CANTO THE NINETEENTH.
ARGUMENT.
NOW came
the chilling Hours before the Dawn,
When all
the Day’s precedent heat withdrawn
Forsook the
air, and SATURN’s sullen sway,
Augmented
by the Earth’s projecting shade
Above, a
leaden league with CYNTHIA made,
And every
genial influence chac’d away.
II.
Now draws
the GEOMANT his magic ring
On the dark
ground, and, ere the tardy Spring
Of Day,
faint glimmering, breaks the sullen gloom ;
In the
receding Stars his fortune views,
When Sleep,
descending, with the Morning dews,
My languid
Sense obscur’d with drowsy fume.
III.
Nor pass’
in solitude my torpid trance,
For soon a
Female, with distorted glance,
Short of her
hands, with members out of place,
With pale,
sepulchral hue, before me stood ;
And as the
bright Sun warms the frozen blood,
She seem’d
to feel my eyes’ enliv’ning rays.
IV.
Speech was
permitted first, and soon began
Love’s
purple hue to tinge his visage wan :
Before my
eyes an Angel seem’d to swim,
Then, with
a melody so sweet and clear,
The lovely
Stranger charm’d my ravish’d ear,
My Spirits
danc’d respondent to the hymn.
V.
“ I am that
SYREN Form, that led away
The vent’rous
GREEKS to my pacific Bay,
In
Pleasure’s track, the Path that Man pursues ;
Even sage
ULYSSES, captive to my song,
Obey’d my
call, the foremost of the throng ;
A call, my
happy Vassals ne’er refuse.”
VI.
The
warbling scarce was o’er ; a saintly Dame
Came on,
with flying feet, and eyes of flame :
“ O, holy
MANTUAN ! who is this ?” she said :
Abash’d, he
seem’d to hear, and rent away
From that
deluding Fair ; her rich array,
And all,
the foulness of the Fiend display’d.
VII.
My sense,
offended by the foul perfume,
Issuing
from that detected Monster’s womb,
Soon
rous’d, and swept the fleeting dream away.
To gentle
MARO, the, I turn’d my eyes :
“ Thrice
have I call’d,” he cry’d ; “ at length arise,
And gain
the Passes with the op’ning Day !”
VIII.
O’er
Ocean’s brim the Wheels of PHOEBUS roll’d,
And touch’d
the shadowy Mound with fluid gold,
That girt
the Mountain with a spiral Zone ;
Westward we
journey’d, with the Sun behind,
My bending
body shew’d a lab’ring mind,
When soon a
Voice was heard, that call’d us on.
IX.
Near was
the sound ; and, more than mortal sweet,
Aloft,
incumbent o’er the dark retreat,
The Speaker
we beheld ; his snowy wing
My visage
fann’d, with ventilation soft.
“ Happy
are they that mourn !” aloud, and oft,
A viewless
Choir above, were heard to sing.
X.
“ Happy
are they that mourn the bonds of Sin ;
Celestial
Freedom soon shall break the gin,
And o’er
their souls unusual comfort shed.”
Quick were
the sounds I heard ; but still my Mind
I felt to
Darkness and to Doubt resign’d.
“ Why art
thou thus depress’d ?” the MANTUAN said.
XI.
“ That
Vision of the Morn,” I quick reply’d,
“ From each
surrounding object turns aside
Mt
thoughts, still harrass’d with that uncouth Sight.”
“ That
Bedlam was the WITCH OF WORLDLY JOY,”
That Bard
return’d ; “ her mourning Tribes on high
Possess
three Stages of the Mountain’s height.
XII.
“ You saw
how REASON tore, with eagle grasp,
The fine
disguise of that envemon’d Asp ;
Let that
suffice : and now pursue your way,
Till her
great Victress you behold above,
Waving the
Banner of eternal Love
Round the
wide circuit of empyreal Day.”
XIII.
As the
tir’d Falcon, ere on Earth she light,
Turns to
the well-known lure, and speeds her flight
Where her
glad Lord prepares the savoury feast ;
Thus
eagerly I pass’d the rocky strait,
So ply’d my
feet to find the op’ning gate,
Till on the
rocky verge, at last we rest.
XIV.
There, all
extended on the rugged stones,
Victims I
saw, with repeated groans,
Made the
long vallies of Lustration ring :
“ O
cruel Bondage of the soaring Soul,”
They sung ;
“ our Spirits, wing’d to mount the Pole,
To this
dire Adamant in torture cling.”
XV.
