The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/Marenghi
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MARENGHI[1]
[Published in part (stanzas vii-xv) by Mrs. Shelley, Posthumous Poems, 1824; stanzas i-xxviii by W. M. Rossetti, Complete P. W. of P. B. S., 1870. The Boscombe MS.—evidently a first draft—from which (through Dr. Garnett) Rossetti derived the text of 1870 is now at the Bodleian, and has recently been collated by Mr. C. D. Locock, to whom the enlarged and emended text here printed is owing. The substitution, in title and text, of Marenghi for Mazenghi (1824) is due to Rossetti. Here as elsewhere in the footnotes B.=the Bodleian MS.]
I
Let those who pine in pride or in revenge,
Or think that ill for ill should be repaid,
Who[2] barter wrong for wrong, until the exchange
Ruins the merchants of such thriftless trade,
Visit the tower of Vado, and unlearn 5
Such bitter faith beside Marenghi's[3] urn.
Let those who pine in pride or in revenge,
Or think that ill for ill should be repaid,
Who[2] barter wrong for wrong, until the exchange
Ruins the merchants of such thriftless trade,
Visit the tower of Vado, and unlearn 5
Such bitter faith beside Marenghi's[3] urn.
II
A massy tower yet overhangs the town,[4]
A scattered group of ruined[5] dwellings now . . . .
·······
A massy tower yet overhangs the town,[4]
A scattered group of ruined[5] dwellings now . . . .
·······
III
Another scene ere wise Etruria knew
Its second ruin through internal strife, 10
And tyrants through the breach of discord threw[6]
The chain which binds and kills. As death to life,
As winter to fair flowers (though some be poison)
So Monarchy succeeds to Freedom's foison.
Another scene ere wise Etruria knew
Its second ruin through internal strife, 10
And tyrants through the breach of discord threw[6]
The chain which binds and kills. As death to life,
As winter to fair flowers (though some be poison)
So Monarchy succeeds to Freedom's foison.
IV
In Pisa's church a cup of sculptured gold 15
Was brimming with the blood of feuds forsworn:
A Sacrament more[7] holy ne'er of old
Etrurians mingled mid[8] the shades forlorn
Of moon-illumined forests, when . . . .[9]
In Pisa's church a cup of sculptured gold 15
Was brimming with the blood of feuds forsworn:
A Sacrament more[7] holy ne'er of old
Etrurians mingled mid[8] the shades forlorn
Of moon-illumined forests, when . . . .[9]
V
And reconciling factions wet their lips 20
With that dread wine, and swear to keep each spirit
Undarkened by their country's last eclipse . . . .
·······
And reconciling factions wet their lips 20
With that dread wine, and swear to keep each spirit
Undarkened by their country's last eclipse . . . .
·······
VI
Was Florence the liberticide? that band
Of free and glorious brothers who had[10] planted,
Like a[11] green isle mid Aethiopian sand, 25
A nation amid slaveries, disenchanted
Of many impious faiths—wise, just—do they,[12]
Does[13] Florence, gorge the sated tyrants' prey?[13]
Was Florence the liberticide? that band
Of free and glorious brothers who had[10] planted,
Like a[11] green isle mid Aethiopian sand, 25
A nation amid slaveries, disenchanted
Of many impious faiths—wise, just—do they,[12]
Does[13] Florence, gorge the sated tyrants' prey?[13]
VII
O foster-nurse of man's abandoned glory,
Since Athens, its great mother, sunk in splendour; 30
Thou shadowest forth that mighty shape in story,
As ocean its wrecked fanes, severe yet tender:—
The light-invested angel[14] Poesy
Was drawn from the dim world to welcome thee.[15]
O foster-nurse of man's abandoned glory,
Since Athens, its great mother, sunk in splendour; 30
Thou shadowest forth that mighty shape in story,
As ocean its wrecked fanes, severe yet tender:—
The light-invested angel[14] Poesy
Was drawn from the dim world to welcome thee.[15]
VIII
And thou in painting didst transcribe all taught 35
By loftiest meditations; marble knew
The sculptor's fearless soul—and as he wrought,
The grace of his own power and freedom grew.
And more than all, heroic, just, sublime,
Thou wert among the false . . . was this thy crime? 40
And thou in painting didst transcribe all taught 35
By loftiest meditations; marble knew
The sculptor's fearless soul—and as he wrought,
The grace of his own power and freedom grew.
And more than all, heroic, just, sublime,
Thou wert among the false . . . was this thy crime? 40
IX
Yes; and on Pisa's marble walls the twine
Of direst[16] weeds hangs garlanded—the snake
Inhabits its wrecked palaces;—in thine
A beast of subtler venom now doth make
Its lair, and sits amid[17] their glories overthrown, 45
And thus thy victim's fate is as thine own.
