The Book And The Ring Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQERS T UVWXYZA2B2Q C2D2E2F2G2HH2I2J2K2L 2H2M2N2HUO2P2 QQ2HZR2S2T2U2V2W2XX2 R2S2C2Y2Z2A3B3C3D3 E3F3G3H3H3QA3A3I3H3E 3J3K3H3L3M3H3HN3O3O3 P3 Q3H2O3 A3UH3O3E3O3O3H3R3S3T 3H3U3A3HH3H3V3H3U HA3V3M3UUUH3E3HH3UD3 R2LA3M3H3A3H3O3UUH3H H3W3UUX3HY3UZ3UO3M3A 3Q3H3M3FA4O3M3UH3B4C 4 H3R2UUA3HD4UM3HUM3E4 UHUO3UV3F4G4H3H UV3D3A3H3UA3H4M3I4M3 J4UH3HH3UK4M3 UUHEUL4M3HV3M4H3V3A3 M3O3H3N4H3UM3H3H3HUU O3UR3M4M3H2I4HUUH2H3 UHHA3A3UUUFR3M3UA3P3 H3M3UK2UUO4HP3H3M3UM 3A3H3UI3I3R3UUA3H3P4 H3HUH3A3 UA3 H3UV3HUH3A3H3UU3V3I3 UH3H3UI3H3HX3H3UH3Q4 UUH3 UR4M3L3H3UZH3U I3UH3S4T4D3HH3UUA3UZ 3H3H3H3UH3HUM3UUH3 HK4UUU4UHA3L3K2M3H3U HH3D3M3UV3V4H3I3 UH3H3H3HD3H3I3UM3UUU HH3 UUUUUUH3E4UHV3UHUM3H H3H3UI3W4V3D3E4UH3UH 3H3M3UK3H3D3H3H3P3I3 H3UUM3UUX4UH3I3H3 UA3U3H3HUUI3UY4V3H3M 3H3H3Z4UU H3D3H3L4UUM3Y4I3HUM3 H3UEM3HH3UUD2HH3M3H3 D3 H3HA3H3H3 UHUUL3I3HH3HUUH3 UH3M3H3H3U I3ED3H3HUD3HD3UUD3I3 UA3H3HI3HUM3UH3H3D3H 3H3UH3D3UH3UD3H3HUH3 UUUA3 M3D3H3UM3D3HD3H3D3H3 EH3UA3H3D3D3ED3H3M3U HI3H3UH3M3H3A3V3D3EH 3D3H3UH3M3UI3HHUUD3H 3UHH3ED2D3 UUA3M3HM3UUUHL4HH3U4 H3HH3V3M3HM3UH3M3H3Y 4H3UO4M3H3EH3UH UUH3HD3Y4I3I3UH3HUP3 D3UH3 EM3H3H3UEZ4U H3UM3UUM3UUH3O4D3H3H 3H3ED3H3UH3UUH3UUA3Y 4H3HUH3UUH3H3UH3UA3H 3H3UD3UH3D3H3A3UA3UD 3UUH3UEUEH3HEV3H3I3H 3I3UH3UUM3V3UUUUH3D2 H3 UUEUUA3I3A3A3UY4UUD3 UH3H3 I3H3UU H3Y4UUD2UD3 M3EUUO4M3UUH3UH3UI3D 3H3H3H3M3UH3UH3D3M3U M3D3H3UH3UH3V3H3UK2H 3 P3UUM3EEH3UH3M3U H3HUH3H3UH3M3UH3V3UI 3UV3UHUUUW3HUI3EL4H3 UUL4M3L4UUL4HUUH3U M3EUY4A3UH3

Here were the end had anything an endA
Thus lit and launched up and up roared and soaredB
A rocket till the key o' the vault was reachedC
And wide heaven held a breathless minute spaceD
In brilliant usurpature thus caught sparkE
Rushed to the height and hung at full of fameF
Over men's upturned faces ghastly thenceG
Our glaring Guido now decline must beH
In its explosion you have seen his actI
By my power may be judged it by your ownJ
Or composite as good orbs prove or crammedK
With worse ingredients than the Wormwood StarL
The act over and ended falls and fadesM
What was once seen grows what is now describedN
Then talked of told about a tinge the lessO
In every fresh transmission till it meltsP
Trickles in silent orange or wan greyQ
Across our memory dies and leaves all darkE
And presently we find the stars againR
Follow the main streaks meditate the modeS
Of brightness how it hastes to blend with blackT
-
After that February Twenty twoU
Since our salvation Sixteen Ninety EightV
Of all reports that were or may have beenW
Concerning those the day killed or let liveX
Four I count only Take the first that comesY
A letter from a stranger man of rankZ
Venetian visitor at Rome who knowsA2
On what pretence of busy idlenessB2
Thus he begins on evening of that dayQ
-
Here are we at our end of CarnivalC2
Prodigious gaiety and monstrous mirthD2
And constant shift of entertaining showE2
With influx from each quarter of the globeF2
Of strangers nowise wishful to be lastG2
I' the struggle for a good place presentlyH
When that befalls fate cannot long deferH2
The old Pope totters on the verge o' the graveI2
You see Malpichi understood far moreJ2
Than Tozzi how to treat the ailments ageK2
No question renders these inveterateL2
Cardinal Spada actual MinisterH2
Is possible Pope I wager on his headM2
Since those four entertainments of his nieceN2
Which set all Rome a stare Pope probablyH
Though Colloredo has his backers tooU
And San Cesario makes one doubt at timesO2
Altieri will be Chamberlain at mostP2
-
A week ago the sun was warm like MayQ
And the old man took daily exerciseQ2
Along the river side he loves to seeH
That Custom house he built upon the bankZ
For Naples born his tastes are maritimeR2
But yesterday he had to keep in doorsS2
Because of the outrageous rain that fellT2
On such days the good soul has fainting fitsU2
Or lies in stupor scarcely makes believeV2
Of minding business fumbles at his beadsW2
They say the trust that keeps his heart aliveX
Is that by lasting till December nextX2
He may hold Jubilee a second timeR2
And twice in one reign ope the Holy DoorsS2
By the way somebody responsibleC2
Assures me that the King of France has writY2
Fresh orders Fenelon will be condemnedZ2
The Cardinal makes a wry face enoughA3
Having a love for the delinquent stillB3
He's the ambassador must press the pointC3
Have you a wager too dependent hereD3
-
Now from such matters to divert awhileE3
Hear of to day's event which crowns the weekF3
Casts all the other wagers into shadeG3
Tell Dandolo I owe him fifty dropsH3
Of heart's blood in the shape of gold zecchinesH3
The Pope has done his worst I have to payQ
For the execution of the Count by JoveA3
Two days since I reported him as safeA3
