^
V
Poems
Charades, Inscriptions
OF
Pope Leo XIII
INCLUDING THE REVISED COMPOSITIONS OF HIS
EARLY LIFE IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
With English Translation and Notes
by
overbrook seminary
THE DOLPHIN PRESS
American Ecclesiastical Review
New York— Philadelphia
1902
Copyright, 1902
American Ecclesiastical Eeview
THE DOLPHIN PRESS
New Yokk and Philadelphia
POEMS OF
POPE LEO XIII
INDEX.
CAKMINA.
PAGE
Ad Vincentium Pavanium 2
De Invalitudine Sua 4
EogeriusA. C 6
LUDICRA.
Lac-rima 10
Arti-Giano 12
Can-Estro 10
Sol-Fanello 20
CARMINA.
A Monsignor Orfei * 22
Idem Latine 24
A Fulvio Bellelio 26
In Maevium 28
In Nicolaum Pompilium 32
In Petrum Penna 34
In Seraphinum Paradisium 36
In Sanctem Petrazzinium 38
In Hermelindam Montesperelli 40
In Rosalindam Bastiani 42
Ars Photographica 44
In Galium 46
Damnatorum ad Inferos Lamentabilis Vox 48
Eicorso alia Yergine 50
Ad Aloisium Botelli Can 52
Ad Aloisium Eufum 56
Gertrudi Sterbiniae 58
Idem Sororis Opem Implorat 62
Ad Josephum Fratrem 64
* Original texts (Latin or Italian) appear on this page.
vi
CONTENTS.
POEMS.
PAGE. NOTES*
To Vincenzo Pavani, S. J 3 (267)
On His Sickness 5 (267)
Kuggero Eepels the Wanton 7 (269)
CHAKADES.
Lac-rima n
Arti-Giano 13 (269)
Gan-Estro 17 (270)
Sol-Fanello 21
POEMS.
Idem Latine 23 (271)
To Monsignor Orfei 25 (271)
ToFulvioBellelio..... ' 27
Eccentric Maeyius 29 (272)
Nicolo Pompili 33
Pietro Penna 35
Serafino Paradisi 37 (272)
Sante Petrazzini 39
Hermelinda Montesperelli 41
Resalind Bastiani 43
Photography 45 (273)
To Gallus , 47 (273)
"O for One Hour!" 49
Kecourse to the Virgin in Temptation 51
To Canon Aloysius Kotelli 53
To Luigi KufFo 57
The Prayer of Julius 59
To the Same (53
His Life and Fortunes 65 (273)
* The figures in parenthesis indicate the pages where Notes are found.
vii
INDEX
PAGE
Ad Jeremiam Brunelli 70
Ad Joannem Arnolfum Servanzi 72
S. Herculanus 74
In Honorem S. Herculani 76
S. Constantius 82
Hymnus 1 84
HymnusII 88
S. Felicianus 94
Ad Sanctum Felicianum 94
In Sacram Familiam.
Hymnus* 1 104
HymnusII 108
Hymnus III 112
AdFlorum 116
Ne Se Voluptatum Illecebris Capi Patiatur 118
"JustitiamColui" 120
Frustrata Impiorum Spe Pontificum Romanorum Series Non
Intermittitur 122
Frustrata Impiorum Spe Pontificum Romanorum Series Non
Intermittitur 124
Ecclesiae Auspicatus Triumphus 126
Sanctus Joannes Baptista 128
In Jesum Christum Baptizatum 132
In Iliad Psalmi xiii 136
In Illud Eccl. xxxiv, 16 138
In Platea Maiore prope Templum Princeps 142
In Parte Oppidi Superiore prope Avitas Pecciorum Aedes 144
Ad Beatam Virginem Mariam (I) 148
Ad Beatam Virginem Mariam (I) 150
Ad Beatam Virginem Mariam (II) 152
Ad Beatam Virginem Mariam (II) 154
Praesidium Divinae Matris 156
Adiutrici Christianorum 160
In Obitu Josephi Pecci Card. Germani Fratris.
Iosepli 168
Ioaehim 168
In Mariam Elisam Bernezzo 170
viii
CONTENTS
PAGE. NOTES
To Geremia Brunelli 71 (277)
To John Arnulf Servanzi 73
St. Herculanus 75
Saint Herculanus 77 (278)
St. Constantius 83
Hymn 1 85 (280)
Hymn II 89 (280)
St. Felicianus 95
To Saint Felician 97 (282)
Hymns in Honor of the Holy Family.
Vesper Hymn 105 (282)
Matin Hymn 109
Hymn at Lauds 113
To Floras 117
To the Same 119 *
" I Have Loved Justice " 121
Versione libera 123
"Even to the Consummation of the World" 125
An Augury of Triumph 127
St. John the Baptist 129
The Baptism of Christ 133
On the Words of Psalm xiii 137
On Eccl. xxxiv, 16 139
Song of the Two Fountains 143 (284)
In Upper Carpineto, near the Ancient Mansion of the
Peccis 135
Versione libera 149 (287)
A Sigh of the Faithful Soul 151
Versione libera 153
Supplication of the Loving Soul 155
Our Lady's Eosary 157 (288)
To the "Helper of Christians" 161 (289)
On the Death of his Brother Card. Joseph Pecci.
Joseph 169 (293)
Joachim 169
"For Love is Strong as Death" , 171
ix
INDEX
PAGE
DeS. Petro CaelestinoV m
Ad Societatem Eomanam Iuventutis Catholicae 174
Ad Sodales Arcadicos.
Ad Canendum Invitat I78
Neander Pleracleus Arcadiae Laudes Commemorat 180
Ad Guilelmum Massaia 188
Virgine Favente Fiat Unum Ovile 190
Sub Effigie Virginis Guadalupanae apud Mexicanos 192
Julius Adolescens Deiparam Matrem a Bono Consilio Supplex
Implorat 194
Ob Memoriam Auspicatissimi E ventus, etc 196
Deo et Virgini Matri Extrema Leonis Vota 204
Deo et Virgini Instante Morte Vota 206
Julio Sterbinio Familiari 20S
Julii Sterbini Filiis 212
ObNuptias 214
Tenui Victu Contentus Ingluviem Fuge (Ad Fabricium Kufum) 216
Ineuntis Saeculi Auspicia 224
In Praeludio Natalis Jesu Christi Domini Nostri 230
In Praeludio Natalis Jesu Christi Domini Nostri 234
INSCRIPTIONES.
Anna Alex. F. Prosperia 240
Gertrudi Sterbiniae 242
Dynastae Signienses 244
Kerum Mortalium Vices 248
Insana Voluptatum Cupiditas 2^0
Voluptas Siren 2'52
Concupiscentia Oculorum 254
Pecuniam Infinite Concupiscens 256
Superbia Vitae 258
Idem Argumentum 260
In Mortali Vita Quae Superest 2G2
Age lam, O Leo 264
CONTENTS
PAGE. NOTES
St. Celestine V 173
' ' Kemember thy Creator in the Days of thy Youth " 175
To the Arcadians.
Sing, Ye Arcadians! 179 (295)
Praise of Arcadia 181
To Guglielmo Card. Massaia 189
Let there be One Fold 191
The Virgin of Guadalupe 193 (318)
The Prayer of Julius 195
' ; Praised be Christ who Loves the Franks " 197 ( 299 )
Italian Version 205
Death 207 (304)
Julius Sterbini 209 (304)
Love of the Sacred Heart 213
Epithalamium 215 (305)
On Frugality and Long Life 217 (306)
The Opening Century 225 (313)
The Eve of Christmas 231
A Christmas Eve Revery 235
INSCRIPTIONS.
Anne, Daughter of Alex. Prosperi 241 (317)
Gertrude Sterbini 243 (320)
Palace of the Segnis 245
Vicissitudes of our Mortal Life 249
Insensate Love of Pleasure 251
Pleasure, a Siren 253
Concupiscence of the Eyes 255
Boundless Craving for Wealth 257
The Pride of Life 259
The Same 2G1
For the Rest of My Mortal Life 263
Forward, then, Leo 265
TT7HEN, in 1897, Andrew Lang, the foremost man of
W letters in England, cabled to the New York
World his exquisite translation of the Epistola ad Fabri-
cium Rufum, the general reading public was made aware
of the poetical attainments of Leo XIII. The Ode on
the Opening Century, which appeared three years later,
was accordingly welcomed with the greatest interest,
and was translated into all the tongues of Europe,
Andrew Lang and Francis Thompson figuring promi-
nently amidst the host of its translators into English.
The New York Independent published a correct and
vigorous version by its Editor, William Hayes Ward,
as well as an editorial expressing deepest admiration at
the extraordinary illustration furnished by the Ode, of
the intellectual powers of a nonagenarian Pontiff.
