Page:A masque of dead florentines.djvu/10

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PREFATORY NOTE


It will sufficiently be seen that this poem does not treat of Florentine history; that it flouts chronology. Nullum tempus occurrit regi. May this maxim be twisted to further the poet? The painters adopted it when they yoked Lucrece, Susanna, and the daughters of Danaus to Chastity's chariot; and Dante found Ulysses in the same pit with Guido da Montefeltro. Let this serve as my excuse for setting Giotto after Boccace, and for worse discourtesies to Time's travels.