Re echoing the conviction of all RomeI3
Who could suspect the one deaf ear the Pope'sH3
But prejudices grow insuperableE3
And that old enmity to Austria thatJ3
Passion for France and France's pageant kingK3
Of which why pause to multiply the proofsH3
Now scandalously rife in Europe's mouthL3
These fairly got the better in the manM3
Of justice prudence and esprit de corpsH3
And he persisted in the butcheryH
Also 'tis said that in his latest walkN3
To that Dogana by the Bank he builtO3
The crowd he suffers question unrebukedO3
Asked 'Whether murder was a privilegeP3
'Only reserved for nobles like the Count '-
And he was ever mindful of the mobQ3
Martinez the C sarian MinisterH2
Who used his best endeavours to spare bloodO3
And strongly pleaded for the life 'of one '-
Urged he 'I may have dined at table with '-
He will not soon forget the Pope's rebuffA3
Feels the slight sensibly I promise youU
And but for the dissuasion of two eyesH3
That make with him foul weather or fine dayO3
He had abstained nor graced the spectacleE3
As it was barely would he condescendO3
Look forth from the palchetto where he satO3
Under the Pincian we shall hear of thisH3
The substituting too the People's SquareR3
For the out o' the way old quarter by the BridgeS3
Was meant as a conciliatory sopT3
To the mob it gave one holiday the moreH3
But the French Embassy might unfurl flagU3
Still the good luck of France to fling a foeA3
Cardinal Bouillon triumphs properlyH
Palchetti were erected in the PlaceH3
And houses at the edge of the Three StreetsH3
Let their front windows at six dollars eachV3
Anguisciola that patron of the artsH3
Hired one our Envoy Contarini tooU
-
Now for the thing no sooner the decreeH
Gone forth 'tis four and twenty hours agoA3
Than Acciaioli and PanciatichiV3
Old friends indeed compatriots of the manM3
Being pitched on as the couple properestU
To intimate the sentence yesternightU
Were closeted ere cock crow with the CountU
They both report their efforts to disposeH3
The unhappy nobleman for ending wellE3
Despite the natural sense of injuryH
Were crowned at last with a complete successH3
And when the Company of Death arrivedU
At twenty hours the way they reckon hereD3
We say at sunset after dinner timeR2
The Count was led down hoisted up on carL
Last of the five as heinousest you knowA3
Yet they allowed one whole car to each manM3
His intrepidity nay nonchalanceH3
As up he stood and down he sat himselfA3
Struck admiration into those who sawH3
Then the procession started took the wayO3
From the New Prisons by the Pilgrim's StreetU
The street of the Governo Pasquin's StreetU
Where was stuck up 'mid other epigramsH3
A quatrain but of all that presentlyH
The Place Navona the Pantheon's PlaceH3
Place of the Column last the Corso's lengthW3
And so debouched thence at Mannaia's footU
I' the Place o' the People As is evidentU
Despite the malice plainly meant I fearX3
By this abrupt change of localityH
The Square's no such bad place to head and hangY3
We had the titillation as we satU
Assembled quality in conclave haZ3
Of minute after minute some reportU
How the slow show was winding on its wayO3
Now did a car run over kill a manM3
Just opposite a pork shop numbered TwelveA3
And bitter were the outcries of the mobQ3
Against the Pope for but that he forbidsH3
The Lottery why twelve were Tern QuaternM3
Now did a beggar by Saint Agnes lameF
From his youth up recover use of legA4
Through prayer of Guido as he glanced that wayO3
So that the crowd near crammed his hat with coinM3
Thus was kept up excitement to the lastU
Not an abrupt out bolting as of yoreH3
From Castle over Bridge and on to blockB4
And so all ended ere you well could winkC4
-
Guido was last to mount the scaffold stepsH3
Here also as atrociousest in crimeR2
We hardly noticed how the peasants diedU
They dangled somehow soon to right and leftU
And we remained all ears and eyes could giveA3
Ourselves to Guido undividedlyH
As he harangued the multitude beneathD4
He begged forgiveness on the part of GodU
And fair construction of his act from menM3
Whose suffrage he entreated for his soulH
Suggesting that we should forthwith repeatU
A Pater and an Ave with the hymnM3
Salve Regina Coeli for his sakeE4
Which said he turned to the confessor crossedU
And reconciled himself with decencyH
Oft glancing at Saint Mary's oppositeU
Where they possess and showed in shrine to dayO3
The Blessed Umbilicus of our LordU
A relic 'tis believed no other churchV3
In Rome can boast of then rose up as briskF4
Knelt down again bent head adapted neckG4
And with the name of Jesus on his lipsH3
Received the fatal blowH
-
The headsman showedU
The head to the populace Must I avouchV3
We strangers own to disappointment hereD3
Report pronounced him fully six feet highA3