The Pope, however, had been writing Latin verses
ever since the year 1822, and had covered well-nigh all
the fields of poetic endeavor. Stately odes, sparkling
jeux oV esprit, charades, heroic hymns, familiar epigrams
on and to his friends, quatrains, inscriptions— a wealth
of outpourings of head and heart. Interesting as all
these are because of the sublime dignity of the Author,
they become, if possible, even more valuable as mirror-
ing the genial, cultured, affectionate, devout soul of the
man and the priest. Among the many biographies
already published, a volume of the Pope's verse, reveal-
ing in his own words the inner heart of the great
Pontiff, might well seem indispensable.
To the educated man who still retains some interest
in the classic rhythms of his collegiate study, such a
volume should appeal with special force, as it furnishes
a pleasant illustration of modern themes dressed out in
the diction of Virgil and Horace. The Pope has used
many metres— hexameters, pentameters, iambic di-
meters, hendecasyllabics, Sapphics, Alcaics, the elegiac
couplet, and Ambrosian quantitative stanzas.
The poems are arranged chronologically, and thus
become a versified commentary, as delightful as it is
authentic, on the marvel of the Pope's life and labors.
The volume contains an ample Appendix of Notes-
historical, critical, exegetical.
Overbrook, Afay, 1902.
POEMS OF
POPE LEO XIII
CARMINA
POEMS
CABMINA
AW. MDCCCXXII
AD VINCENTIVM PAVANIVM
E S. I.
NOMINE, Vincenti, quo tu, Pa vane, vocaris,
Parvulus atque infans Peccius ipse vocor.1
Quas es virtutes magnas, Pavane, sequutus
O utinam possim Peccius ipse sequi.
x) Imposita auctori ad sacrum baptisma fuerant noniina Ioachimo, Vin-
centio, Raphaeli, Aloisio. Sed mater eius Vincentium appellari maluit ob
honorem Vincentii Ferrerii, cuius extitit cultrix eximia. Quod ille nomen
serius cum Ioacbimo commutavit.
POEMS
TO VINCENZO PAVANI, S. J.
(1822)
1 HY very name, Pavani, Vincent styled,
Was mine — a little child.1
What mighty virtues thou didst well pursue,
Would I might follow, too !
*) The author had received in baptism the names Joachim, Vincent, Raph-
ael, Aloysius. But his mother preferred that he should be called Vincent, in
honor of Vincent Ferrer, towards whom she was very devout. Later in life
the author preferred to be called Joachim.
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXXX
DE INVALETVDINE SVA
PlJBER bis denos, Ioachim, vix crescis in annos;
Morborum heu quanta vi miser obmeris!
Iuverit hos fando tristes memorare dolores,
Et vitae aerumnas dicere carminibus.
Nocte vigil, tarda componis membra quiete:
Viribus effetis esca nee ulla levat
Languentem stomachum; depresso lumine ocelli
Caligant; ictum saepe dolore caput.
Mox gelida arentes misere depascitur artus
Febris edax, mox et torrida discruciat.
lam macies vultu apparet, iam pectus anhelum est;
Deficis en toto corpore languidulus!
Quid tibi blandiris, longos quid prospicis annos ?
Atropos horrendum mortis adurget iter.
Tunc ego: "non trepida frangar formidine: mortem,
Fortis, dum properat, laetus et opperiar.
Non me labentis pertentant gaudia vitae,
Aeternis inhians nil peritura moror.
Attingens patriam, felix est advena, felix
Si valet ad portum ducere nauta ratem."
4
POEMS
ON HIS SICKNESS
(1830)
SrY YOUTH of twenty years — how sickly and how spare!
Ah, to what natural shocks my flesh is heir !
Haply to utter here my memorable grief,
May bring, if not surcease, some sad relief.
Through sleepless nights in vain I fretfully compose
My weak and weary limbs to seek repose.
My food no strength affords; my drooping lids complain
Of light; and oft my head is racked with pain.
Anon my parched limbs a wasting ague chills,
Anon with torrid heats of fever fills.
Haggard and wan my face, and laboring is my breath:
Languid I walk the way to dusty death.
Why shall I cheat my heart, and years a-plenty crave
When Atropos compels the dreaded grave ?
Rather my soul will speak: "0 Death, where is thy
With gladness I await thy triumphing ! [sting ?
' ' The passing shows of life shall not disturb my peace,
Who long to taste the joy that cannot cease.
' ' Happy the exile' s feet to press the Fatherland ;
Happy the storm-tossed bark to gain the strand ! ' p
5
CARMINA
1». MDCOOXXXI
ROGERIVS A. C.
ADOLESCENB
EFFRONTEM MVLIEREM DEPELLIT
(jUID fucata genas, quid, vultu habituque proterva,
Mente agitas ? Procul hinc siste, Amarylli, pedem.
Letiferum stillas meretricio ab ore venerium,
Infandum venis, proh pudor, ulcus alis.
1 ) Auetori amicus et in studiis litterarum sociius.
POEMS
RUGGERO1 REPELS THE WANTON
(1831)
W ITH red-flaming cheek, with gaudy array,
What snare dost thou plan? Amaryllis, away!
For a poison of asps is under thy tongue,
And a hideous ulcer thy bosom hath wrung.
1) A friend and fellow-student of the Poet.
LUDICRA
(mdcccxxxit)
CHARADES
(1834)
LUDICBA
LAC-RIMA
I0SEPH0 LOVATELLIO
BODAM
¥*RIMUM, mi Lovatelle, cum bibissem
Phthisi convalui ocius fugata.
Cymbam, quae liquidis natabat undis,
Alterum maris in profunda mersit.
Quid totum, tibi nosse dant ocelli
Turgentes, faciesque luctuosa,
Et quae nescia comprimi aut domari
Heu matre exanimi, intimas medullas
Angit, excruciatque vis doloris. .
(Parafrasi italiana.)
Scarno era il volto, era affannoso e fioco
II respiro, e un venen lento e sottile
II mio frale struggeva a poco a poco.
Bevvi il primier, o Lovatel gentile :
Tosto nell'arse membra inaridita
Torno piu bella a rifiorir la vita.
Del mar nel seno ondoso agile e snello
Dei remiganti fra il giulivo grido
Veleggiando sen giva il mio burchiello,
E gia toccava il sospirato lido :
Quand'ecco, ahi dura sorte! il mio secondo
Del mar lo fea calar nell'imo fondo.
Ben, il total qual sia, veggo in te stesso:
Da che perdesti Tadorata madre
Lo veggo sul tuo ciglio ognora espresso
Nel volto, nelle gote umide ed adre;
E in quel che si ti crucia e mente e core
Acerbo. inconsolabile dolore.
10
CHARADES
LAC-RIMA1
I DRANK the first, my friend,
And phthisis had an end.
But with the next, my boat
Must cease, at last, to float.
The whole your eyes have known,
Your pallid cheeks have shown;
For oh ! the swelling tide
No bravest heart could hide,
When your dear mother died.
( Translation of Italian paraphrase. )
My face was gaunt, my breath was scant;
A subtle poison stealing slowly
Through all my limbs did strength supplant
With weakness and with melancholy:
But when I drank my first, dear Lovatello,
I felt renewed, and quite another fellow!
How lightly on the swelling deep
My little boat was nimbly dancing,
While voice and oar with rhythmic sweep
Welcomed the shore so near advancing:
So near, and yet so far ! Alas, we reckoned
Without our host — our bark had sprung a second !
I see my whole bedim your eye;
For wThen you lost your dearest mother,
Your dewy cheek could not belie
The grief you vainly sought to smother.
Ah, friend, it is the witness of a sorrow
That from no human help surcease may borrow.
*) Lac = milk ; Mima = leak ; Lacrima = tear.
11
LUDIGRA
ARTI-GIANO
JDl barbaro oppressor fatte ludibrio
Lasciar l'amato nido
Di Grecia un di le prime, abbiette e povere
Errar di lido in lido:
Ma viste poi della ridente Ausonia
Le spiaggie ed il bel seno,
Sull'ospital terreno
Si ricovraro alfm.
(Arti) Ebber qui vanto, e qui belle rifulsero
Dello splendor primiero.
A noi l'antica gloria
In van s'attenta l'invido straniero
Rapir; tu pure, o Silvia,
Di', se il presume indarno
Or che d' Italia in sulle rive d'Arno
Passeggi il bel giardin.
Tenne Yaltro qual re del Lazio il seggio
Nella remota etade,
Poi fu signor dell' Umbria, e poi d'Etruria
Domino le con trade:
E se fola non e, se fosca istoria
Al ver non contradice,
Fu lieto, f u felice
II lungo suo regnar.
12
CHARADES
ARTI-GIANO «
1 HE sport of rude barbarian hordes,
From their beloved nest
In Greece, of old my first strayed far
As exiles, sore distressed.
Till dear Ausonia's laughing fields
Beheld the wanderers come,
And on her hospitable soil
Build an enduring home.
Here were uplift their graceful heads,
Here shone their splendors old:
Vainly the stranger sought to win
The heritage we hold.
But tell me, Silvia, if he still
Search vainly, as he roves
Beside the Arno's classic stream
In green Italian groves ?
My second, King of Latium, held
His throne long years ago:
Next Umbria, then Etruria came
His laws benign to know;
For (if it be no mythic tale
The ancient writers tell)
A people happy, blithe, content,
Wisely he ruled and well.
