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Must Franco Bolognese1 have preference :
All honour now is his, mine only part.
Such courtesy, through my desire intense,
The while I lived I hardly should have show'd,
So had I fix'd my mind on excellence.

Such pride here dearly pays the price it owed.
Nor should I have been here, but that with full
Ability to sin, I turn'd to God.?

O pride of thought, how vain and fanciful,

How short will its fresh verdure have endured,
Unless 'tis follow'd by an age more dull !3

In painting Cimabue1 felt assured

To hold the field; now Giotto's in request,

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1 A painter and illuminator of MSS., probably a pupil of Oderisi. His works are still known. A Madonna by him, at Bologna, is dated 1313.

2

Having turned to God while in health and strength, he was saved from hell; and also from continuing in the outskirts of Purgatory with those who deferred their repentance.

3 So that other intellectual stars may not arise to outshine you. After all, an enlightened age can best appreciate the labours of its predecessors; and those who reap the harvest should not be unmindful of those who sowed the seed.

• Giovanni Cimabue, born at Florence, in 1240, of a noble family. He was the restorer of painting in Europe; and although surpassed by his great pupil, he has the merit of having discovered, and drawn from obscurity, the talent of Giotto, displayed in the rude sketches of the shepherd boy; and of having by his kindness and assistance materially contributed to the success of his pupil. He died soon after the year 1300, having furnished, it is said, the epitaph inscribed on his tomb, to which Dante is supposed to allude:

"Credidit ut Cimabos picturæ castra tenuere,

Sic tenuit vivens; nunc tenet astra poli."

5 Giotto, the pupil of Cimabue and friend of Dante, was born A D. 1276, and died 1336.

And his precursor's fame is much obscured. Thus Guido too doth from his namesake wrest1 His learned fame; and he perhaps is born Who both will foil and chase them from their nest.2 The loudest blast from Fame's obstreperous horn Is but a breath of wind that passes by,

Changing its name, as hence or thence 'tis borne. What fame wilt thou have more, if thou shouldst die An old man, than if death had seized on thee When pap and playthings were thy prattling cry, A thousand years hence? To eternity,

Less than the twinkling of an eye that same,
To the most slow-paced orb in heaven, will be.3
He who before thee slowly wends, had fame
Which through all Tuscany did once resound,
Searce whisper'd in Siena now his name,
Where he was lord, what time they to the ground
The frantic rage of Florence overthrew,

Then proud as now she's vile and abject found.4

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Guido Cavalcanti.-See Inferno, x. 60, and note. Guido Guinicelli, of a noble family at Bologna, was highly esteemed by Dante, who speaks of him again, Canto xxvi. 83. In his note to the present passage, Cary has given several specimens of the poetry of both Guidos.

Scilicet, Ego Dante. An augury of his own poetic fame.

3 It is related of Napoleon I., that in one of his more pensive moods, when speaking freely of his own eventful career, and seeking to anticipate for himself the final verdict of History, he drew a vivid picture of the steadily shrinking dimensions of his renown. At that time his achievements filled libraries. By and bye a volume would suffice; then a chapter; then a paragraph; and then a line; till finally, perhaps, there would remain only his name.

4 He alludes to the defeat of the Florentine Guelfs at Montaperto.-See Inferno, x. 86, 93, and notes.

Your fame is like the verdant grass, whose hue

Comes and then goes; and that which doth bestow
Its vigour withers all its verdure too."1

I answer'd, "Thy true speech my heart will sow
With meek humility and quell my pride,2
But who is he of whom thou speakest now ?"
"He's Provenzan Salvani," said my guide,
"And he is here because presumptuously
To grasp Siena's government he tried.

Thus he has gone, and still goes restlessly,

:

Since death such is the price that must be paid
By those who act on earth too daringly."
I answer'd; "If the soul that has delay'd

Repentance till that he life's verge attain,
Unless of pious prayers he have the aid,
Must not mount higher, but below remain,
Until a time long as he lived be past,
How did Salvani here admittance gain?"
He said, "When he most glory had amass'd,
He freely stood upon Siena's plain,
There openly all shame aside he cast:
To draw his friend from bondage and the pain
Of Charles's prison, he himself subdued,

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1 The elements which contribute to our growth and sustenance, contribute also to our dissolution. The Scriptures compare man, in this respect, to the grass and flowers of the field.—Psalm ciii. 15, 16; James i. 11.

