O Death! thy stern and angry face, LIII. And he, the good man's shield and shade, Roderic Manrique - he whose name LV. To friends a friend; how kind to all And feudal fief! To foe how stern a foe was he! LXVI. By his unrivalled skill, by great He stood, in his high dignity, LXIX. And when so oft, for weal or woe, Had been cast down; When he had served with patriot zeal, His sovereign's crown; LXX. And done such deeds of valor strong, Can count them all; "But the good monk, in cloistered cell, And the brave knight, whose arm endures His standard rears. LXXVII. “ And thou, brave knight, whose hand has poured The life-blood of the Pagan horde O'er all the land, In heaven shalt thou receive, at length, LXXIX. "O Death, no more, no more delay : My spirit longs to flee away, And be at rest; The will of Heaven my will shall be, To God's behest. LXXX. "My soul is ready to depart: No thought rebels, the obedient heart The wish on earth to linger still Were vain, when 't is God's sovereign will That we shall die. LXXXI. "O Thou, that for our sins didst take LXXXII. "And in that form didst suffer here Torment, and agony, and fear, So patiently: By Thy redeeming grace alone, LXXXIII. As thus the dying warrior prayed, Watched by affection's gentle eye, LXXXIV. His soul to Him Who gave it rose; Its glorious rest! And though the warrior's sun has set, Its light shall linger round us yet, Bright, radiant, blest. ALESSANDRO MANZONI. MANZONI, ALESSANDRO FRANCESCO TOMMASO ANTONIO, a famous Italian poet and novelist; born at Milan, March 7, 1785; died there, May 22, 1873. He was educated at Merate, Lugano, and Pavia. He early wrote sonnets and other poetical compositions. In 1805 he went to Paris to reside. In 1807 he published a poem, "Urania." He became a devout Roman Catholic, and published, in 1810, "Inni Sacri," a volume of poems on the Nativity, the Passion, the Resurrection, the Pentecost, and the Name of Mary. His tragedy "Il Conte di Carmagnola" (1819) called forth severe criticisms, but was warmly praised by Goethe. His great work of historical fiction, "I Promessi Sposi " ("The Betrothed "”), appeared in 1825-27. It was pronounced by Sir Walter Scott "the finest novel ever written." It has been well translated into English. AN UNWILLING PRIEST. (From "The Betrothed.") [The following amusing scene occurs in the earlier portion of Manzoni's novel. Don Abbondio, a cowardly village curate, has been warned by Don Rodrigo, his lord of the manor, that if he dares to unite in marriage two young peasants, Renzo and Lucia (the "betrothed" of the story), vengeance will follow. The priest accordingly shirks his duty; and cruelly refusing to set any marriage date, shuts himself up in his house and even barricades himself against Renzo's entreaties. Donna Agnese, the mother of Lucia, hears that if a betrothed pair can but reach the presence of their parish priest and announce that they take each other as man and wife, the marriage is as binding as if celebrated with all formality. Accordingly Agnese devises a sort of attack on the priest by stratagem, to be managed by the parties to the contract and two witnesses (the brothers Tonio and Gervase); which device is considerably endangered by the wariness of the curate's housekeeper, Perpetua.] IN front of Don Abbondio's door, a narrow street ran between two cottages; but only continued straight the length of the buildings, and then turned into the fields. Agnese went forward along this street, as if she would go a little aside to speak more freely, and Perpetua followed. When they had turned the corner, and reached a spot whence they could no longer see what happened before Don Abbondio's house, Agnese coughed loudly. This was the signal; Renzo heard it, and reanimating Lucia by pressing her arm, they turned the corner together on tiptoe, crept very softly close along the wall, reached the door, and gently pushed it open quiet, and stooping low, they were quickly in the passage; and here the two brothers were waiting for them. Renzo very gently let down the latch of the door, and they all four ascended the stairs, making scarcely noise enough for two. On reaching the landing, the two brothers advanced towards the door of the room at the side of the staircase, and the lovers stood close against the wall. "Deo gratias," said Tonio in an explanatory tone. "Eh, Tonio! is it you? Come in!" replied the voice within. Tonio opened the door, scarcely wide enough to admit himself and his brother one at a time. The ray of light that suddenly shone through the opening and crossed the dark floor of the landing made Lucia tremble, as if she were discovered. When the brothers had entered, Tonio closed the door inside: the lovers stood motionless in the dark, their ears intently on the alert, and holding their breath; the loudest noise was the beating of poor Lucia's heart. Don Abbondio was seated, as we have said, in an old armchair, enveloped in an antiquated dressing-gown, and his head buried in a shabby cap of the shape of a tiara, which by the faint light of a small lamp formed a sort of cornice all around his face. Two thick locks which escaped from beneath his headdress, two thick eyebrows, two thick mustachios, and a thick tuft on the chin, all of them gray and scattered over his dark and wrinkled visage, might be compared to bushes covered with snow, projecting from the face of a cliff, as seen by moonlight. "Aha!" was his salutation, as he took off his spectacles and laid them on his book. "The Signor Curate will say I am come very late," said Tonio with a low bow, which Gervase awkwardly imitated. "Certainly, it is late-late every way. Don't you know I am ill?" "I'm very sorry for it." "You must have heard I was ill, and did n't know when I should be able to see anybody. . . . But why have you brought this this boy with you?" "For company, Signor Curate." VOL. XIV.-27 |