1 ) Artigiano = workman ; Arti — the Arts ; Qiano = Janus.
13
LUDICRA
(Gianoy L'adoro nume di Quirino il popolo,
Nume guerriero e forte
Che dischiudea del formidato tempio
La sul Tarpeo le porte,
E ad esso, in un pacifico
Duce e patrono loro,
I mercatanti nel romano foro
Piu simulacri alzar.2
Di bisso non s'ammanta non di porpora,
Di saio vil ricopre
II mio total le membra; ei nell'inopia
Delle sue man coll'opre
Sudate, industri, e colle veglie assidue
Pensiero e cura ha sola
^ " ' All'umil famigliuola
Scarso fornire un pan.
Ed e felice e fortunato: l'ansia
Di rea passion nol morde.
In dolce pace, in armonia concorde
Lieto trascorre i di.
l) Historici scripsere Ianum regem antiquissimum Italiae fuisse. Regiiavit
in Latio et in agro romano. In aliquibus libris reperitur eum etiam in Het-
ruria regnavisse et in Umbria.— Iani templum aeneum cum aeneo signo iuxta
aliquos scriptores erat apud Capito]ium sen Tarpeum montem in foro a
Numa Pompilio positum.
a) In porticibus romani fori in quibus mercatores et foeneratores frequen-
tissime habitabant, erat Ianus summus, medius et imus. Haee Iamis summits
ad imum perdocet (Hor. I, Ep. bi).—Postquam omnis res mea Ianum ad medium
fracta est. (Hor. lib. II, Sat, 3). (Ex Forcellinio, verbo : Ianus.)
14
CHARADES
The Romans held him as a god,1
Whose valor could unlock
The portals of the dreaded shrine
On the Tarpeian rock.
Patron of peace, his images
Were piously displayed2
Where money-lenders in the mart
Securely plied their trade.
In purple and fine linen clad ?
Ah no! in homespun coarse
My whole is found; in poverty
He spends his vital force:
He toils and sweats and watches long,
And racks his weary head
How he may win for wife and child
A scanty loaf of bread.
Yet is he happy; for no shapes
Of guilt beset his way:
In peace with God and man he toils,
Singing the livelong day.
x) Historians have described Janus as the most ancient king of Italy. He
reigned in Latium and the Roman territory, and, as certain books have it,
also in Etruria and in Umbria. According to some writers, Numa Pompilius
placed in the forum, near the Capitoline or Tarpeian hill, a brazen temple of
Janus covering his brazen image.
s)In the porticoes of the Roman forum used largely by merchants and
money-lenders, there was an upper, middle and lower Janus [see note in
Appendix] .
Thus preaches the forum from the upper to the lower Janus ("All of Wall St.")
— Hor. lib. I, Ep. i, 54. Again : After my bankruptcy at the middle Janus.— Hor.
II, Sat. iii. (Forcellini, s. v. Janus.)
15
LUDICJRA
CAN-ESTRO
I.
O DELLE donne italiche,
Silvia, decoro e vanto,
Cui crebbe fama e gloria
D'un anglo vate il canto,
Un fiorellin poetico
Oso offerirti anch'io,
Colto pur mo' sul rio
Che irrora il mio giardin.
II.
Ove del bosco Idalio
Piu folte son le piante
Va sulle sciolte redini
Di corridor spumante
(Can) Col mio primier ; le indomite
Fere affatica al corso
Colla faretra al dorso
Come Diana un di.
if
CHARADES
CAN-ESTKO '
I.
OYLVIA, the glory and the boast
Of all Italia' s fairest,
An English bard thy beauty sang,
And made thy fame the rarest.
I, too, would offer thee a gift —
A little rhymic flower
Plucked in its grassy bower
Beside my garden-brook.
II.
Hie to the thick Idalian wood,
And in its leafy tangle
Follow the foamy steed whose reins
In useless guidance dangle:
My first is there. Diana-like,
Pursue with heavy quiver
And footsteps fleeting ever,
The boar and bounding deer.
l) Canestro = basket ; Can(e) = dog ; Estro = divine'afflatus.
17
LUDIOBA
(Estro)
III.
Al tuo cantor die in copia
L' altro di Delo il nume,
E il fe' volar del genio
Sulle robuste piume;
S' io pur 1' avessi, a 1' etera
Farei con suon concorde
Sulle toscane corde
Un inno risonar.
(Canestro)
IV.
Di giunchi intreccio e vimini
E il mio Male, umile
Opra di man feminea ;
Pur non averlo a vile,
Di vaghi nor che olezzano
Ve' colmo ha 1' ampio seno
Di poma 1' ho ripieno,
L'accetta, o Silvia, in don.
18
CHARADES
III.
To bards of old the Delian god
Gave richly of my second,
And plumed their pinions for the flight
Where fame and genius beckoned:
Ah, could I share their plenteous gift,
Up to the ether winging
A song more worth the singing
Would leap from this poor lyre !
IV.
Osiers and rushes intertwined
Make up my riddle wholly ;
'T is humblest work of women's hands —
Yet deem it not too lowly:
Behold, its hollow I have filled
With many a fruit and flower,
To make it, for thy bower,
Sylvia, a pleasant gift !
19
LUDIGRA
SOL-FANELLO
ALLA MEDESIMA
V E' gli astri omai rilucere
Sulla celeste volta
Ve' il mar, la terra av volta
In tenebroso orror.
Sorga il primiero, e il fulgido
Suo raggio il monte indori,
(Sol) Sorga, e P erbette e i fiori
Pinga di bei color.
Vago augellin, che roseo
E bigio spiega il manto,
(Fanello) E P altro, inetto al canto,
Sol uso a pigolar.
A rischiarar le tenebre
Prendi il Male a sera,
(Solfanello) N'accendi la lumiera
Gia il sol tufTossi in mar.
20
CHARADES
SOL-FANELLO l
(To the Same.)
BEHOLD, the heaven glows
With starry light,
While earth and sea repose
In shades of night.
My first ascends — each hill
Is ridged with gold;
The flowers new sweets distil,
New charms unfold.
My second then in gray
And crimson clad,
Offers an artless lay,
A chirping glad.
Again ' t is evening dun :
Strike on the head
My whole, for now the sun
Has gone to bed !
) Solfanello = match ; Sol{e) = sun ; Fanello = linnet.
21
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCXXXVIII
A MONSIGNOR ORFEP
SCHEEZO POETICO
ORFEO, fama gia. fu che la nemica
Ira molcendo, attonite e sospese
Traesti al sono della cetra arnica
Un di le fere ad ascoltarti intese.
Forse il valore avito an cor nutrica
E ad egual gloria i tuoi nepoti accese ?
Trasfusa in loro tua virtude antica
Rinnovellar pot6o le conte imprese ?
Ben lo cred'io: del Sannio Irpin le selve
Udir gli accenti d'un Orfeo novello,
L'armonia di sua cetra udir le belve:
E una colomba, dall' Adriaco lido
Spiccando il vol, poso sul mio Castello
E co' suoi colombin vi fece il nido.
*) Mons. Orfei, suo antecessore nella Delegazione di Benevento, aveva
ceduto una parte 'del Palazzo Apostolico, detto il Castello, al Presidente del
Tribunale, avv. Palomba, venuto da Loreto.
22
POEMS
AN. MDCCCXXXVIII
IDEM LATINE
JVX ULCERE immites cithara, deducere cantu,
Orpheu, fama refert te potuisse feras.
Pristina num virtus renovat portenta ? nepotes
Gloria sollicitat numquid avita tuos ?
Crediderim: Samn! visus novus Orpheus oris
Elicere arguta dulce melos cithara.
Laevaque ab Adriaca advolitans regione columba
Nostro heu cum pullis in lare nidiflcat.
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCXXXVIII
IDEM LATINE
JV1 ULCERE immites cithara, deducere cantu,
Orpheu, fama refert te potuisse feras.
Pristina num virtus renovat portenta ? nepotes
Gloria sollicitat numquid avita tuos ?
Crediderim: Samni visus novus Orpheus oris
Elicere arguta dulce melos cithara.
Laevaque ab Adriaca advolitans regione columba
Nostro heu cum pullis in lare nidificat.
24
POEMS
TO MONSIGNOR OEFEI l
(1838)
ORPHEUS, 'tis said, with melting lay
Could soothe the beasts of prey,
And lead them forth of brake and brier,
Sequacious of the lyre.
Does not his power again unfold
The magic wrought of old ?
Does not his spirit still inflame
The race that bears his name ?
Well might I credit such a thing,
Hearing our Orpheus sing
And launch from his resounding lyre
Shafts of melodic fire!
Alack! a silly dove hath flown
Hither from Adria's zone;
Why, in our chimney stands confessed
His birdling's raucous nest !
*) Mons. Orfei, the predecessor of Mons. Pecci in the Legation of Bene-
vento, had assigned a part of the Apostolic palace, called the Castello, to the
President of the Court, Palomba, a lawyer from Loretto.