Youngish considering his fifty yearsH3
And if not handsome dignified at leastU
Indeed it was no face to please a wifeA3
His friends say this was caused by the costumeH4
He wore the dress he did the murder inM3
That is a just a corps of russet sergeI4
Black camisole coarse cloak of baracanM3
So they style here the garb of goat's hair clothJ4
White hat and cotton cap beneath poor CountU
Preservative against the evening dewsH3
During the journey from Arezzo WellH
So died the man and so his end was peaceH3
Whence many a moral were to meditateU
Spada you may bet Dandolo is PopeK4
Now for the quatrainM3
-
No friend this will doU
You've sputtered into sparks What streak comes nextU
A letter Don Giacinto ArcangeliH
Doctor and Proctor him I made you markE
Buckle to business in his study lateU
The virtuous sire the valiant for the truthL4
Acquaints his correspondent FlorentineM3
By name Cencini advocate as wellH
Socius and brother in the devil to matchV3
A friend of Franceschini anyhowM4
And knit up with the bowels of the caseH3
Acquaints him in this paper that I touchV3
How their joint effort to obtain reprieveA3
For Guido had so nearly nicked the nineM3
And ninety and one over he would sayO3
At Tarocs or succeeded in our phraseH3
To this Cencini's care I owe the BookN4
The yellow thing I take and toss once moreH3
How will it be my four years' intimateU
When thou and I part company anonM3
'Twas he the whole position of the caseH3
Pleading and summary were put beforeH3
Discreetly in my Book he bound them allH
Adding some three epistles to the pointU
Here is the first of these part fresh as pennedU
The sand that dried the ink not rubbed awayO3
Though penned the day whereof it tells the deedU
Part extant just as plainly you know whereR3
Whence came the other stuff went you know howM4
To make the ring that's all but round and doneM3
Late they arrived too late egregious SirH2
Those same justificative points you urgeI4
Might benefit His Blessed MemoryH
Count Guido Franceschini now with GodU
Since the Court to state things succinctly styledU
The Congregation of the GovernorH2
Having resolved on Tuesday last our causeH3
I' the guilty sense with death for punishmentU
Spite of all pleas by me deducibleH
In favour of said Blessed MemoryH
I with expenditure of pains enoughA3
Obtained a respite leave to claim and proveA3
Exemption from the law's award allegedU
The power and privilege o' the ClericateU
To which effect a courier was despatchedU
But ere an answer from Arezzo cameF
The Holiness of our Lord the Pope prepareR3
Judging it inexpedient to postponeM3
The execution of such sentence passedU
Saw fit by his particular chirographA3
To derogate dispense with privilegeP3
And wink at any hurt accruing thenceH3
To Mother Church through damage of her sonM3
Also to overpass and set asideU
That other plea on score of tender ageK2
Put forth by me to do Pasquini goodU
One of the four in trouble with our friendU
So that all five to day have suffered deathO4
With no distinction save in dying heH
Decollated by way of privilegeP3
The rest hanged decently and in order ThusH3
Came the Count to his end of gallant manM3
Defunct in faith and exemplarityU
Nor shall the shield of his great House lose shineM3
Nor its blue banner blush to red therebyA3
This too should yield sustainment to our heartsH3
He had commiseration and respectU
In his decease from universal RomeI3
Quantum est hominum venustiorumI3
The nice and cultivated everywhereR3
Though in respect of me his advocateU
Needs must I groan o'er my debilityU
Attribute the untoward event o' the strifeA3
To nothing but my own crass ignoranceH3
Which failed to set the valid reasons forthP4
Find fit excuse such is the fate of warH3
May God compensate us the direful blowH
By future blessings on his familyU
Whereof I lowly beg the next commandsH3
Whereto as humbly I confirm myselfA3
-
And so forth follow name and place and dateU
On the next leafA3
-
Hactenus senioribusH3
There old fox show the clients t'other sideU
And keep this corner sacred I beseechV3
You and your pleas and proofs were what folks callH
Pisan assistance aid that comes too lateU
Saves a man dead as nail in post of doorH3
Had I but time and space for narrativeA3
What was the good of twenty ClericatesH3
When somebody's thick headpiece once was bentU
On seeing Guido's drop into the bagU3
How these old men like giving youth a pushV3
So much the better next push goes to himI3
And a new Pope begins the centuryU
Much good I get by my superb defenceH3
But argument is solid and subsistsH3
While obstinacy and ineptitudeU
Accompany the owner to his tombI3
What do I care how soon Beside folks seeH3
Rome will have relished heartily the showH
Yet understood the motives never fearX3
