LIFE OF BENVENUTO CELLINI
That villain churl whose office t'was to bring
My food, I bade taste first; but meanwhile thought:
"Not here I find my foe Durante's sting!"
Yet erst my mind unto high God I brought,
Beseeching Him to pardon all my sin,
And spoke a Miserere sorrow-fraught.
Then when I gained some respite from that din
Of troubles, and had given my soul to God,
Contented better realms and state to win,
I saw along the path which saints have trod,
From heaven descending, glad, with glorious palm,
An angel: clear he cried, "Upon earth's sod
Live longer thou! Through Him who heard thy psalm,
Those foes shall perish, each and all, in strife,
While thou remainest happy, free, and calm,
Blessed by our Sire in heaven on earth for life!"
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