25
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXLI
A FULVIO BELLELIO1
SCHERZO POETICO
«AURA spira da te di Paradiso
Che di grazia e belta tuo volte- infiora:
II dolce sguardo ed il gentil sorriso
Soavemente i cor lega e innamora.
Che se turbi la fronte, e d'improvviso
E magnanimo sdegno ardi talora,
Delia tua voce al suon ciascun conquiso
Per la tern a allibisce e trascolora.
Dischiusa e a te d' ogni saver la via;
Vate, sofo, orator da tuoi verd' anni;
Sublime ingegno al ciel t' aderge e india.
Dispiega a volo ognor piu ardito i vanni,
Ne paventar di maldicenza ria,
Di codardo livor l'oltraggio e i danni.
a) Bellelio, vanitoso, encomiava sovente la propfia bellezza, e tenevasi in
conto di letterato, filosofo ed oratore.
26
POEMS
TO FULVIO BELLELIO1
(1841)
MESEEMS a zephyr, strayed from Paradise,
Breathes from the roses blooming on your cheek ;
Your winning smile, your courtesy antique,
Bind every heart to you in loving ties.
But when the lightning flashes from your eyes,
And angry clouds your snowy forehead seek,
And from your mouth the red-lipped thunders
How blanches every face in dread surmise ! [speak —
Thou oraclest what path the world should take,
0 Bard, and Seer, and Orator of youth:
Surely such genius should the earth forsake !
Spread then your pinions for the flight: good sooth,
You will not fear the venom-spitting snake,
The laughing mob, or mordant Envy's tooth.
*) A conceited fellow who often boasted of his good looks and reckoned
himself a philosopher, an orator, and a man of letters.
27
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXXXXII
IN MAEVIVM
VIRVM CALLIDVM ET ABNORMEM
JVlAEVIUS abnormis, quern plebs festiva Quiritum
Ridet, et argutis vellicat usque iocis,
Nudato capite, effusis per colla capillis,
Palliolo in teretes lene cadente humeros,
Aestiva et tunica accinctus, per compita nuper
Spectandus populo Maevius ibat ovans.
Atqui iam horrescebat hyems, iam frigidus aer,
Et contracta gelu flumina constiterant.
Admirari omnes, resonare et sibila: euntem
Densa humeris strepitu turba proterva premit.
Turn quidam mihi subridens: vulpecula mores
Non mutat, vellus mutat at ilia suum.
Callidior vulpes pol ! Maevius: aspice, utrumque
Is mavult, morem et vellus, utrumque tenet.
POEMS
ECCENTKIC MAEVIUS
(1842)
«A. BUTT for jokes and antic play
Of idlers on their holiday,
Eccentric Maevius wends his way;
His head unbonneted and bare,
His neck concealed by tumbling hair,
His cloaklet borne with jaunty air.
Joyous he pushes through the swarm,
Clad in the garb of summer warm —
Certes, a curious uniform !
Curious indeed; for now, behold !
The raging winter's icy cold
Hath even the running streams controlled.
Was ever such a sight as this ?
Be sure that Maevius shall not miss
The jostling elbow and the hiss !
Said one to me, with knowing smile :
11 The little fox may change his style
Of skin, but not his native guile;
But Maevius is a craftier fox:
Egad, he will not change his frocks
More than his ways, whoever mocks !"
29
CARMINA
(Jam esset Perusinorum Episcopus, excellentes aliquo
genere sacerdotes carminibus laudare, item ex sacris vir-
ginibus optimas quasque celebrare consueverat. Carminum
quoddam veluti specimen hoc loco proponitur.
30
POEMS
While Bishop of Perugia, the author was accustomed to
celebrate in song such priests as were remarkable for any
special excellence, and also the most deserving amongst the
Sisters in Religious Communities. The following poems
may serve as a specimen.
31
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXIV
IN NICOLA VM POMPILIVM1
PASTOR in exemplum sollers, florentibus annis,
Suffecit tenero pascua laeta gregi.
Rector in exemplum sapiens, succrescere pubem
Sacris addictam, se duce, perdocuit
Ad mores artesque bonas: laus inde superstes,
Famaque Pompilivm non peritura manet.
x) Nicolaus Pompilius recti tenax, ad consilia prudens, curionis munere
apud Prunetenses diu integreque gesto, Canonicus templi maximi Periisini
factus est, sacroqiie Seminario regundo praefectus.
32
POEMS
NICOLO POMPILI1
(1864)
TRULY a Shepherd ! In Prugneto's fields
His watchful care a plenteous pasture yields.
Truly a Rector ! He instructed youth
By his example how to follow truth
And virtue. So his works the man survive,
And fame forever keeps his name alive !
1) A righteous and prudent man, who after a long and blameless pastorate
in Prugneto became a Canon of the Cathedral of Perugia and Rector of the
Seminary.
33
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXIV
IN PETRVM PENNA1
FORTUNATE senex, dulcis dum vita maneret,
Te candore animi, te pietate, fide
Aequabat nemo; laetis in rebus, in arctis
Delicium populi tu, bone pastor, eras.
*) Petrus Penna, curio sanctissimi exempli, mira animi simplicitate, mul-
torumque recte factorum memoria clarus.
34
POEMS
PIETRO PENNA1
(1864)
O WHITE-HAIRED Sage ! thy clemency,
Thy faith, thy sweet simplicity,
No equal had: in woe or weal,
Thy people found their pastor leal !
1 ) A most exemplary parish-priest, noted for his perfect candor and zeal
in the ministry.
35
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXIV
IN SERAPHINVM PARADISIVM1
QUAE subiecta oculis, vera est pastoris imago
Divae Helenes, dulci pabulo alentis oves.
Quae patria et nomen fuerit si forte requiras,
Verius hoc referet picta tabella tibi.
Nam patriam dicet Paradisi in sede beatam,
Adscriptumque choris nomen in angelicis.
1) Seraphinus Paradisi, parochus in castro 5. Helenes, integer vitae et earns
ubique modestia sua.
36
POEMS
SERAFINO PARADISI1
(1864)
BENEATH our very eyes is placed the image meet —
How a good shepherd feeds his flock in pasture sweet.
" His country and his name? " should you then chance
to ask,
This picture shall attempt, better than words, the task:
'Twill say: " Why, Paradise the land that claimeth him;
And you will find his name amidst the Seraphim ! ' '
x) Pastor at Castello di S. Elena, loved of all for his blameless life and
modest manner.
37
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXV
IN SANCTEM PETRAZZINIVM "
IvELLIGIO et Pietas titulum inscripsere sepulchro
Effusae in lacrimas himc, Petracine, tuo:
" Curio bis denis pius et mitissimus annis,
Parvum sollicito pavit amore gregem.
' * In plebem miserans hie, prodigus aeris, egenam
Mirum ! vel censu paupere fudit opes."
*) Sanctes Petrazzinius, parochus Ecclesiae Rarnatieiibis, pius in Do urn,
benignus in egenos, amorem omnium virtute promeruit.
38
POEMS
SANTE PETRAZZINI1
(1865)
DISSOLVED in grief, Religion, Piety,
This Title placed to thee:
' ' For twenty years his flock he gently led
And generously fed.
"Wondrous! to help his needy flock, he poured
Wealth from the scantiest hoard ! ' '
1 ) Parish-priest of Ramazzano, meriting love from all for his piety towards
God and his charity towards the poor.
39
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXV
IN HERMELINDAM MONTESPERELLI
ANTISTITAM SACRARVM VIRGINVM CISTERCIENSIVM l
I ROGENIE illustris, verae et virtutis alumna
Virgo, Hermelinda et nomine, sacra Deo;
Coenobii custos vigil et fidissima, mater
Provida consilio, propositique tenax.
1) Magistra Virginum Cisterciensium ad Sanctae Iulianae per annos xxv,
caritatis prudentiaeque laude insignis. Obiit die in Iulii a. mdccclxi.
40
POEMS
HERMELINDA MONTESPERELLI l
(1875)
A NOBLE birth, an honored name,
0 Hermelinda, thou couldst claim;
But brighter is thy virtue's fame!
An ever-watchful sentinel,
A gentle mother ruling well,
Yet firm as rock-ribbed citadel !
1) Superioress of the Cistercian Convent of S. Giuliana in Perugia; cele-
brated for her charity and prudence. Died July 3, 1861.
11
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXV
IN ROSALINDAS! BASTIANI
ANTISTITAM COENOBII AD S. CATHARINAE 1
VlRTUTES celebrare tuas, praeclaraque gesta
Quis valeat, vel quod par erit ellogium ?
Ellogium matris : sacra inter septa senescis
Spectanda exemplis et pietate gravis.
Acclamant matrem concordi voce sorores,
Tu dux, tuque illis provida mater eras.
Ereptam terris te matrem nunc quoque dicunt:
Matrem cum lacrimis in sua vota vocant.
l) Magisterium coenobii tres et triginta annos continuos gessit. Ob singu-
larem animi bonitatem sacrae virgines earn familiariter appellare consueve-
rant la nostra buona mamma. Obiit die xxvi Decembria mdccclxxi.