Which caused the indecent change o' the People's PlaceH3
To the People's Playground stigmatise the spiteU
Which in a trice precipitated thingsH3
As oft the moribund will give a kickQ4
To show they are not absolutely deadU
So feebleness i' the socket shoots its lastU
A spirt of violence for energyH3
-
But thou Cencini brother of my breastU
O fox whose home is 'mid the tender grapeR4
Whose couch in Tuscany by Themis' throneM3
Subject to no such but I shut my mouthL3
Or only open it again to sayH3
This pother and confusion fairly laidU
My hands are empty and my satchel lankZ
Now then for both the Matrimonial CauseH3
And the case of Gomez Serve them hot and hotU
-
Reliqua differamus in crastinumI3
The impatient estafette cracks whip outsideU
Still though the earth should swallow him who swearsH3
And me who make the mischief in must slipS4
My boy your godson fat chaps HyacinthT4
Enjoyed the sight while Papa plodded hereD3
I promised him the rogue a month agoH
The day his birthday was of all the daysH3
That if I failed to save Count Guido's headU
Cinuccio should at least go see it choppedU
From trunk 'So latinize your thanks ' quoth IA3
'That I prefer hoc malim ' raps me outU
The rogue you notice the subjunctive AhZ3
Accordingly he sat there bold in boxH3
Proud as the Pope behind the peacock fansH3
Whereon a certain lady patronessH3
For whom I manage things my boy in frontU
Her Marquis sat the third in evidenceH3
Boys have no eyes nor ears save for the showH
'This time Cintino ' was her sportive wordU
When whiz and thump went axe and mowed lay manM3
And folks could fall to the suspended chatU
'This time you see Bottini rules the roastU
'Nor can Papa with all his eloquenceH3
'Be reckoned on to help as heretofore '-
Whereat Cinone pouts then sparkishlyH
'Papa knew better than aggrieve his PopeK4
'And baulk him of his grudge against our CountU
'Else he'd have argued off Bottini's' whatU
'His nose ' the rogue well parried of the boyU4
He's long since out of C sar eight years oldU
And as for tripping in Eutropius wellH
Reason the more that we strain every nerveA3
To do him justice mould a model mouthL3
A Bartolus cum Baldo for next ageK2
For that I purse the pieces work the brainM3
And want both Gomez and the marriage caseH3
Success with which shall plaster aught of pateU
That's broken in me by Bottini's flailH
And bruise his own belike that wags and bragsH3
Adverti supplico humiliterD3
Quod don't the fungus see the fop divineM3
That one hand drives two horses left and rightU
With this rein did I rescue from the ditchV3
The fortune of our Franceschini keepV4
Unsplashed the credit of a noble HouseH3
And set the fashionable cause of RomeI3
A prancing till bystanders shouted ''ware '-
The other rein's judicious managementU
Suffered old Somebody to keep the paceH3
Hobblingly play the roadster who but heH3
Had his opinion was not led by the noseH3
In leash of quibbles strung to look like lawH
You'll soon see when I go to pay devoirD3
And compliment him on confuting meH3
If by a back swing of the pendulumI3
Grace be not thick and threefold consequentU
'I must decide as I see proper DonM3
'The Pope I have my inward lights for guideU
'Had learning been the matter in disputeU
'Could eloquence avail to gainsay factU
'Yours were the victory be comforted '-
Cinuzzo will be gainer by it allH
Quick then with Gomez hot and hot next caseH3
-
Follows a letter takes the other sideU
Tall blue eyed Fisc whose head is capped with cloudU
Doctor Bottini to no matter whoU
Writes on the Monday two days afterwardU
Now shall the honest championship of rightU
Crowned with success enjoy at last unblamedU
Moderate triumph Now shall eloquenceH3
Poured forth in fancied floods for virtue's sakeE4
The print is sorrowfully dyked and dammedU
But shows where fain the unbridled force would flowH
Finding a channel now shall this refreshV3
The thirsty donor with a drop or twoU
Here has been truth at issue with a lieH
Let who gained truth the day have handsome prideU
In his own prowess Eh What ails the manM3
Well it is over ends as I foresawH
Easily proved Pompilia's innocenceH3
Catch them entrusting Guido's guilt to meH3
I had as usual the plain truth to pleadU
I always knew the clearness of the streamI3
Would show the fish so thoroughly child might prongW4
The clumsy monster with no mud to splashV3
Small credit to lynx eye and lightning spearD3
This Guido much sport he contrived to makeE4
Who at first twist preamble of the cordU
Turned white told all like the poltroon he wasH3
Finished as you expect a penitentU
Fully confessed his crime and made amendsH3
And edifying Rome last SaturdayH3
Died like a saint poor devil That's the manM3
The gods still give to my antagonistU
Imagine how Arcangeli claps wingK3
