Though I have found them not, that there may be Snares for the failing: I would also deem O'er others' griefs that some sincerely grieve; (25) That two, or one, are almost what they seem,That goodness is no name, and happiness no dream. CXV. My daughter! with thy name this song begunMy daughter! with thy name thus much shall endI see thee not,-I hear thee not, but none Can be so wrapt in thee; thou art the friend To whom the shadows of far years extend: Albeit my brow thou never shoulds't behold, My voice shall with thy future visions blend, And reach into thy heart,-when mine is cold,A token and a tone, even from thy father's mould. CXVI. To aid thy mind's developement,—to watch I know not what is there, yet something like to this. Yet, though dull Hate as duty should be taught, Though the grave closed between us,-'twere the same And an attainment,-all would be in vain,— The child of love, though born in bitterness, And nurtured in convulsion. Of thy sire These were the elements, and thine no less. As yet such are around thee,-but thy fire Shall be more tempered, and thy hope far higher. Sweet be thy cradled slumber! O'er the sea, And from the mountains where now respire, Fain would I waft such blessing upon thee, As, with a sigh, I deem thou might'st have been to me! END OF CANTO III. NOTES TO THE THIRD CANTO.. 1." Pride of place" is a term of falconry, and means the highest pitch of flight. 2. See the famous Song on Harmodius and Aristogiton. The best English translation is in Bland's Anthology, by Mr. Denman, "With myrtle my sword will I wreathe," &c. 3. On the night previous to the action, it is said that a ball was given at Brussels. 4. Sir Evan Cameron, and his descendant Donald, the "❝gentle Lochiel" of the forty five." 6. The wood of Soignies is supposed to be a remnant of the "forest of Ardennes," famous in Boiordo's Orlando and immortal in Shakespear's "As you like it." 7. My guide from Mount St. Jean over the field seemed intelligent and accurate. The place where Major Howard fell was not far from two tall and solitary trees which stand a few yards from each other at a pathway's side. Beneath these he died and was buried. The body has since been removed to England. 8. The (fabled) apples on the brink of the lake Asphaltes, where said to be fair without, and within ashes-Vide Tacitus, Histor. 1. 5. 7. 9. The great error of Napoleon, "if we have writ our aunals true," was a continued obtrusion on mankind of his want of all community of feeling for or with them; perhaps more offensive to human vanity than the active cruelty of more trembling and suspicious tyranny. 10. "What wants that kuave "That a king should have? was King James's question on meeting Johnny Armstrong and his followers in full accoutrements.-See the Ballad. 11. The castle. of Drachenfels stands on the highest summit of the "Seven mountains," over the Rhine banks. 12. The monument of the young and lamented General Marceau (killed by a rifle-ball at Alterkirchen on the last day of the fourth year of the French republic) still remains as described. 13. Ehrenbreitstein, i. e. " the broad stone of honour," one of the strongest fortresses in Europe, was dismantled and blown up by the French at the truce of Leoben. 1 14. The chapel is destroyed, and the pyramid of bones disminished to a small number by the Burgundian legion in the service of France, who anxiously effaced this record of their ancestors' less successful invasions. 15. Aventicum (near Morat) was the Roman capital of Helvetia, where Avenches now stands. 16. Julia Alpinula, a young Aventian priestess, died soou after a vain endeavour to save her father, condemned to death as a traitor by Aulus Cæcina. Her epitaph was discovered many years ago;-it is thus→→→ I know of no, human composition so affecting as this, nor a history of deeper interest. |