42
POEMS
ROSALIND BASTIANI1
(1875)
1 0 celebrate thy deeds and virtues rare,
What eulogy may tongue or pencil dare?
A Mother's praise is thine, who grewest old
No less in grace than years amid thy fold.
The sisters still a Mother thee acclaim,
Whose tender care so merited the name.
Death snatched thee from their midst; yet, as of yore,
A Mother still their sighs and tears implore!
l) She ruled her convent for thirty-three consecutive years, 'and with such
goodness of heart, that the sisters called her familiarly "our good Mother."
43
GARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXVII
ARS PHOTOGRAPHICA
ExPRESSA solis spiculo
Nitens imago, quam bene
Frontis decus, vim luminum
Refers, et oris gratiam.
0 mira virtus ingeni,
Novumque monstrum ! Imaginem
Naturae Apelles aemulus
Non pulchriorem pingeret.
44
POEMS
PHOTOGRAPHY
(1867)
SUN- WROUGHT with magic of the skies,
The image fair before me lies:
Deep-vaulted brain and sparkling eyes
And lip's fine chiselling.
0 miracle of human thought,
0 art with newest marvels fraught —
Apelles, Nature's rival, wrought
No fairer imaging !
■\r>
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXX
IN GALLVM1
SIBI LICENTIVS INDVLGENTEM
GALLE, quid insanis ? quid te torpere veterno,
Diffluere illecebris deliciisque iuvat?
Puber adhuc, prima adspersus lanugine malas,
Deperis incauto captus amore Chloen;
Grandior ecce Bycen ardes, mollemque Corynnam,
Inque dies vulnus saevior ignis alit.
Iamque senescentem, miseroque cupidine fractum
Nunc premit indigno vafra Nigella iugo.
Ecquis erit modus? E coeno caput exsere tandem:
Tandem rumpe moras, excute corde luem.
Cunctaris, veteresque amens sectaris amores ?
lam spes heu misero nulla salutis adest.
Praedam inhians rabidus lateri stat daemon, amara
Te mors, te vindex Numinis ira manet.
i) Virum Perusinum intellige, quern ad sanitatem revocare Episcopus diu
studuit.
46
POEMS
TO GALLUS1
(1870)
\y HAT madness, Gallus ! Ah, what profits it
To drown in pleasure's bath thy saner wit?
Scarce had the down of youth o'erspread thy cheek,
Till Chloe's love thy sinful heart would seek.
Then Byce, then Corynna, thy desire;
And daily smarts thy wound with deeper fire.
Not even thy whitening hairs the passion cloak
That flings thee groveling 'neath Nigella's yoke.
Where shall it end ? Rise from the filthy mire,
Break the sad chain, and cleanse thy foul attire.
Thou dalliest, loving still thy cruel chains ?
Alas ! what hope of safety then remains ?
Lo ! at thy side the Demon waits his prey,
And Death is summoning to the Judgment Day ! .
1) Meant for a certain citizen of Perugia, whom the Bishop had been long
trying to reform.
47
GABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXX
DAMNATORVM AD INFEROS
LAMENTABILIS VOX
" 0 si daretur hora/"
SrVUDITUS stygiis gemitus resonare sub antris:
' i 0 detur miseris, hinc procul, hora brevis ! ' '
Quid facerent ? Imo elicerent e corde dolorem :
Admissumque brevis tolleret hora nefas.
48
POEMS
« 0 FOR ONE HOUR ! "
(1870)
5t\ CRY resounds through Stygian dungeons drear:
11 0 for a single hour away from here !"
What would the spirits do in time so brief ?
Purge their sin-laden souls with heartfelt grief !
49
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXI
RICORSO ALLA VERGINE
NELLE TENTAZIONI !
QlJANDO impudico demone,
D'ogni nequizia pieno,
In te col sozzo anelito
Sparge il suo rio veleno,
E adombra gia deH'animo
L'almo natio candore,
Alia incorrotta Vergine
Leva la mente e il core.
Bagni pietosa lacrima
II verecondo ciglio,
E a Lei, che e madre, supplice
Di': son, Maria, tuo figlio!
Poi si converta il gemito
In affannoso grido:
Madre, deh Madre, campami,
In tua virtu, m' affido:
Nato pel ciel, tra gli angeli,
Dei gaudii eterni erede,
Non sia giammai che immemore,
Spergiuro alia mia fede,
Ceda aH'immondo Asmodeo:
Vergine casta e pia,
D' ogni piu lieve macola
Preservami, Maria!
x) Per un gi ovine senrinarista.
50
POEMS
RECOURSE TO THE VIRGIN
IN TEMPTATION '
(1871)
\\ HEN with purpose foul
The malignant Devil
Breathes upon thy soul
Pestilential evil:
And thy spirit fair
Clouds of horror darken,
To thy tenderest prayer
Bid the Virgin hearken.
On thy blushing cheek
Let the tear-drop glisten;
Say: " 0 Mother meek,
To thy client listen ! "
Let the suppliant sigh
Swell to deeper wailing:
' ' Mother sweet, I fly
To thy love unfailing:
< ' Heir am I of bliss
And of glory deathless;
Oh, remembering this,
Let me not prove faithless:
' ' Let me never yield
To the shameless Devil:
Mary, be my shield
'Gainst the darts of evil ! "
*) Written for a young seminarian.
51
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXIII
AD ALOISIUM EOTELLI CAN.
OB LAVDATIONEM
IN PAEENTALIBVS
CARMELI PASCUCCI EPISCOPI PTOLEMAIDENSIS !
HABITAM
Ol iucunda tibi mea vox, excudere et acri
Forte tuo igniculos, docte Kotelle, novos
Si potis ingenio; meritae cape munera laudis,
Et cape Pastoris praescia vota tui.
Carmelvm immiti celebras dum funere ademptum,
Vi morbi infandae dum pius illacrimas,
Spectandumque refers doctrinae fenore multo,
Insignem meritis et pietate virum,
Maiestate gravem et vultum, dum rite litanti
Ornaret niveas infula sacra comas;
Atque itidem studia et mores animumque benignum,
Os et suave senis, flexile et ingenium,
») Vir eximiae virtutis, praestans ingenio et eloquio, magni Lycei Perusim
praeses: diro cruris ulcere misere consumptus a. mdccclxxiii.
52
POEMS
TO CANON ALOYSIUS EOTELLI
ON HIS PANEGYRIC DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL OF
CARMELO PASCUCCI, BISHOP OF PTOLEMAIS X
(1873)
OR if my words should please, or if they serve, belike,
From anvil of thy soul new sparks of fire to strike,
Rotelli, pray accept my praise so merited —
My wishes that presage new glories for thy head!
Whilst thou dost mourn with tears Carmelo's fainting
And tenderly bewail his unrelenting death; [breath,
And then with learned art his splendid virtue scan,
His piety, and all the merits of the man: —
His grave, majestic port when at the Altar found,
And the white, reverend hairs with mitred glory crowned;
And the dear soul benign, and the high-gifted heart,
And venerable face sweetened by grace and art:
1 A man of eminent virtue, genius and eloquence, and Rector of the Uni-
versity of Perugia fl-1873).
53
CABMINA
Sic graphice pingis divina rhetoris arte,
Illo ut sit praesul nullus amabilior;
Plurima turba virum pendet dicentis ab ore,
Et cupida eloquii vim bibit aure tui.
Ipse sed in primis blanda dulcedine tangor,
Laetitiaque silens efferor, usque memor,
Te puerum fovisse sinu, vitaeque recentis
Afflaret roseas cum levis aura genas,
Fulgidulosque micare oculos vultumque decorum,
Membraque conspicerem nescia stare loco,
Clamasse: eia! adolesce, puer, felicibus ausis
I, quo vivida te mens animusque rapit.
Delapsa e caelo tibi Pieris una Sororum
Frondis apollineae cingat honore caput:
Te verbo Suadela potens, te abstrusa Mathesis
Cultorem iactent invida quaeque suum.
Post, ubi vernantes maturior egeris annos,
Pleno haustu Sophiae sacra fluenta bibas;
Qua duce, dura pati, moliri fortia discas,
Tangere et excelso vertice summa poli.
54
POEMS
So dost thou picture him, with eloquence divine,
As none more loved might be in all the priestly line.
Enraptured, every ear drinks in thy words of gold,
And every eye is strained thy magic to behold!
But me a sweeter thought, a blander joy enthralls,
And all my heart leaps up, as memory recalls
How soon within my heart thy love did entrance seek,
When springtime of thy life waked roses in thy cheek;
And how twin gleaming stars lit up thy face so fair;
And how thy nimble feet sought pleasance everywhere;
And how with joy I said : ' l Advance to man' s estate,
And whither genius leads pursue, and challenge Fate I
From the Pierian sky may the sweet Muse come down
And with Apollo's wreath thy dearer forehead crown!