And crows 'Such formidable facts to faceH3
'So naked to attack my client hereD3
'And yet I kept a month the Fisc at bayH3
'And in the end had foiled him of the prizeH3
'By this arch stroke this plea of privilegeP3
'But that the Pope must gratify his whimI3
'Put in his word poor old man let it pass '-
Such is the cue to which all Rome respondsH3
What with the plain truth given me to upholdU
And should I let truth slip the Pope at handU
To pick up steady her on legs againM3
My office turns a pleasantry indeedU
Not that the burly boaster did one jotU
O' the little was to do young Spreti's workX4
But for him mannikin and dandipratU
Mere candle end and inch of clevernessH3
Stuck on Arcangeli's save all but for himI3
The spruce young Spreti what is bad were worseH3
-
I looked that Rome should have the natural girdU
At advocate with case that proves itselfA3
I knew Arcangeli would grin and bragU3
But what say you to one impertinenceH3
Might move a man That monk you are to knowH
That barefoot Augustinian whose reportU
O' the dying woman's words did detrimentU
To my best points it took the freshness fromI3
That meddler preached to purpose yesterdayU
At San Lorenzo as a winding upY4
O' the shows have proved a treasure to the churchV3
Out comes his sermon smoking from the pressH3
Its text 'Let God be true and every manM3
'A liar' and its application thisH3
The longest winded of the paragraphsH3
I straight unstitch tear out and treat you withZ4
'Tis piping hot and posts through Rome to dayU
Remember it as I engage to doU
-
But if you rather be disposed to seeH3
In the result of the long trial hereD3
This dealing doom to guilt and doling praiseH3
To innocency any proof that truthL4
May look for vindication from the worldU
Much will you have misread the signs I sayU
God who seems acquiescent in the mainM3
With those who add 'So will He ever sleep'Y4
Flutters their foolishness from time to timeI3
Puts forth His right hand recognisablyH
Even as to fools who deem He needs must rightU
Wrong on the instant as if earth were heavenM3
He wakes remonstrance 'Passive Lord how long '-
Because Pompilia's purity prevailsH3
Conclude you all truth triumphs in the endU
So might those old inhabitants of the arkE
Witnessing haply their dove's safe returnM3
Pronounce there was no danger all the whileH
O' the deluge to the creature's counterpartsH3
Aught that beat wing i' the world was white or softU
And that the lark the thrush the culver tooU
Might equally have traversed air found earthD2
And brought back olive branch in unharmed billH
Methinks I hear the Patriarch's warning voiceH3
'Though this one breast by miracle returnM3
'No wave rolls by in all the waste but bearsH3
'Within it some dead dove like thing as dearD3
'Beauty made blank and harmlessness destroyed '-
How many chaste and noble sister famesH3
Wanted the extricating hand and lieH
Strangled for one Pompilia proud aboveA3
The welter plucked from the world's calumnyH3
Stupidity simplicity who caresH3
-
Romans An elder race possessed your landU
Long ago and a false faith lingered stillH
As shades do though the morning star be outU
Doubtless some pagan of the twilight dayU
Has often pointed to a cavern mouthL3
Obnoxious to beholders hard by RomeI3
And said nor he a bad man no nor foolH
Only a man so blind like all his matesH3
'Here skulk in safety lurk defying lawH
'The devotees to execrable creedU
'Adoring with what culture Jove avertU
'Thy vengeance from us worshippers of theeH3
'What rites obscene their idol god an Ass '-
So went the word forth so acceptance foundU
So century re echoed centuryH3
Cursed the accursed and so from sire to sonM3
You Romans cried 'The offscourings of our raceH3
'Corrupt within the depths there fitly fiendsH3
'Perform a temple service o'er the deadU
'Child gather garment round thee pass nor pry '-
So groaned your generations till the timeI3
Grew ripe and lightning hath revealed belikeE
Thro' crevice peeped into by curious fearD3
Some object even fear could recogniseH3
I' the place of spectres on the illumined wallH
To wit some nook tradition talks aboutU
Narrow and short a corpse's length no moreD3
And by it in the due receptacleH
The little rude brown lamp of earthenwareD3
The cruse was meant for flowers but held the bloodU
The rough scratched palm branch and the legend leftU
Pro Christo Then the mystery lay clearD3
The abhorred one was a martyr all the timeI3
A saint whereof earth was not worthy WhatU
Do you continue in the old beliefA3
Where blackness bides unbroke must devils beH3
Is it so certain not another cellH
O' the myriad that make up the catacombI3
Contains some saint a second flash would showH
Will you ascend into the light of dayU
And having recognised a martyr's shrineM3
