her the triumph came, and, winding round th acclamation, and the martial clang instruments, and cars laden with spoil, pped at the sacred stair that then appeared, en thro' the darkness broke, ample, star-bright, tho' it led to heaven. 'Twas night; but now thousand torches, turning night to day,' azed, and the victor, springing from his seat, ent up and, kneeling as in fervent prayer, tered the Capitol. But what are they ho at the foot withdraw, a mournful train fetters? And who, yet incredulous, ow gazing wildly round, now on his sons, n those so young, well-pleased with all they see,2 taggers along, the last ?—They are the fallen, hose who were spared to grace the chariotwheels; And there they parted, where the road divides, The victor and the vanquished—there withdrew; He to the festal board, and they to die. Well might the great, the mighty of the world, They who were wont to fare deliciously And war but for a kingdom more or less, Shrink back nor from their thrones endure to look, To think that way! Well might they in their pomp Humble themselves, and kneel and supplicate Here Cincinnatus passed, his plough the while Left in the furrow; and how many more, Whose laurels fade not, who still walk the earth, assailed; but he bore his sufferings with less composure, as well indeed he might; taking refuge in the vestibule of the nearest house. Ad Att. iv. 3. "Adscendit Capito An allusion to Cæsar in his Gallic triumph. lium ad lumina," &c.-SUETONIUS. In the triumph of Æmilius, nothing affected the Roman people like the children of Perseus. Many wept; nor could any thing else attract notice, till they were gone by.- PLUTARCH. Consuls, Dictators, still in Curule state The last on Philip's throne; and the Numidian,2 Thrust under-ground, "How cold this bath of yours!" And thy proud queen, Palmyra, thro' the sands3 Whose temples, palaces, a wondrous dream Some invoked Death and escaped; the Egyptian, when her asp Now all is changed; and here, as in the wild, "This was the Roman Forum!" 1 Perseus. 2 Jugurtha. 3 Zenobia. 4 Cleopatra. 5 Sophonisba. The story of the marriage and the poison is well known to every reader. A FUNERAL. ZHENCE this delay ?"—" Along the crowded street A Funeral comes, and with unusual pomp." o I withdrew a little and stood still, While it went by. "She died as she deserved," 66 The stab," she cried, "was given in jealousy; But never fled a purer spirit to heaven, As thou wilt say, or much my mind misleads, When thou hast seen her face. Last night at dusk, When on her way from vespers-None were near, A dull and dismal noise assailed the ear, 66 Do not the living here bury the dead? Do Spirits come and fetch them? What are these, As 't were her nightly posture, through the crowd 66 "No, she will never, never wake again!" Death, when we meet the Spectre in our walks, As we did yesterday and shall to-morrow, Soon grows familiar-like most other things, Seen, not observed; but in a foreign clime, Changing his shape to something new and strange, (And through the world he changes as in sport, Affect he greatness or humility) Knocks at the heart. His form and fashion here To me, I do confess, reflect a gloom, A sadness round; yet one I would not lose; In this, this land of shadows, where we live eague beyond league, like one great cemetery, Iust a fond father meet his darling child,, Stand, I conjure ye!" Seen thus destitute, What are the greatest? They must speak beyond A thousand homilies. When Raphael went, His heavenly face the mirror of his mind, His mind a temple for all lovely things To flock to and inhabit-when He went, Wrapt in his sable cloak, the cloak he wore, To sleep beneath the venerable Dome,1 By those attended, who in life had loved, Had worshipped, following in his steps to Fame, ('Twas on an April-day, when Nature smiles) All Rome was there. But, ere the march began, Ere to receive their charge the bearers came, Who had not sought him? And when all beheld Him, where he lay, how changed from yesterday, Him in that hour cut off, and at his head His last great work;2 when, entering in, they looked Now on the dead, then on that master-piece, Then on those forms divine that lived and breathed, 1 The Pantheon. The Transfiguration; "la quale opera, nel vedere il corpo morto, e quella viva, faceva scoppiare l'anima di dolore a ogni uno che quivi guardava."-VASARI. |