ET there is something round thy lips That prophesies the coming doom, The soft grey herald-shadow ere the eclipse. Notches the perfect disc with gloom.-J. N. LOWELL. The heart of Dante was naturally sensible, and even tender; his poetry is full of comparisons from rural life; and the sincerity of his early passion for Beatrice pierces through the veil of allegory that surrounds her. But the memory of his injuries pursued him into the immensity of eternal light; and in the company of saints and angels, his unforgiving spirit darkens at the name of Florence. HALLAM. He, at once a man of action and of letters as were our best men; he, a man of faction; he, exile, fugitive, poor, drawing from adversity new powers and new glory; he, carried away by the ardent passions of the South beyond that moderation which was in his most lofty mood; he, beyond all others thoughtful, accompanied during all his life by love; he, in fact the Italian the most Italian that has ever lived. C. BALBO. The world-worn Dante grasped his song, And somewhat grimly smiled.-TENNYSON. I know nothing so intense as Dante. There is, too, a brevity, an abrupt precision in him. One smiting word, and then there is silence, nothing His silence is more eloquent than T. CARLYLE. more said. words. 东 TENNYSON. HE old order changeth, yielding place to new: And God fulfils himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. Comfort thyself; what comfort is in me? I have lived my life, and that which I have done Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. voice Wherefore, let thy Rise like a fountain for me night and day. If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend? For so the whole round earth is everyway Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. N his " In Memoriam" he has grappled with the scepticism of his age; not like the school divine, but like a poet; not as a priest, but as a man of large human heart, who feels that not doubt but faith is greatness and blessedness, yet that doubt must not be put down by force or terror, nor silenced by logic, but pass into belief through sorrow and the intuitions of the soul. F. W. ROBERTSON. Long have I known thee as thou art in song, H. COLERIDGE. He tells us what we are and may be; how we can live free and harmonious lives; what grand elements of thought, feeling, and action lie around us; and what a field there is for the various activities fermenting within us. G. BRINLEY. He has not suffered himself to become a mere intellectual voluptuary. M. FULLER. VITTORIA COLONNA. FTTIMES to God through frost and cloud I go, For light and warmth to break my icy And pierce and rend my veils of doubt in twain, HE belonged to that class of women who never seek to extort anything by force, and yet obtain everything. How ten derly she exercised her authority over Michael Angelo, whom she inspired with the happiness of yielding to a woman! The few years during which their friendship lasted were the happiest that were ever granted him in his whole life. GRIMM. Not all unworthy of the boundless grace That opes the way to reach an aim so high; She has more eloquence, and breathes more sweetness, than all other women, and gives such force to her lofty words, that she adorns the heavens in our day with another sun. ARIOSTO. |