Go join the votaries that gape aroundU
Each vulgar god that awes the market placeH3
Be these the objects of your praising SeeH3
In the outstretched right hand of Apollo thereD3
Is screened a scorpion housed amid the foldsH3
Of Juno's mantle lo a cockatriceH3
Each statue of a god was fitlier styledU
Demon and devil Glorify no brassH3
That shines like burnished gold in noonday glareD3
For fools Be otherwise instructed youU
And preferably ponder ere ye passH3
Each incident of this strange human playU
Privily acted on a theatreD3
Was deemed secure from every gaze but God'sH3
Till of a sudden earthquake lays wall lowH
And lets the world see the wild work insideU
And how in petrifaction of surpriseH3
The actors stand raised arm and planted footU
Mouth as it made eye as it evidencedU
Despairing shriek triumphant hate transfixedU
Both he who takes and she who yields the lifeA3
-
As ye become spectators of this sceneM3
Watch obscuration of a fame pearl pureD3
In vapoury films enwoven circumstanceH3
A soul made weak by its pathetic wantU
Of just the first apprenticeship to sinM3
Would thenceforth make the sinning soul secureD3
From all foes save itself that's truliest foeH
For egg turned snake needs fear no serpentryD3
As ye behold this web of circumstanceH3
Deepen the more for every thrill and throeD3
Convulsive effort to disperse the filmsH3
And disenmesh the fame o' the martyr markE
How all those means the unfriended one pursuesH3
To keep the treasure trusted to her breastU
Each struggle in the flight from death to lifeA3
How all by procuration of the powersH3
Of darkness are transformed no single rayD3
Shot forth to show and save the inmost starD3
But passed as through hell's prism proceeding blackE
To the world that hates white as ye watch I sayD3
Till dusk and such defacement grow eclipseH3
By marvellous perversity of manM3
The inadequacy and inaptitudeU
Of that self same machine that very lawH
Man vaunts devised to dissipate the gloomI3
Rescue the drowning orb from calumnyH3
Hear law appointed to defend the justU
Submit for best defence that wickednessH3
Was bred of flesh and innate with the boneM3
Borne by Pompilia's spirit for a spaceH3
And no mere chance fault passionate and briefA3
Finally when ye find after this touchV3
Of man's protection which intends to marD3
The last pin point of light and damn the discE
One wave of the hand of God amid the worldsH3
Bid vapour vanish darkness flee awayD3
And leave the vexed star culminate in peaceH3
Approachable no more by earthly mistU
What I call God's hand you perhaps this chanceH3
Of the true instinct of an old good manM3
Who happens to hate darkness and love lightU
In whom too was the eye that saw not dimI3
The natural force to do the thing he sawH
Nowise abated both by miracleH
All this well pondered I demand assentU
To the enunciation of my textU
In face of one proof more that 'God is trueD3
'And every man a liar' that who trustsH3
To human testimony for a factU
Gets this sole fact himself is proved a foolH
Man's speech being false if but by consequenceH3
That only strength is true while man is weakE
And since truth seems reserved for heaven not earthD2
Should learn to love what he may speak one dayD3
-
For me the weary and the worn who promptU
To mirth or pity as I move the moodU
A friar who glide unnoticed to the graveA3
Bare feet coarse robe and rope grit waist of mineM3
I have long since renounced your world ye knowH
Yet weigh the worth of worldly prize foregoneM3
Disinterestedly judge this and thatU
Good ye account good but God tries the heartU
Still if you question me of my contentU
At having put each human pleasure byH
I answer at the urgency of truthL4
As this world seems I dare not say I knowH
Apart from Christ's assurance which decidesH3
Whether I have not failed to taste some joyU4
For many a dream would fain perturb my choiceH3
How love in those the varied shapes might showH
As glory or as rapture or as graceH3
How conversancy with the books that teachV3
The arts that help how to grow great in fineM3
Rather than simply good and bring therebyH
Goodness to breathe and live nor born i' the brainM3
Die there how these and many another giftU
May well be precious though abjured by meH3
But for one prize best meed of mightiest manM3
Arch object of ambition earthly praiseH3
Repute o' the world the flourish of loud trumpY4
The softer social fluting Oh for theseH3
No my friends Fame that bubble which world wideU
Each blows and bids his neighbour lend a breathO4
That so he haply may behold thereonM3
One more enlarged distorted false fool's faceH3
Until some glassy nothing grown as bigE
Send by a touch the imperishable to sudsH3
No in renouncing fame the loss was lightU
Choosing obscurity the chance was wellH
-
