II.
PURGATORY.
TO
The Right Hon. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P.
“In the school of Dante I have learnt a great part of the mental provision, however insignificant it be, which has served me to make the journey of life nearly seventy-three years.”—W. E. Gladstone.
Not thine the exile′s weary lot, to tread
The stairs of others as with bleeding feet,
Nor yet in lonely wanderings still to eat
The doled-out bitter gifts of others′ bread:
Thine rather is it to have nobly led
When others halted or would fain retreat,
To steer the State, though fierce the storm-winds beat,
On to the wished-for haven, sails full spread.
Unlike in outward fortunes, yet we trace
In thee and in our Dante many a line
Of inward likeness, sharing each the grace
Of Life′s stern, loving, changeful discipline;
The will that stands four-square to Fortune′s blows,
Thoughts that age ripens, hope that wider grows.
Rome,
January 5th, 1883.