Yes; and on Pisa's marble walls the twine
Of direst[16] weeds hangs garlanded—the snake
Inhabits its wrecked palaces;—in thine
A beast of subtler venom now doth make
Its lair, and sits amid[17] their glories overthrown, 45
And thus thy victim's fate is as thine own.
X
The sweetest flowers are ever frail and rare,
And love and freedom blossom but to wither;
And good and ill like vines entangled are,
So that their grapes may oft be plucked together;— 50
Divide the vintage ere thou drink, then make
Thy heart rejoice for dead Marenghi's sake.
The sweetest flowers are ever frail and rare,
And love and freedom blossom but to wither;
And good and ill like vines entangled are,
So that their grapes may oft be plucked together;— 50
Divide the vintage ere thou drink, then make
Thy heart rejoice for dead Marenghi's sake.
Xa
[Albert] Marenghi[18] was a Florentine;
If he had wealth, or children, or a wife
Or friends, [or farm][19] or cherished thoughts which twine 55
The sights and sounds of home with life's own life
Of these he was despoiled and Florence sent. . . .[20]
[Albert] Marenghi[18] was a Florentine;
If he had wealth, or children, or a wife
Or friends, [or farm][19] or cherished thoughts which twine 55
The sights and sounds of home with life's own life
Of these he was despoiled and Florence sent. . . .[20]
XI
No record of his crime remains in story,
But if the morning bright as evening shone,
It was some high and holy deed, by glory 60
Pursued into forgetfulness, which won
From the blind crowd he[21] made secure and free
The patriot's meed, toil, death, and infamy.
No record of his crime remains in story,
But if the morning bright as evening shone,
It was some high and holy deed, by glory 60
Pursued into forgetfulness, which won
From the blind crowd he[21] made secure and free
The patriot's meed, toil, death, and infamy.
XII
For when by sound of trumpet was declared
A price upon his life, and there was set 65
A penalty of blood on all who shared
So much of water with him as might wet
His lips, which speech divided not—he went
Alone, as you may guess, to banishment.
For when by sound of trumpet was declared
A price upon his life, and there was set 65
A penalty of blood on all who shared
So much of water with him as might wet
His lips, which speech divided not—he went
Alone, as you may guess, to banishment.
XIII
Amid the mountains,[22] like a hunted beast, 70
He hid himself, and hunger, toil, and cold,[23]
Month after month endured; it was a feast
Whene'er he found those globes of deep-red gold
Which in the woods the strawberry-tree doth bear,
Suspended in their emerald atmosphere. 75
Amid the mountains,[22] like a hunted beast, 70
He hid himself, and hunger, toil, and cold,[23]
Month after month endured; it was a feast
Whene'er he found those globes of deep-red gold
Which in the woods the strawberry-tree doth bear,
Suspended in their emerald atmosphere. 75
XIV
And in the roofless huts of vast morasses,
Deserted by the fever-stricken serf,
All overgrown with reeds and long rank grasses,
And hillocks heaped of moss-inwoven turf,
And where the huge and speckled aloe made, 80
Rooted in stones, a broad and pointed shade,—
And in the roofless huts of vast morasses,
Deserted by the fever-stricken serf,
All overgrown with reeds and long rank grasses,
And hillocks heaped of moss-inwoven turf,
And where the huge and speckled aloe made, 80
Rooted in stones, a broad and pointed shade,—
XV
He housed himself. There is a point of strand
Near Vado's tower and town; and on one side
The treacherous marsh divides it from the land,
Shadowed by pine and ilex forests wide, 85
And on the other, creeps eternally,
Through muddy weeds, the shallow sullen sea.
He housed himself. There is a point of strand
Near Vado's tower and town; and on one side
The treacherous marsh divides it from the land,
Shadowed by pine and ilex forests wide, 85
And on the other, creeps eternally,
Through muddy weeds, the shallow sullen sea.
XVI
Here the earth's breath is pestilence, and few
But things whose nature is at war with life—
Snakes and ill worms—endure its mortal dew. 90
The trophies of the clime's victorious strife—
And ringed horns which the buffalo did wear,
And the wolf's dark gray scalp who tracked him there.[24]
Here the earth's breath is pestilence, and few
But things whose nature is at war with life—
Snakes and ill worms—endure its mortal dew. 90
The trophies of the clime's victorious strife—
And ringed horns which the buffalo did wear,
And the wolf's dark gray scalp who tracked him there.[24]
XVII
And at the utmost point[25] . . . stood there
The relics of a reed[26]-inwoven cot, 95
Thatched with broad flags. An outlawed murderer
Had lived seven days there: the pursuit was hot
When he was cold. The birds that were his grave
Fell dead after[27] their feast in Vado's wave.
