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Article LITERARY NOTICES. ← Page 2 of 6 →
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Literary Notices.
But the shadow of impending sorrow darkens Madonna ' s path . Jealousy—causeless and hastil y surmised—prompts the dark spirit of her husband to a horrible revenge . In moody silence—stern in his resolve and sullen in its execution—Pietra commands the trembling bride to take horse , ancl journey with him to a solitary castle in the marshes of Maremma , the hideous swamp so vividly described by the Italian : —
" Acqua stagnante in paludosi fossi , Erba nocente , che secura cresce , Compressa fan la pigra aria di grossi Vapor , d ' onde virtu vencfica esce ; E qualor piii dal sol vengon percossi Fra gli animanti rio morbo si mesce , II cacciator fuggendo , da lontano Monte contempla il periglioso piano . " LA PIA DI SESTINI , Canto i . v . 5 . There she is doomed to wither in the poisonous air ; and this is the picture of her prison : —
"It was a coll—though not beneath the ground ; A chamber of the dark tower ' s middle height , AA'here all of dismal gleam and mournful sound Might sadden the lone inmate , day and nig ht : So high , escape might never thence be found—So low , that the miasma's deadly blight , The searching poison of the rank fen ' s air , Should evermore find cruel entrance there .
" Oh ! then her grave she saw , and heard her knell ! Horror of horrors ! was it come to this f For her sweet bridal-bower this lothly cell f Pietra ' s curse for his sweet bridal kiss % Flung to the lowest depths of earthly hell From the last pinnacle of earthly bliss ! There were no words such agony to speak , And it found voice in one long piercing shriek .
" Then as her prison echoes rang and rang , A moment on Pietra ' s altered face Grazing with anguish , to his breast she sprang , As if to fold him in such fond embrace As when upon her lip his soul would hang , And her least sigh his stormiest mood could chace ; As if to change the vulture to the dove , And kiss him into tenderness and love !
But he—that silently vindictive lord—Silent as heretofore , and stern and cold , AVith lifted arm , as if a blow to ward , Or fence him from a serpent ' s clasping fold , Dashed her aside—and , like a thing abhorred , On the cold granite of the cell she rolled 1 Then , turning from the wreck he had o ' erthrown , AVithout a glance he left her there alone .
" Alone , save thoughts that well nigh turn the brain—That either break the heart or drive it mad , AVith envy of the happier who have lain Long in their quiet grave-cloth meetly clad : Those dread companions , an innumerous train , Poor lost Madonna in her dungeon had ; And lay with them upon its cold hard stones , And nursed and fed them with her tears and groans .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Literary Notices.
But the shadow of impending sorrow darkens Madonna ' s path . Jealousy—causeless and hastil y surmised—prompts the dark spirit of her husband to a horrible revenge . In moody silence—stern in his resolve and sullen in its execution—Pietra commands the trembling bride to take horse , ancl journey with him to a solitary castle in the marshes of Maremma , the hideous swamp so vividly described by the Italian : —
" Acqua stagnante in paludosi fossi , Erba nocente , che secura cresce , Compressa fan la pigra aria di grossi Vapor , d ' onde virtu vencfica esce ; E qualor piii dal sol vengon percossi Fra gli animanti rio morbo si mesce , II cacciator fuggendo , da lontano Monte contempla il periglioso piano . " LA PIA DI SESTINI , Canto i . v . 5 . There she is doomed to wither in the poisonous air ; and this is the picture of her prison : —
"It was a coll—though not beneath the ground ; A chamber of the dark tower ' s middle height , AA'here all of dismal gleam and mournful sound Might sadden the lone inmate , day and nig ht : So high , escape might never thence be found—So low , that the miasma's deadly blight , The searching poison of the rank fen ' s air , Should evermore find cruel entrance there .
" Oh ! then her grave she saw , and heard her knell ! Horror of horrors ! was it come to this f For her sweet bridal-bower this lothly cell f Pietra ' s curse for his sweet bridal kiss % Flung to the lowest depths of earthly hell From the last pinnacle of earthly bliss ! There were no words such agony to speak , And it found voice in one long piercing shriek .
" Then as her prison echoes rang and rang , A moment on Pietra ' s altered face Grazing with anguish , to his breast she sprang , As if to fold him in such fond embrace As when upon her lip his soul would hang , And her least sigh his stormiest mood could chace ; As if to change the vulture to the dove , And kiss him into tenderness and love !
But he—that silently vindictive lord—Silent as heretofore , and stern and cold , AVith lifted arm , as if a blow to ward , Or fence him from a serpent ' s clasping fold , Dashed her aside—and , like a thing abhorred , On the cold granite of the cell she rolled 1 Then , turning from the wreck he had o ' erthrown , AVithout a glance he left her there alone .
" Alone , save thoughts that well nigh turn the brain—That either break the heart or drive it mad , AVith envy of the happier who have lain Long in their quiet grave-cloth meetly clad : Those dread companions , an innumerous train , Poor lost Madonna in her dungeon had ; And lay with them upon its cold hard stones , And nursed and fed them with her tears and groans .