05.05.2009, 18:38
CIULLO OF ALCAMO.
" Why call those ages dark ? from the old speech
By what gradations pass'd the world away,
Ye know not: for your thoughts are dull to reach
(Being late awake) the springing of the day."
I knew the voice was CiulUVs * : he whose lay
In Alcamo the grace of words did teach,
And accent and sweet meaning give to each ;
And I, for more still listening, answered " Nay,
If the long avenue of sphynx-like years
Tend to a point of dim perspective now ;
Bright in the midst a starry line appears,
Fame's children; and if Dante's sovereign brow
Loftier and nearer shine, or through his tears
Petrarca, seen, though far remote, art thou."
" Why call those ages dark ? from the old speech
By what gradations pass'd the world away,
Ye know not: for your thoughts are dull to reach
(Being late awake) the springing of the day."
I knew the voice was CiulUVs * : he whose lay
In Alcamo the grace of words did teach,
And accent and sweet meaning give to each ;
And I, for more still listening, answered " Nay,
If the long avenue of sphynx-like years
Tend to a point of dim perspective now ;
Bright in the midst a starry line appears,
Fame's children; and if Dante's sovereign brow
Loftier and nearer shine, or through his tears
Petrarca, seen, though far remote, art thou."