And at the utmost point[25] . . . stood there
The relics of a reed[26]-inwoven cot, 95
Thatched with broad flags. An outlawed murderer
Had lived seven days there: the pursuit was hot
When he was cold. The birds that were his grave
Fell dead after[27] their feast in Vado's wave.
XVIII
There must have burned within Marenghi's breast[28] 100
That fire, more warm and[29] bright than life and hope,
(Which to the martyr makes his dungeon . . . .
More joyous than free[30] heaven's majestic cope
To his oppressor), warring with decay,—
Or he could ne'er have lived years, day by day. 105
There must have burned within Marenghi's breast[28] 100
That fire, more warm and[29] bright than life and hope,
(Which to the martyr makes his dungeon . . . .
More joyous than free[30] heaven's majestic cope
To his oppressor), warring with decay,—
Or he could ne'er have lived years, day by day. 105
XIX
Nor was his state so lone as you might think.
He had tamed every newt and snake and toad,
And every seagull which sailed down to drink
Those freshes[31] ere the death-mist went abroad.
And each one, with peculiar talk and play, 110
Wiled, not untaught, his silent time away.
Nor was his state so lone as you might think.
He had tamed every newt and snake and toad,
And every seagull which sailed down to drink
Those freshes[31] ere the death-mist went abroad.
And each one, with peculiar talk and play, 110
Wiled, not untaught, his silent time away.
XX
And the marsh-meteors, like tame beasts, at night
Came licking with blue tongues his veinèd feet;
And he would watch them, as, like spirits bright,
In many entangled figures quaint and sweet 115
To some enchanted music they would dance—
Until they vanished at the first moon-glance.
And the marsh-meteors, like tame beasts, at night
Came licking with blue tongues his veinèd feet;
And he would watch them, as, like spirits bright,
In many entangled figures quaint and sweet 115
To some enchanted music they would dance—
Until they vanished at the first moon-glance.
XXI
He mocked the stars by[32] grouping on each weed
The summer dew-globes[33] in the golden dawn;
And, ere the hoar-frost languished,[34] he could read 120
Its pictured path, as on bare[35] spots of lawn
Its delicate brief touch in silver[36] weaves
The likeness of the wood's remembered leaves.
He mocked the stars by[32] grouping on each weed
The summer dew-globes[33] in the golden dawn;
And, ere the hoar-frost languished,[34] he could read 120
Its pictured path, as on bare[35] spots of lawn
Its delicate brief touch in silver[36] weaves
The likeness of the wood's remembered leaves.
XXII
And many a fresh Spring morn would he awaken—
While yet the unrisen sun made glow, like iron 125
Quivering in crimson fire, the peaks unshaken
Of mountains and blue isles which did environ
With air-clad crags that plain of land and sea,—
And feelliberty.
And many a fresh Spring morn would he awaken—
While yet the unrisen sun made glow, like iron 125
Quivering in crimson fire, the peaks unshaken
Of mountains and blue isles which did environ
With air-clad crags that plain of land and sea,—
And feelliberty.
XXIII
And in the moonless nights,[37] when the dun[37] ocean 130
Heaved[38] underneath wide[38] heaven, star-impearled,[38]
Starting from dreams[39] . . .
Communed with the immeasurable world;
And felt his life beyond his limbs dilated,
Till his mind grew like that it contemplated. 135
And in the moonless nights,[37] when the dun[37] ocean 130
Heaved[38] underneath wide[38] heaven, star-impearled,[38]
Starting from dreams[39] . . .
Communed with the immeasurable world;
And felt his life beyond his limbs dilated,
Till his mind grew like that it contemplated. 135
XXIV
His food was the wild fig and strawberry;
The milky pine-nuts which the autumn[40]-blast
Shakes into the tall grass; or[41] such small fry
As from the sea by winter-storms are cast;
And the coarse bulbs of iris-flowers he found 140
Knotted in clumps under the spongy ground.
His food was the wild fig and strawberry;
The milky pine-nuts which the autumn[40]-blast
Shakes into the tall grass; or[41] such small fry
As from the sea by winter-storms are cast;
And the coarse bulbs of iris-flowers he found 140
Knotted in clumps under the spongy ground.
XXV
And so were kindled powers and thoughts which made
His solitude less dark. When memory came
(For years gone by leave each a deepening shade),
His spirit basked in its internal flame,— 145
As, when the black storm hurries round at night,
The fisher basks beside his red firelight.