Didst ever touch such ampollosityU
As the man's own bubble let alone its spiteU
What's his speech for but just the fame he floutsH3
How he dares reprehend both high and lowH
Else had he turned the sentence God is trueD3
And every man a liar save the PopeY4
Happily reigning my respects to himI3
So rounded off the period MolinismI3
Simple and pure To what pitch get we nextU
I find that for first pleasant consequenceH3
Gomez who had intended to appealH
From the absurd decision of the CourtU
Declines though plain enough his privilegeP3
To call on help from lawyers any moreD3
Resolves the liars may possess the worldU
Till God have had sufficiency of both
So may I whistle for my job and feeH3
-
But for this virulent and rabid monkE
If law be an inadequate machineM3
And advocacy so much impotenceH3
We shall soon see my blatant brother That'sH3
Exactly what I hope to show your sortU
For by a veritable piece of luckE
True providence you monks round period withZ4
All may be gloriously retrieved PerpendU
-
That Monastery of the ConvertitesH3
Whereto the Court consigned Pompilia firstU
Observe if convertite why sinner thenM3
Or where the pertinency of awardU
And whither she was late returned to dieU
Still in their jurisdiction mark againM3
That thrifty Sisterhood for perquisiteU
Claims every paul where of may die possessedU
Each sinner in the circuit of its wallsH3
Now this Pompilia seeing that by deathO4
O' the couple all their wealth devolved on herD3
Straight utilised the respite ere deceaseH3
By regular conveyance of the goodsH3
She thought her own to will and to deviseH3
Gave all to friends Tighetti and the likeE
In trust for him she held her son and heirD3
Gaetano trust to end with infancyH3
So willing and devising since assuredU
The justice of the Court would presentlyH3
Confirm her in her rights and exculpateU
Re integrate and rehabilitateU
Station as through my pleading now she standsH3
But here's the capital mistake the CourtU
Found Guido guilty but pronounced no wordU
About the innocency of his wifeA3
I grounded charge on broader base I hopeY4
No matter whether wife be true or falseH3
The husband must not push aside the lawH
And punish of a sudden that's the pointU
Gather from out my speech the contraryH3
It follows that Pompilia unrelievedU
By formal sentence from imputed faultU
Remains unfit to have and to disposeH3
Of property which law provides shall lapseH3
Wherefore the Monastery claims its dueU
And whose pray whose the office but the Fisc'sH3
Who but I institute procedure nextU
Against the person of dishonest lifeA3
Pompilia whom last week I sainted soH3
I it is teach the monk what scripture meansH3
And that the tongue should prove a two edged swordU
No axe sharp one side blunt the other wayD3
Like what amused the town at Guido's costU
Astr a redux I've a second chanceH3
Before the self same Court o' the GovernorD3
Who soon shall see volte face and chop change sidesH3
Accordingly I charge you on your lifeA3
Send me with all despatch the judgment lateU
O' the Florence Rota Court confirmativeA3
O' the prior judgment at Arezzo clenchedU
Again by the Granducal signatureD3
Wherein Pompilia is convicted doomedU
And only destined to escape through flightU
The proper punishment Send me the pieceH3
I'll work it And this foul mouthed friar shall findU
His Noah's dove that brought the olive backE
Is turned into the other sooty scoutU
The raven Noah first of all put forth the arkE
And never came back but ate carcassesH3
No adequate machinery in lawH
No power of life and death i' the learned tongueE
Methinks I am already at my speechV3
Startle the world with Thou Pompilia thusH3
How is the fine gold of the Temple dimI3
And so forth But the courier bids me closeH3
And clip away one joke that runs through RomeI3
Side by side with the sermon which I sendU
How like the heartlessness of the old hunksH3
Arcangeli His Count is hardly coldU
His client whom his blunders sacrificedU
When somebody must needs describe the sceneM3
How the procession ended at the churchV3
That boasts the famous relic quoth our bruteU
Why that's just Martial's phrase for 'make an end'U
Ad umbilicum sic perventum estU
The callous dog let who will cut off headU
He cuts a joke and cares no more than soH3
I think my speech shall modify his mirthD2
How is the fine gold dim but send the pieceH3
-
Alack Bottini what is my next wordU
But death to all that hope The InstrumentU
Is plain before me print that ends my BookE
With the definitive verdict of the CourtU
Dated September six months afterwardU
Such trouble and so long the old Pope gaveA3
In restitution of the perfect fameI3
Of dead Pompilia quondam Guido's wifeA3
And warrant to her representativeA3
Domenico Tighetti barred herebyU
While doing duty in his guardianshipY4