2 See Matt. xiii. 23. "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”—James iii. 18.

3 He commanded the Ghibelines of Siena against the Florentines in the battle of Val d'Elsa, in 1269, where he was defeated and slain.

In allusion to what is related, Canto iv. 130-2.

He push'd the wicket of the sacred door.1

"2

"Enter," he said, "but mind, who on this ground Look back, must back again their path explore." And when upon their hinges had swung round

The brazen pivots of that sacred ward,

The metal ponderous and of harshest sound, Not with such clang the steep Tarpeian roar'd,3 When from it was removed the good tribune, Metellus, for its treasures unrestored.4

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1 The reader will be reminded here of the "Wicket-gate," in BUNYAN'S Pilgrim's Progress.

2 See Gen. xix. 17; Luke ix. 62.

3 "Let them pronounce the steep Tarpeian death."

SHAKSPEARE, Coriolanus, Act iii. Sc. iii. 4. Metellus the tribune opposing Cæsar's taking money out of the public treasury, alleged some laws against it. Cæsar said, "Arms and laws do not flourish together. If you are not pleased with what I am about, you have nothing to do but to withdraw: indeed, war will not bear much liberty of speech. In saying this, I wave my own right; for you, and all whom I found exciting a spirit of faction against me, are at my disposal." He then approached the doors of the treasury, and as the keys were not produced, he sent for workmen to break them open. Again Metellus opposed him, and some praised his firmness; but Cæsar, elevating his voice, threatened to put him to death, if he gave any further trouble. And, young man," said he, "you are aware that this is harder for me to say than to do." Metellus, terrified with this menace, retired, and Cæsar was then easily and readily supplied with everything necessary for the war.-PLUTARCH, Life of Cæsar. Lucan says, the public treasury alluded to was the Temple of Saturn; and adds ;

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"When Metellus was led away the temple was immediately opened, Then the Tarpeian rock with a mighty din resounded

From the unfolding gates; and the wealth long hoarded,
Untouch'd for many years by the Roman people,

Was brought forth from the recesses of the temple.”—Phars. iii. 153.

At the first crash I listening turn'd, and soon
The Te Deum laudamus1 heard ascending,

In a mix'd voice, it seem'd, to some sweet tune.
The strains I heard were to my bosom sending

Emotion such as is the raptured mood2

Felt when the chant is with the organ3 blending, Whose words now are-and now not-understood.

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1 This well-known and magnificent hymn has been ascribed to different authors. The earliest known allusion to its existence is in the Rule of Cæsarius, Bishop of Arles, who lived in the fifth century. It is found in the Breviary of Sarum, and in that of Pius V., as well as in the English Liturgy. See PALMER'S Origines Liturgica. Oxford, 1832.

Te Deum sung on Dante's entering the gates of penitence, is in allusion to Luke xv. 10, "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

“That strain I heard was of a higher mood."

MILTON'S Lycidas, 1. 87.

3 The organ invented by Jubal, known to the Hebrews, and mentioned in the books of Job and of the Psalms, was merely a mouth organ, similar to that in use among the Greeks and most other ancient nations. The modern instrument, which has been consecrated to Psalmody and Church-Music, and which Dryden, with a poet's licence, ascribes to the inventive genius and devout gratitude of St. Cecilia, was known in Italy, Spain, and Africa, as early as the fifth and sixth centuries. It is described by Cassiodorus, who died A.D. 560. The first organ used in a church was one presented by the emperor Constantine Michael to Charlemagne. In the fourteenth century, the number of pipes was increased and the pedal and stops added. The Legend of St. Cecilia, whose martyrdom is by some ascribed to between A.D. 176 and 180, and by others to 230, says, that she sung to the sound of organs the praises of God alone. (Breviary, Nov. 22; CHAUCER, 2nd Nonnes Tale.) Hence she has been regarded as the Patroness of Church Music.

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