And so were kindled powers and thoughts which made
His solitude less dark. When memory came
(For years gone by leave each a deepening shade),
His spirit basked in its internal flame,— 145
As, when the black storm hurries round at night,
The fisher basks beside his red firelight.
XXVI
Yet human hopes and cares and faiths and errors,
Like billows unawakened by the wind,
Slept in Marenghi still; but that all terrors, 150
Weakness, and doubt, had withered in his mind.
His couch . . .
········
Yet human hopes and cares and faiths and errors,
Like billows unawakened by the wind,
Slept in Marenghi still; but that all terrors, 150
Weakness, and doubt, had withered in his mind.
His couch . . .
········
XXVII
And, when he saw beneath the sunset's planet
A black ship walk over the crimson ocean,—
Its pennon[42] streaming on the blasts that fan it, 155
Its sails and ropes all tense and without motion,
Like the dark ghost of the unburied even
Striding athwart[43] the orange-coloured heaven,—
And, when he saw beneath the sunset's planet
A black ship walk over the crimson ocean,—
Its pennon[42] streaming on the blasts that fan it, 155
Its sails and ropes all tense and without motion,
Like the dark ghost of the unburied even
Striding athwart[43] the orange-coloured heaven,—
XXVIII
The thought of his own kind who made the soul
Which sped that winged shape through night and day,— 160
The thought of his own country . . .
········
The thought of his own kind who made the soul
Which sped that winged shape through night and day,— 160
The thought of his own country . . .
········
- ↑ This fragment refers to an event told in Sismondi's Histoire des Républiques Italiennes, which occurred during the war when Florence finally subdued Pisa, and reduced it to a province.—[Mrs. Shelley's Note, 1824.]
- ↑ 3 Who B.; Or 1870.
- ↑ 6 Marenghi's 1870; Mazenghi's B.
- ↑ 7 town 1870; sea B.
- ↑ 8 ruined 1870; squalid B. ('the whole line is cancelled,' Locock).
- ↑ 11 threw 1870; cancelled, B.
- ↑ 17 A Sacrament more B.; At Sacrament: more 1870.
- ↑ 18 mid B.; with 1870.
- ↑ 19 forests when . . . B.; forests. 1870.
- ↑ 23, 24 that band Of free and glorious brothers who had 1870; omitted, B.
- ↑ 25 a 1870; one B.
- ↑ 27 wise, just—do they 1870; omitted, B.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 28 Does 1870; Doth B. prey 1870; spoil B.
- ↑ 33 angel 1824; Herald [?] B.
- ↑ 34 to welcome thee 1824; cancelled for . . . by thee B.
- ↑ 42 direst 1824; Desert B.
- ↑ 45 sits amid 1824; amid cancelled for soils (?) B.
- ↑ 53 Marenghi] Mazenghi B.
- ↑ 55 farm doubtful: perh. fame (Locock).
- ↑ 53-57 Albert . . . sent B.; omitted 1824, 1870. Albert cancelled B.: Pietro is the correct name.
- ↑ 62 he 1824; thus B.
- ↑ 70 Amid the mountains 1824; Mid desert mountains [?] B.
- ↑ 71 toil, and cold] cold and toil edd. 1824, 1830.
- ↑ 92, 93 And . . . there B. (see Editor's Note); White bones, and locks of dun and yellow hair, And ringèd horns which buffaloes did wear— 1870.
- ↑ 94 at the utmost point 1870; cancelled for when (where?) B.
- ↑ 95 reed B.; weed 1870.
- ↑ 99 after B.; upon 1870.
- ↑ 100 burned within Marenghi's breast B.; lived within Marenghi's heart 1870.
- ↑ 101 and B.; or 1870.
- ↑ 103 free B.; the 1870.
- ↑ 109 freshes B.; omitted, 1870.
- ↑ 118 by 1870; with B.
- ↑ 119 dew-globes B.; dewdrops 1870.
- ↑ 120 languished B.; vanished 1870.
- ↑ 121 path, as on [bare] B.; footprints, as on 1870.
- ↑ 122 silver B.; silence 1870.
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 130 And in the moonless nights 1870; cancelled, B. dun B.; dim 1870.
- ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 131 Heaved 1870; cancelled, B. wide B.; the 1870. star-impearled B.; omitted, 1870
- ↑ 132 Starting from dreams 1870; cancelled for He B.
- ↑ 137 autumn B.; autumnal 1870.
- ↑ 138 or B.; and 1870.
- ↑ 155 pennon B.; pennons 1870.
- ↑ 158 athwart B.; across 1870.