40 A solitary woman! and she went Bright lady, who, if looks had ever power Towards this bank. I prithee let me win FRAGMENT.1 ADAPTED FROM THE VITA NUOVA OF DANTE. WHAT Mary is when she a little smiles SONNET. TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN OF GUIDO CAVALCANTI TO DANTE ALIGHIERI,2 RETURNING from its daily quest, my Spirit Changed thoughts and vile in thee doth weep find: 49 to 1These lines are said to have been scratched by Shelley on a window-pane.-ED. 2 The rejection of this sonnet from the Alastor It grieves me that thy mild and gentle mind I loved thy lofty songs and that sweet mood SCENES FROM THE MAGICO TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH OF CALDERON. SCENE I. Enter CYPRIAN, dressed as a Student; CLARIN and MoscoN as poor Scholars, with books. CYPRIAN. In the sweet solitude of this calm place, And flowers and undergrowth of odorous plants, Leave me; the books you brought out of the house To me are ever best society. And while with glorious festival and song volume, where a translation of a sonnet of Dante's to Cavalcanti appears, is perhaps attributable to the similarity of the subject to that of Shelley's sonnet to Wordsworth in that volume.-ED. Antioch now celebrates the consecration To its new shrine, I would consume what still Go, and enjoy the festival; it will Be worth your pains. You may return for me When the sun seeks its grave among the billows, Hid among dim grey clouds on the horizon, Which dance like plumes upon a hearse;—and here I shall expect you. MOSCON. I cannot bring my mind, Great as my haste to see the festival Certainly is, to leave you, Sir, without 20 Just saying some three or four thousand words. How is it possible that, on a day Of such festivity, you can be content To come forth to a solitary country With three or four old books, and turn your back On all this mirth? CLARIN. My master's in the right; There is not anything more tiresome Than a procession day, with troops, and priests, And dances, and all that. 30 Clarin, you are a temporizing flatterer; You praise not what you feel but what he does;Toad-eater! CLARIN. You lie under a mistake For this is the most civil sort of lie That can be given to a man's face I now CYPRIAN. Enough, you foolish fellows! Puffed up with your own doting ignorance, You always take the two sides of one question. Now go; and, as I said, return for me When night falls, veiling in its shadows wide This glorious fabric of the universe. MOSCON. How happens it, although you can maintain That yet you go there? 40 To speak truth, Livia is she who has surprised my heart; But he is more than half way there. Soho! Livia, I come; good sport, Livia, Soho! [Exit. CYPRIAN. Now, since I am alone, let me examine 50 The question which has long disturbed my mind With doubt, since first I read in Plinius The words of mystic import and deep sense Can find no God with whom these marks and signs Fitly agree. It is a hidden truth Which I must fathom. (CYPRIAN reads; the DÆMON, dressed in a Court dress, enters.) DÆMON. Search even as thou wilt, But thou shalt never find what I can hide. CYPRIAN. What noise is that among the boughs? Who moves? What art thou? DÆMON. "Tis a foreign gentleman. 60 Even from this morning I have lost my way In this wild place; and my poor horse at last, Quite overcome, has stretched himself upon The enamelled tapestry of this mossy mountain, And feeds and rests at the same time. I was Upon my way to Antioch upon business Of some importance, but wrapped up in cares (Who is exempt from this inheritance?) I parted from my company, and lost 69 My way, and lost my servants and my comrades. CYPRIAN. 'Tis singular that even within the sight your road. |