A stir recalled me to the West When lo! what change I saw! Not crowned with haloes were the blessed But helmeted with awe; The robes were warriors' cloaks; out-pressed Each sword toward Austria. Alike had been th' angelic fold As rose to rose may be, But now the patriot ranks out-rolled As far as eye could see -- Souls that had begged from Heaven the mould Of their mortality. Among the militant array I saw the prophet grim Who showed Earth Hell. (Ah, Earth to-day A worse Hell shows to him!) His eyes were Southward turned, as they Would see Ravenna dim. Near him, with face that ne'er knew youth, Savonarola came -- He who dared tell a Prince the truth And mirrored royal shame; (Would that one tyrant without ruth Might see his evil fame!) I saw within the brooding throng The makers of the State -- Exiles, and martyrs of old wrong, And unforgotten great, Whose names live in Italian song And votive street and gate. I knew by one deep-musing head Mazzini, free of guile, And marked, among the living dead, Cavour's defensive smile, And, still by Garibaldi led, The Thousand, file on file. Most loyal of his Court, the King Pressed forward to the front, As though against the foe to fling The courage he was wont, Like a huge mastiff coveting The danger of the hunt. How fair this country must have seemed To those who were its cost! How proud of what their blood redeemed, How grieved for what was lost! How eagerly would they have streamed Where clashing banners tossed! Now in their larger vision stood Their country's new distress, Till Earth became the greater good And Paradise the less. (Welcome a second death if 'twould Defend such loveliness!) And as, at dawning of the night, The pageantry withdrew, From Po to farthest Dolomite Their anthem rose anew: "Fight ye for Freedom and for Right, But fight for Beauty, too." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PRELUDE; FOR GEOFFREY GORER by EDITH SITWELL ROBERT GOULD SHAW by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR MY VERY PARTICULAR FRIEND by MARIA ABDY MAN AND WOMAN GO THROUGH THE CANCER WARD by GOTTFRIED BENN LIFE AND YOU by CHARLOTTE LOUISE BERTLESEN |