Be thou the envious boast of both scholastic arts —
The one that reckons space, the one that captures hearts:
And when the flowing years maturer power bring,
Drink deep and deeper draughts of Wisdom's plenteous
spring :
Learn from her ample store to suffer, dare, and die —
And with exalted brow touch the remotest sky! "
55
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXVII
AD ALOISIVM RVFVM
ARCHIEPISCOPVM THEATINVM DESIGNATVM
O BONE Loisides, o Rufae nobile germen
Gentis, quern dudum ad magna aluere Patrum
Exempla et virtus1; effusos pectore ab imo
Laetitiae sensus, omina fausta, libens
Excipe: namque Pivs divini ductor ovilis
Te modo Pontificum coetibus inseruit;
Te iure imperitare sacro, teque ubere pleno,
Rvfe, Theatinas pascere iussit oves.
Plaudite Sebeti colles, ubi parvulus infans
Crevit, ubi et studiis lusit amabiliter.
Tuque adeo imprimis plaude ac laetare Theate,
Sertaque Pastori florea necte pio.
Sed cave, sisque vigil2: tacita nam mente volutat
Nescia quid votis invida Parthenope.
x) Nobilissima Ruforum gens, quam ductam ferunt a Proconsule romano
Rufo, omni aetate floruit viris amplissimis in re civili et sacra.
2) Rumor per eos dies percrebuerat Aloisium Rufum ex Theatina Sede
"brevi ad Neapolitanam provectum iri.
56
POEMS
TO ALOISIO HUFFO
ARCHBISHOP-ELECT OF CHIETI
(1877)
JVxY dearest Louis, scion of a race
Famous for noble deeds, who bear'st the trace
Of mighty ancestry,1 prythee receive
The cordial prayers and greetings that I give.
For Pius, Shepherd of the Fold, to thee
Hath given a more exalted ministry :
Skilful in laws, and graced with many a gift,
He bids thee now the shepherd's crozier lift.
Rejoice, then, 0 ye hills that saw his youth
Grow strong in manliness and grace and truth!
Rejoice, Chieti! Yet more gladly thou
Shalt weave a chaplet for thy shepherd's brow.
But have a care, my friend ! Parthenope 2
('T is said) doth cherish queer designs on thee!
J) The noble house of the Ruffi, said to have descended from the Roman
Proconsul Rufus, in every age gave men of eminence to the service of
Church and State.
2) There was a rumor abroad that Aloisio Ruffo was shortly to be trans-
ferred from Chieti to Naples.
57
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXIII
GERTRVDI STERBINIAE
VIRGINI SALESIANAE
IVLIVS FRATER
(jrERTRVDES, o sacra Deo castissima virgo,
Grata, precor, Ivli vota dolentis habe.
Fortunata soror, Superum quae vesceris aura,
Nostri sollicitam te vetus urat amor.
Usque tuis amor ille memor succurrere discat,
Discat et infensis corda levare malis.
Atque olim Ersiliam, natos, dulcesque parentes,
Meque tibi in patria iungat adauctus amor.
58
POEMS
THE PRAYER OF JULIUS1
(1873)
O GERTRUDE, Virgin chaste! 0 sacred to the Lord,
To weeping Julius' prayer a kindly ear accord.
*•
Thrice blessed though thou art in realms of heavenly rest,
Thy olden love, I know, still warms thy faithful breast.
From out thine azure sky a helping hand extend,
And hearts so dear to thee from threatening ills defend.
Sweet Ersily, my babes, our dearest parents, guide —
And lead me on with them safe to thy loving side.
') To his sister Gertrude, a Nun of the Visitation Order.
oO
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXIII
GERTRVDI STERBINIAE
VIRGINI SALESIANAE
IVLIVS FRATER
(jrERTRVDES, o sacra Deo castissima virgo,
Grata, precox Ivli vota dolentis habe.
Fortunata soror, Superum quae vesceris aura,
Nostri sollicitam te vetus urat amor.
Usque tuis amor ille memor succurrere discat,
Discat et infensis corda levare malis.
Atque olim Ersiliam, natos, dulcesque parentes,
Meque tibi in patria iungat adauctus amor.
60
POEMS
AN. MDCCCLXXIII
( Versione libera)
V ERGIN Gertrude, a Dio diletta sposa,
La prece del tuo Giulio odi pietosa.
A me dolente, ai genitori, ai figli,
A Ersilia mia volgi amorosa i cigli.
Beata in ciel, del ciel nello splendore,
Suora, non obliar l'antico amore.
E teco un di, deposto l'uman velo,
Piu acceso amor ne ricongiunga in cielo.
61
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXIII
IDEM SOKORIS OPEM IMPLORAT
SVB ALLEGORIA NAVIS
HeU mare sollicitum spumantibus aestuat undis:
Nox heu nimbosum contegit atra polum.
Quassatur ventis, pelago iactatur in alto,
Et iam fracta ratis gurgitis ima petit.
Horremus trepidi, quatit aeger anhelitus artus:
Mors instat, iam iam nos vorat unda maris.
Flet genitor, resoluta comas loca questubus implet
Coniux; cum natis anxius ipse gemens,
u 0 soror, inclamo, portu iam tuta beato,
Eia adsis, nostras et miserata vices,
Fluctibus in mediis atlulge sidus amicum,
Per vada, per syrtes, o bona, tende manus:
Ocius afTer opem, politique e gurgite raptos
Insere sidereis ipsa benigna plagis;
Detur ubi amplexus iterare, et iungere dextras,
Aeternum detur solvere vota Deo! "
62
POEMS
TO THE SAME1
(1873)
W ITH foaming crests the troubled sea
Leaps to its cloud-girt canopy.
Wind-buffeted, with broken mast,
The tossing vessel sinks at last.
A palsied fear each heart enslaves,
Whilst Death waits in the ravening waves.
My father weeps; my wife, with hair
Dishevelled, beats the darkening air;
I clasp my young ones: " Help! " I cry,
' ' Help, sister, from thy harboring sky :
" Shine through the storm, 0 beacon-star;
O'er the vast deep stretch forth afar
1 i Thy hand to snatch us from the sea
And lift our sinking hearts to thee,
' ' In sweet embraces, as of yore,
To praise the Lord forevermore! "
*) Julius employs the allegory of a ship in his prayer to his sister Gertrude.
63
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXVI
AD IOSEPHVM FRATREM
DE SE IPSO l
QlJAM felix flore in primo, quam laeta Lepinis
Orta iugis, patrio sub lare, vita fuit!2
Altrix te puerum Vetulonia suscipit ulnis
Atque in Loyolaea excolit aede piunv
Mutia dein Romae tenuere palatia; Romae
Florentem studiis docta palaestra tenet;4
Tempore quo, meminisse iuvat, Manera, Patrumque
Ingenio et fama nobilis ilia cohors
Mentem alit, et puro latices de fonte recludens,
Te Sophiae atque Dei scita verenda docet.5
») Praecipua ante Pontificatum vitae facta commemorat.
») Ortus Carpineti die 2 Martii a. 1810 ex coniugibus Ludovico Peccio et
Anna Prosperia, ad octavum aetatis annum in domo paterna moratur.
Carpinetum est oppidum in Volscis prope Signiam in sinu montium quos
Lepinos vocant.
3) A. 1818 cum Iosepho fratre Viterbium mittitur, et Sodalibus e Societate
Iesu instituendus traditur.
4)Defuncta matre a. 1824, apud avunculum Romae diversatur in palatio
Marchionum Muti, ac deinde in Academia Nobilium Ecclesiasticorum.
s) p Franciscus Manera S. I., vir ingenio et doctrina praestantissimus,
aliique Patres clarissimi, quos in Lyceo Gregoriano Philosophiae et Theo-
logiae magistros habuit, Andreas Carafa, I. B. Pianciani, Antonms ler-
rarini, Ioannes Perrone, Ioseph Rizzi, Ioannes Curi, Antonius Kohlmann,
etc.
64
POEMS
HIS LIFE AND FOETUNES1
(1876)
SrY. CHILD — what happiness thy bosom fills
Beneath thy father's roof, 'mid Lepine hills!*
A boy — in Vetulonia next, the art
Loyola left, instructs thy mind and heart.3
A youth — the Roman College bids thee come,
And Muti's palace offers thee a home.*
Manera — he of wondrous gifts — and all
The fathers there ('t is pleasant to recall)
Unlocked the fountains hidden in the sod,
And taught the paths to Wisdom and to God.5
1) He narrates the principal facts of his life before his Pontificate.
2) Born at Carpineto on the 2nd of March, 1810, he remained at home until
his eighth year. Carpineto is a town in the territory of the Volsci, near
Segni, in the heart of the Lepini mountains.
3)In the year 1818 he was sent with his brother Joseph to Viterbo, and
enrolled among the students of the Jesuit Fathers. [Vetulonia is retained
in the English version in order to signalize the Holy Father's view that it is
to be identified with Viterbo. Archaeologists have differed widely in assign-
ing a site.]