From all molesting all disquietudeU
Each perturbation and vexation broughtU
Or threatened to be brought against the heirD3
By the Most Venerable Convent calledU
Saint Mary Magdalen o' the ConvertitesH3
I' the CorsoH3
-
Justice done a second timeI3
Well judged Marc Antony Locum tenensH3
O' the Governor a Venturini tooU
For which I save thy name last of the listU
-
Next year but one completing his nine yearsH3
Of rule in Rome died Innocent my PopeY4
By some accounts on his accession dayU
If he thought doubt would do the next age goodU
'Tis pity he died unapprised what birthD2
His reign may boast of be remembered byU
Terrible Pope too of a kind VoltaireD3
-
And so an end of all i' the story StrainM3
Never so much my eyes I miss the markE
There lived or died that Gaetano childU
Of Guido and Pompilia only findU
Immediately upon his father's deathO4
A record in the annals of the townM3
That Porzia sister of our Guido movedU
The Priors of Arezzo and their headU
Its Gonfalonier to give loyallyH3
A public attestation to the rightU
O' the Franceschini to men's reverenceH3
Apparently because of the incidentU
O' the murder there's no mention made of crimeI3
But what else caused such urgency to cureD3
The mob just then of chronic greedinessH3
For scandal love of lying vanityH3
And appetite to swallow crude reportsH3
That bring annoyance to their betters BaneM3
Which here was promptly met by antidoteU
I like and shall translate the eloquenceH3
Of nearly the worst Latin ever writU
Since antique time whereof the memoryH3
Holds the beginning to this present hourD3
Our Franceschini ever shone and shineM3
Still i' the primary rank supreme amidU
The lustres of Arezzo proud to ownM3
In this great family her flag bearerD3
Guide of her steps and guardian against foeH3
As in the first beginning so to dayU
There would you disbelieve stern HistoryH3
Trust rather to the babble of a bardU
I thought Arezzo thou hadst fitter soulsH3
Petrarch nay Buonarroti at a pinchV3
To do thee credit as vexilliferH3
Was it mere mirth the Patavinian meantU
Making thee out in his veracious pageK2
Founded by Janus of the Double FaceH3
-
Well proving of such perfect parentageP3
Our Gaetano born of love and hateU
Did the babe live or die one fain would findU
What were his fancies if he grew a manM3
Was he proud a true scion of the stockE
Of bearing blason shall make bright my BookE
Shield Azure on a Triple Mountain OrH3
A Palm tree Proper whereunto is tiedU
A Greyhound Rampant striving in the slipsH3
Or did he love his mother the base bornM3
And fight i' the ranks unnoticed by the worldU
-
Such then the final state o' the story SoH3
Did the Star Wormwood in a blazing fallH
Frighten awhile the waters and lie lostU
So did this old woe fade from memoryH3
Till after in the fulness of the daysH3
I needs must find an ember yet unquenchedU
And breathing blow the spark to flame It livesH3
If precious be the soul of man to manM3
So British Public who may like me yetU
Marry and amen learn one lesson henceH3
Of many which whatever lives should teachV3
This lesson that our human speech is naughtU
Our human testimony false our fameI3
And human estimation words and windU
Why take the artistic way to prove so muchV3
Because it is the glory and good of ArtU
That Art remains the one way possibleH
Of speaking truth to mouths like mine at leastU
How look a brother in the face and sayU
Thy right is wrong eyes hast thou yet art blindU
Thine ears are stuffed and stopped despite their lengthW3
And oh the foolishness thou countest faith
Say this as silverly as tongue can trollH
The anger of the man may be enduredU
The shrug the disappointed eyes of himI3
Are not so bad to bear but here's the plagueE
That all this trouble comes of telling truthL4
Which truth by when it reaches him looks falseH3
Seems to be just the thing it would supplantU
Nor recognisable by whom it leftU
While falsehood would have done the work of truthL4
But Art wherein man nowise speaks to menM3
Only to mankind Art may tell a truthL4
Obliquely do the thing shall breed the thoughtU
Nor wrong the thought missing the mediate wordU
So may you paint your picture twice show truthL4
Beyond mere imagery on the wallH
So note by note bring music from your mindU
Deeper than ever the Andante divedU
So write a book shall mean beyond the factsH3
Suffice the eye and save the soul besideU
-
And save the soul If this intent save mineM3
If the rough ore be rounded to a ringE
Render all duty which good ring should doU
And failing grace succeed in guardianshipY4
Might mine but lie outside thine Lyric LoveA3
Thy rare gold ring of verse the poet praisedU
Linking our England to his ItalyH3

Robert Browning



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