176
A VISION OF POETS.
And Spenser drooped his dreaming head
(With languid sleep-smile you had said
From his own verse engendered)
(With languid sleep-smile you had said
From his own verse engendered)
On Ariosto's, till they ran
Their locks in one!—The Italian
Shot nimbler heat of bolder man
Their locks in one!—The Italian
Shot nimbler heat of bolder man
From his fine lids. And Dante stern
And sweet, whose spirit was an urn
For wine and milk poured out in turn.
And sweet, whose spirit was an urn
For wine and milk poured out in turn.
Hard-souled Alfieri; and fancy-willed
Boiardo,—who with laughters filled
The pauses of the jostled shield.
Boiardo,—who with laughters filled
The pauses of the jostled shield.
And Berni, with a hand stretched out
To sleek that storm! And not without
The wreath he died in, and the doubt
To sleek that storm! And not without
The wreath he died in, and the doubt
He died by, Tasso! bard and lover,
Whose visions were too thin to cover
The face of a false woman over.
Whose visions were too thin to cover
The face of a false woman over.
And soft Racine,—and grave Corneille—
The orator of rhymes, whose wail
Scarce shook his purple! And Petrarch pale,
The orator of rhymes, whose wail
Scarce shook his purple! And Petrarch pale,
Who from his brainlit heart hath thrown
A thousand thoughts beneath the sun,
Each perfumed with the name of One.
A thousand thoughts beneath the sun,
Each perfumed with the name of One.
And Camoens, with that look he had,
Compelling India's Genius sad
From the wave through the Lusiad,
Compelling India's Genius sad
From the wave through the Lusiad,
With murmurs of a purple ocean
Indrawn in vibrative emotion
Along the verse! And while devotion
Indrawn in vibrative emotion
Along the verse! And while devotion
In his wild eyes fantastic shone
Between the bright curls blown upon
By airs celestial,—Calderon!
Between the bright curls blown upon
By airs celestial,—Calderon!