*) His mother dying in 1824, he lived in Rome with his uncle in the palace
of the Marquesses Muti, and afterwards in the College of Noble Ecclesiastics.
8) Among his teachers of Philosophy and Theology in the Gregorian Uni-
versity were F. Francesco Manera, a man of very notable talents and learn-
ing, and other eminent fathers, such as Andrea Carafa, G. B. Pianciani,
Antonio Ferrarini, Giovanni Perrone, Giuseppe Rizzi, Giovanni Curi, Anton
Kohlmann, etc.
65
GABMINA
Praemia laudis habes: victrici praemia fronti
Parta labore comas laurea condecorat.
Addit mox animos et vires Sola secundas,
Princeps romano murice conspicuus;
Auspice quo cursum moliris, mente volutans
Usque tua tanti dicta diserta senis.1
Dulcis Parthenope, Beneventum dein tenet, aequa
Ut lege Hirpinos imperioque regas.
Te gremio laeta excipiens Turrena2 salutat;
Rectorem atque ducem vividus Umber habet.3
Sed maiora manent: sacro nam chrismate inunctus,
Pontificis nutu, Belgica regna petis,
Atque tenes, adserturus sanctissima Petri
Romanae et fidei credita iura tibi. 4
Redditus at patriae, brumali e littore iussus
Ausoniae laetas et remeare plagas;
i) Ioseph Antonius Sala Cardinalis peculiari benevolentia adolescentem
complectitur, et sapientibus monitis et consiliis plurimum iuvat
2) Perusia a turribus, quibus muniebatur, dicta est Turrena.
s) Laurea doctorali insignitus, post susceptum sacerdotium, a Gregorio
XVI P. M. inter antistites urbanos domus Pontificalis adsciscitur a. 1837, ac
postea provinciarum Beneventanae et Perusinae gubernator constituitur.
*)In sacro Concistorio habito die 27 Ianuarii a. 1843, Archiepiscopus
Damiatensis eligitur, et Apostolicae Sedis Nuntius ad Bel gas mittitur.
66
POEMS
A priest — the Holy Victim offerest thou;
Then jurist laurels crown thy studious brow.
Great Sala, though in Roman purple clad,
For thee how many a kindly feeling had!
Auspicious was his care; his counsel, wise;
His prudent zeal, a lesson for thine eyes.1
Naples receives thee; Benevento sees
Thy Hirpine rule observe all equities.
Perugia 2 next received thy gentle care,
And welcomed thee to rule a region 3 fair.
But, greater gift, the Chrism anoints thy head:
To Belgium next the Papal mandate led.
There must thou all the rights of Peter plead,
And guard the treasure of the Roman creed.4
Anon, from that drear clime a sweet command
Bade thee return to dear Italia' s land.
*) Cardinal Giuseppe Antonio Sala was particularly kind to him, offering
wise counsel and advice.
a) Perugia is styled the City of Towers because of the many towers that
formed part of its military defences.
s) Having received the Doctor's cap after priesthood, in 1837 he was made
a Domestic Prelate by Gregory XVI. , and was afterwards appointed governor
of Benevento, and then of Perugia.
*) In a sacred Consistory held Jan. 27, 1843, he was named Archbishop of
Damietta and sent as Nuncio to Belgium (Brussels).
67
CARMINA
Urnbros en iterum fines, urbemque revisis,
Quam tibi divino flamine iungit amor.
lure sacro imperitas ter denos amplius annos,
Et pleno saturas ubere Pastor oves.1
Romano incedis Princeps spectandus in ostro2
Belgarumque equitum torquis honore nites.8
Te pia turba, Deo pubes devota, Sacerdos
Officiis certant demeruisse suis.
Verum quid fluxos memoras, quid prodis honores ?
Una hominem virtus ditat et una beat.
Scilicet hanc unam, aevo iam labente, sequaris,
Ad Superos tutum quae tibi pandat iter:
Aeterna donee compostus pace quiescas,
Sidereae ingressus regna beata domus.
Ah! miserans adsit Deus, eventusque secundet:
Aspiret votis Virgo benigna tuis.
») A. 1846 a Gregorio XVI P. M., in sacro Concistorio die 19 Ianuarii habito,
ad Sedem Perusinam provehitur.
2) A. 1853, in sacro Consistorio habito die 19 Decembris, a Pio IX P. M.,
S. R. E. Presbyter Cardinalis renuntiatur titulo S. Crysogoni.
8) Belgica Legatione perfunctus, a Leopoldo I Belgarum Rege inter equites
torquatos Ordinis Leopoldiani adlectus est.
68
POEMS
Perugia, new-espoused * to thee of God,
Thou seest again, and Umbria's grateful sod.
By sacred right, full thirty years and more
The Shepherd feeds his flock from ample store.
Then Rome as Cardinal 2 saluteth thee,
And Belgic knighthood3 crowns thy ministry.
Ah me! so loyal is thy people's love,
Thou scarce canst hope a guerdon from above!
But why recall the fleeting shows of earth ?
One only wisdom hath perennial worth:
" Passeth the figure of this world away " —
Follow the path that leads to endless Day,
Until eternal peace be thy reward
Safe in the starlit mansions of the Lord!
0 may that pitying Lord the crown prepare,
And the sweet Virgin list thy lowly prayer!
*) In a Consistory held Jan. 19, 1846, he was transferred by Gregory XVI. to
the See of Perugia.
*) In the Consistory of Dec. 19, 1853, he was proclaimed Cardinal of the
Holy Roman Church, with the presbyteral title of St. Chrysogonus.
s) Having finished his mission in Belgium, King Leopold I. decorated him
with the Grand Cross of the Leopoldine Order.
69
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXVI
AD IEREMIAM BRVNELLI
RHETOREM
DUM Senae Adriacis, Cancri sub sidere, in undis
Mersor, caerulei mulcet et aura freti,
Me salvere iubes, et pignus mittis amoris,
Vota, affert Ioachim quae mihi sacra dies.
Quae sit par do-no, dulci iucunda poetae.
Quae, Brvnelli, animo gratia digna tuo ?
Carmina carminibus, votis et vota rependam :
Te bonus incolumem sospitet usque Deus.
1) Cum Senigalliae valetudinis causa moraretur.
POEMS
TO GEREMIA BRUNELLI
(Professor of Rhetoric)
(1876) *
WHILST I at Sena, 'neath a blazing sky
With Adria's wind and wave the Crab defy,
A greeting and a pledge of love you send —
Prayers that your Joachim to heaven commend.
For such a gift, to such a poet sweet,
What kind of thanks, Brunelli, should be meet ?
I'll answer song with song and prayer with prayer:
"May God forever keep you in His care! "
*) Written whilst the author was summering at Senigallia (or Sinigaglia),
the birth-place of Pius IX.
71
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXVI
AD IOANNEM ARNOLFVM SERVANZI
EX NOBILI COHORTE
STIPATORVM PONTIFICIS MAXIMI
2f\NNE anceps servare fidem Servantivs ? anne
Priscus honorato e pectore cessit amor ?
Nil dubita: illecebrae tentent artesque dolosae:
Pontifici immotam servat at ille fidem.
72
POEMS
TO JOHN ARNULF SERVANZI
OF THE NOBLE GUARD
(1886)
SMlND does Servantius still preserve
His olden love and loyalty ?
0 doubt it not! He shall not swerve
From service of the Holy See.
7.5
CABMINA
S. HERCVLANVS
HeRCULANUS, insigni sanctitate vir, Perusinorum
Episcopatum ea tempestate gerebat, cum Gothorum copiae
Perusiam obsiderent Civitate capta, capite caesus est. De-
mortui corpus extra muros proiectum humaniores quidam viri
honesta sepidtura affecerunt. Quod quadraginta post diebus
cum reduces in urbem ewes effodissent, in aede Petri Prin-
cipis Apostolorum sanctiore loco composituri, integrum atque
omni parte incorruptum invenerunt, sic praeterea con-
glutinata ad collum cervice, ut vestigia incisionis nulla
apparerenC Hunc Perusini Patronum caelestem salutarem
venerantur et colunt: cuius honori aedem a solo aedificatam
maiorum pietas dedicavit.
i) Ex lib. Ill Dial. S. Gregorii Magni.
74
POEMS
ST. ErtERCULANUS
(1874)
Tl ERCULANUS, a man of remarkable sanctity, was
Bishop of Perugia at the time when the Goths were
besieging the city. Upon its capture, he was beheaded;
and his body, cast outside of the walls, was decently
buried by some kindly hands. Forty days afterwards,
the citizens returned to Perugia, and, desiring to give
the body a holier resting-place in the church of S.
Peter, Prince of the Apostles, had it disinterred. It
was found to be whole and incorrupt in every part, the
head and neck being joined so thoroughly that no trace
of the incision could be found. The people of Perugia
venerate him as their heavenly Patron, while the piety
of their ancestors built and dedicated a church in his
honor.
75
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXIV
IN HONOREM
S. HERCULANI
1 UTELA praesens patriae
Salve, Hercvlane: filiis
Adsis, precamur, annuo
Qui te canunt praeconio.