The
interrupting sob, with frequent swell,
Scarcely
allow’d their deep distress to tell :
“ Chosen of
Heav’n !” I cry’d ; “ whose pond’rous chains
Conscience,
and rising Hope, may render light ;
Tell, where
we may ascend the rocky Height,
To view the
Regions of superior Pains.”
XVI.
“ If you
along the verge, unshackled go,
And wish to
climb the Hill’s projecting Brow,
Turn to the
left ;” a Voice, in plaintive strain,
Reply’d. I
knew, that an unbodied Shade
I seem’d to
him, and to the Bard convey’d
My meaning
in a glance, nor ask’d in vain.
XVII.
The gentle
Poet soon my search allow’d,
To find the
Speaker in the prostrate crowd ;
And,
bending o’er him, as entranc’d he lay,
I cry’d, “
Oh, Spirit ! whom your woes prepare,
An earthly
guest, to breath empyreal air ;
One moment, at my suit, your task delay.
XVIII.
“ Tell, who
you are, and why thus prone you lie,
Forbid to
view the Glories of the Sky ;
And say, if
aught, my case in other climes
Can shorten
your distress ; when I return
To that
base world, where yet I’m doom’d to mourn,
On that
disast’rous Stage of woes and crimes.”
XIX.
“ Soon
shall you know,” the Spirit made reply ;
“ Why
darkling here, like Aliens of the Sky,
We thus
salute the soil ; but, if my Name
You chuse
to learn, and to repeat on Earth,
I fill’d
Saint PETER’s Chair, and drew my birth
From an old
Lineage not unknown to Fame.
XX.
“ Between
SIESTRA and CHAVIERA flows
A gentle
river, which its name bestows
( Far fam’d
LAVAGNA) on my lineal Sires :
One Moon I
bore the Pontiff’s Robe of State,
Ah ! light
as down, is every other weight
To him,
who, still to keep it clean, aspires.
XXI.
“ Till
then, I liv’d a sordid slave to gain,
My Name was
ever first in MAMMON’s train ;
But, seated
now aloft, I saw my Sin :
Rais’d to
my wish, no more my soul could crave,
Suspended
no betwixt the Throne and Grave,
I found a
dread vacuity within.
XXII.
“ Startled
to fell my unallay’d desire,
I bade the
sublunary World retire,
A juster
end of Love resolv’d to find :
My soul,
that labour’d in the mine below
Till then,
was sentenc’d here to penal woe,
Till from
the Dust I rise, by Pain refin’d.
XXIII.
“ Here,
lust of gold deplores the dreadful doom ;
Here,
chain’d a season to its marble tomb,
Each Spirit
learns the price of things above :
No pain, in
all Probation’s hideous round,
Can equal
their’s, who here, in durance bound,
Pay the
long penance of their sordid Love.
XXIV.
“ as on the
Soil, like brethren of the Sty,
We turn’d
our eyes, and scorn’d the ample Sky ;
An Angel
bends us down with giant-hand,
And bids us
bite the Dust, we lov’d so well :
Bound to
the rugged pavement, here we dwell,
And bathe
with gushing tears the rocky Strand.
XXV.
“ As pure
Benevolence, by love of gold
Chill’d to
the hearts, no longer could unfold
Its genial
powers, but lay, congeal’d in Frost ;
So fetter’d
hand and foot, unmov’d, and prone,
We cover,
many a league, this lofty Zone,
Till Heav’n
dismiss us from this fearful Post.”
XXVI.
Instant I
bent my knew, with stun desire
To pay
obeisance to the papal Sire,
And had
begun ; but, when he heard the sound,
“ Brother
why bend you thus to Earth ?” he cry’d ;
“ Your
dignity,” with rev’rence I reply’d,
“ I feel my
fault, and be it thus aton’d.”
XXVII.
“ Ah, quit
that humble posture,” he rejoin’d,
“ I am your
fellow-slave ; the talk assign’d
To all
EMMANUEL’s Servants is the fame.
Farewell,
ye Pageants of this earthly Ball ;
One rank
beyond the Grave has levell’d all,
Unless
superior worth distinction claim.
XXVIII.
“ If right
you understood what Heav’n declares,
That no
connubial rite the race repairs,
No human
compact in the Skies are known,
You had not
vex’d my ears with titles vain ;
Pursue your
way nor longer here remain,
Your
presence checks the penitential groan.
XXIX.
“ No longer
thus disturb my holy task,
but, if a
favour such as I may ask,
I have one
nephew, ( if LAVAGNA’s Line
Have spread
no taint thro’ his degen’rate blood,)
He well may
yet deserve the name of Good,
Bid him
remember me.---All joy be thine !”
END OF THE
NINETEENTH CANTO.