Classic Poem

CANTO IX.

Argument.

Cunizza, sister of Ezzelino da Romano. — The Troubadour, Foulques of Marseilles.
T HEN , fair Clemenza, when thy Charles had freed
My mind from doubt, yet further did he show
The injuries in store for all his seed;
But said: " Be silent; let the years still flow. "
I may but tell thee that just punishment
Shall come, as retribution for your woe.
The life within this holy light now bent
Its course unto the Sun, which all doth fill
With bliss, the Good which ever doth content.
Ah! souls deceived, of most perverted will,
Who from such blessings turn your hearts away,
And fix them wholly on vain thoughts of ill!
And lo! to me another dazzling ray
Approach'd, and all its gentle mind made known,
By the fresh splendour that within it lay.
The eyes of Beatrice, which ever shone
On me, now signified the dear assent
Unto the wish to which my thought had grown.
I said: " Ah! to my longing give content,
Thou blessid spirit; prove that I in thee
Reflect the thing whereon I am intent. "
And then the light which still was new to me,
From out the depth whence it at first did sing,
Spake on, as one to whom all good things be
Well-pleasing: " Know, within that bordering
Of guilty Italy, which wholly lies
Between Rialto and each flowing spring
Of Brenta and Piava, there doth rise
A lowly mount, from whence a firebrand came,
Assaulting those around with sore surprise.
Its root and mine were, in good sooth, the same:
Cunizza was I named; and here I shine
Because I yielded to this starry flame.
Yet gladly do I now myself resign
Unto this lot, nor for the cause I sigh;
Which may seem marvellous to vulgar eyne.
But of this lustrous jewel of our sky,
Which nearest unto me doth shed its ray,
Great fame remain'd; and, ere its glory die,
This hundredth year five times shall pass away:
See then how fit it is that man should well
Strive that of his first life some relic stay
Within the future! And the mob who dwell
'Twixt Adigi and Tagliamento's flood
Think not of this, nor yet their deeds so fell
Repent, though sorely scourged: but soon with blood
The stream which bathes Vicenza's walls shall run,
Shed by the Paduans' most cruel brood.
Where Silis and Cagnano join, doth one
Go haughtily, with head uplifted high,
For whom the spider now her web hath spun.
Feltro shall mourn her pastor's treachery,
Than whom more wicked never yet did chance,
Within the prisons which in Marta lie.
Too wide and deep should be the vat, perchance,
Which might receive Ferrara's blood; and they
Weary, who would endeavour, ounce by ounce,
The store supplied by this good priest to weigh,
Shed, his brave partisanship to prove: but all
Such gifts well suit that country's life. And yea!
Above are mirrors, which ye Thrones do call,
From whence God's judgments shed their shining lore;
Thus know we that this truly shall befal. "
Here she was silent, and a semblance wore
As though her thoughts on other paths had gone;
And then she join'd the circling dance once more.
The other joy, to me already shown,
Now glisten'd with a clear, resplendent light,
Like sunbeam on the rose-hued ruby-stone.
For gladness there, doth radiance glow more bright,
As here ye smile; but in the world below,
The shades grow darker, in eternal night,
According to the measure of their woe.
" God seith all; and thou in Him, " I said,
" So deep dost gaze, O blessid one, that no
Desire from thy true insight can be hid.
Then wherefore doth thy voice, which with the song
Of those high Seraphs whose six wings do spread
Their cov'ring, charms the bright and starry throng,
Reply not to my wish? If I in thee
Might gaze, as thou in me, sooth not so long
Thou here hadst waited. " " Where the waters be
Spread in the amplest vale, " his words began,
" Save only the great earth-encircling sea,
And, 'twixt discordant shores, against the sun
Extend till the meridian line doth stretch,
Where the horizon first ye look'd upon;
There I was born, anear the salt sea-beach,
'Twixt Ebro's stream and Magra's, which, in short
And rapid course, doth as a bound'ry reach
'Tween Genoese and Tuscans. In like sort,
Doth the meridian of Buggea lie,
And the shore whence I came, and in whose port
Warm blood flow'd once in waves. And there, was I
Call'd Foulques by those who knew me and my name;
And now my spirit shines within this sky,
As erst its light on me. No fiercer flame
In Belus' daughter glow'd (which sorely grieved
Creusa and Sichaeus) than o'ercame
Me in my youth; nor in the maid deceived,
Whom Demophoon did with false love beguile,
Near Rhodopi; nor Hercules received
Of Ioli. Yet here we do but smile,
Not at the sin, which to our thought returns
No more, but at the Power which rules, the while.
Here we behold the art which thus adorns
Such works, and know the good which here doth lie;
Because each star the world below still turns.
But, that I now may wholly satisfy
Thy wishes which are born within this sphere,
Yet further I proceed in my reply.
Thou fain wouldst learn who in this light doth here
Beside me sparkle with such radiance blest,
Even like a sunbeam on a tranquil mere.
Know then that Rahab there doth calmly rest;
Thus she, conjoin'd with these our hierarchies,
Her seal hath on the highest grade imprest.
Unto this realm (whereon the shadow lies
Thrown by your earth) with Christ's triumphant reign,
She before any other soul did rise.
'Tis well, in Heaven her light should never wane,
But rest as palm of the high victory
Which once the Saviour's sacred hands did gain;
Because she favour'd Joshua, when he
First glory won within the Holy Land,
Whereof the Pope hath little memory.
Thy city, which as plant of him doth stand,
Who first rebell'd against his Maker's power,
Whence come of envious deeds an evil band,
Produces and sends forth th' accursid flower
Which hath the sheep and lambs so turn'd aside,
And made the pastor, like a wolf, devour.
For this, the Gospel and the Fathers 'bide
Neglected, and the Canon Laws alone
Are read, as by their margins is descried
This by the Pope and Cardinals is known;
Their thoughts do never seek the lowly home
In Nazareth, where Gabriel once hath flown.
But, for the Vatican, and where in Rome
The graveyards of St. Peter's hosts ye see,
Full soon the dawning of a day shall come
Which from adulterous power shall wholly set them free. "