Furens Getharum ab algidis
Devectus oris Totila,
Turres Perusi et moenia
Ope obsidebat barbara.
Iamque ingruebat arcibus
Clades suprema: angustiis
Urbs pressa ubique: civium
Ubique luctus personat.
At Pastor invictus, vigil
Stas, Herculane; et anxio
Pavore fracta pectora
Metu et soluta roboras.
76
POEMS
SAINT HERCULANUS
(1874)
O MIGHTY Guardian of this land,
Hail, Herculanus, holy Priest!
Stretch forth to us a helping hand,
Who sing thy yearly Feast.
Forth of the bleak Gethsean shore
The furious Totila had burst,
And fair Perugia's walls no more
Withstood his horde accurst.
For lo! its bulwarked citadel
Is sore beset and blood-besprent,
And all the streets the chorus swell
Of grief and loud lament.
But Thou, unmoved amid the shock
And din of war, a Shepherd still,
Dear watch and ward keep'st o'er thy flock
To save from threatened ill.
77
CARMINA
Ardens et ore: " pro fide
Pugnate avita, filii;
Dux ipse vester; Numini
Servate templa et patriam. ' '
Hac voce genti reddita
Insueta virtus et vigor;
Mens una cunctis, praelio
Certare forti et vincere.
Sep tern vel annos, te duce,1
Urbem stetisse est proditum,
Et barbarorum copias
Caesas, retusos impetus.
Praecurris omnes; occidis
Spectandus invicta fide,
Virtute frangi nescia,
Et glorioso funere.
Namque urbe subiecta dolo,
Non vi, occupatis moenibus,
Dulci pro ovili sanguinem
Vitarnque laetus fundere;
1)Huius spatium obsidionis historici recentiores haud longius septern
mensibus producunt. Quam sententiam nee afflrmare, nee refellere in
animo est.
POEMS
Thy words are shafts of fire: " The sword
Must save the Faith! your foes withstand!
Strike for the altars of the Lord,
Strike for the fatherland ! ' '
Thy voice endues each nerveless arm
With strength and power as from on high:
They fear no more the loud alarm,
But fight to win — or die.
Long seven years (the story runs) 1 —
Thy leadership the city saved;
The thronging hosts of Dacia's sons
In vain their banners waved.
Alack, the fatal day when Thou,
Foremost in faith and love arrayed,
Laid' st in the dust thy priestly brow,
Not conquered, but betrayed.
'T is guile, not prowess, conquereth!
The foe is swarming o'er the walls:
For thy dear flock Thou greetest death
As one who gladly falls.
l) According to recent historians, the siege lasted but seven months— a
view which it is not our purpose either to affirm or to deny.
79
CARMINA
Desaevientis Totilae
Iussu, sub ictum cuspidis
Procumbis insons victima,
Auctus corona martyrum.
Et nunc beata caelitum
Regnans in aula, patriam
Pastor, Patronus et Parens
Felix bonusque sospitas.
Laetare Etrusca ci vitas l
Tanta refulgens gloria;
Attolle centum gestiens
Caput decorum turribus.
Novo petita praelio
Tu vim repellas impiam,
Et usque fac refulgeas
Fide Herculani pulcrior.
*) Perusia, veteri italicarum regionum descriptione, Etruriae finibus con-
tinebatur, cum Etruscorum gens Tyrrbeno mart et Apennino, Macra et
Tiberi fluviis terminaretur.
80
POEMS
When Totila the merciless
Decrees for Thee the severing sword,
Thou diest — but thy people bless
A Martyr of the Lord!
And now, in mansions of the blest,
Thou reignest 'mid the heavenly band,
As "Shepherd, Father" still addressed,
To save thy fatherland!
O thou Etruscan city fair,
Rejoice, such glory thou hast found;
Lift up thy head beyond compare,
With hundred turrets crowned!
Though now by falser foes beset,
Fight still the battle of the free—
The Faith thy Patron kept, be yet
More beautiful in thee!
81
CABMINA
S. CONSTANTIVS
O ONSTANTIUS Perusiae christianis parentibus natus,
virtute aetatem antegressus, Episcopus patriae suae factus
est. Is propter studium christiani nominis multa dictu
gravia, perpessu aspera invicto animo pertulit. Nam
primum pugnis contundi iussus, deinde in thermis includi
septuplo vehementius accensis ; sed aquis Dei nutu repents
tepefactis, e summo discrimine evasit incolumis. Mox
prunarum cruciatu fortissime perfunctus, coniicitur in cus-
todiam: unde christianorum opera extractum satellites
imperatorii comprehendunt, et vi vulnerum prope conficiunt.
Continuo tamen ille divinitus convaluit: tunc Assisium in
carcerem rapitur. Paullo post illinc eductus, cum quamlibet
carnificinam subire mallet, quam a proposito disseminandae
catholicae religionis desistere, idcirco in trivio apud Ful-
ginium nobile martyrium fecit, Marco Aurelio Vero 7m-
peratore, Sotere Pontifice maximo. Sacrum eius corpus
inhumatum proiectum Levianus, magna pietate vir, domo
Fulginio, ab Angelo in somnis admonitus, venerabundus
jeretro composuit. Quod cum Perusiam deduceretur, ea res
miraculo fuit, quod sacrarum reliquiarum vectores repente
lumen oculorum, quo antea carebant, recepere. Martyrem
fortissimum Perusini summa religione colunt, eiusque me-
moriam, templo extructo, consecrarunt.
82
POEMS
ST. CONSTANTIUS
GONSTANTIUS was born in Perugia, of Christian
parents. Achieving a virtue that outran his years, he
was elected Bishop of his fatherland. He was perse-
cuted because of his zeal for Christianity, and endured
with unflinching courage much grievous suffering.
First of all he was ordered to be beaten, then to be shut
up in the baths, which were heated sevenfold more
than usual. God willed, however, that the water
should suddenly become lukewarm ; and thus he
escaped unharmed. Forced to walk over live coals, he
bore the torment with the greatest fortitude, and was
then cast into prison. Thanks to the efforts of some
Christians, he escaped, only to fall again into the
hands of the Emperor's satellites, who wounded him
nigh unto death. By divine help, however, he im-
mediately recovered, and was then hurried off to Assisi
and again cast into prison. Shortly afterwards he was
led forth to trial; but declaring that he preferred to
suffer any kind of death rather than give up his pur-
pose of spreading the Catholic religion, he achieved a
noble martyrdom at the cross-roads of Foligno, during
the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius Verus and the
pontificate of Soter. His body, which had been cast
forth unburied, was reverently placed on a bier by Levi-
anus of Foligno, a man of great piety, who had received
in sleep an angelic admonition to that effect. While the
body was being carried back to Perugia, a wonderful
thing happened. The bearers of the sacred relics, who
were blind, suddenly received their sight. The people
of Perugia entertain the greatest reverence for the mighty
Martyr, and have dedicated a church to his memory.
83
CABMINA
IN HONOREM
S. CONSTANTII
AN. MDCCCLXXVIII
I
FaVETE Unguis; hinc procul
Este, o profani; crastinus1
Solemnibus Constantii
Sacer dies est martyris.
0 Dive, praesens o tuae
Salus decusque patriae!
Redi auspicatus, iam redi
Umbris colendus gent) bus.
Te heroa, te fortissimum
Efferre caelo Martyrem,
Oblita laudes Caesarum,
Turrena gestit canticis.
Hyems rigescit,5 asperis
Montes pruinis albicant,
Solisque crines frigido
Irrorat imbre Aquarius.
*) Scriptus est hymnus ob praeludium diei festi.
•) Sacra Bollemnia ob memoriam S. Constants aguntur IV Kal. Febr.
84
POEMS
SAINT CONSTANTIUS
(1878)
(j>EASE, babbling tongues ! Whom earth de-
Begone! for 't is the holy eve1 [lights,
Of the great Feast that shall receive
A Martyr's solemn rites.
O mighty Patron saint, who art
The guardian glory of this land,
Auspicious view the honors planned
By Umbria's faithful heart.
It leaps with joy to lift thy name,
Heroic Martyr, to the skies,
Forgetful of the tarnished prize
That crowns a Caesar's fame.
Now snowy whiteness heaped upon
Each mountain-peak, the Winter2 views;
Aquarius with frozen dews
Drenches the bright-haired sun.
) The hymn was written for the Eve (or Vigil) of the Feast.
') The Feast of St. Constantius falls on the 29th of January.
85
CABMINA
At bruma non desaeviens,
Non atra caeli nubila
Cives morantur annuis
Rite exsilire gaudiis.
Nox en propinquat: cerneres
Fervere turbis compita,
Late per umbram cerneres
Ardere colles ignibus; 1
Urbisque ferri ad moenia
Incessu et ore supplici
Senes, viros, cum matribus
Longo puellas agmine.
Ut ventum, ubi ara Martyris
Corusca lychnis emicat,
Festiva turba civium
Irrumpit ardens, clamitat:
0 Pastor, e caelo, o Parens
Constanti, adesto filiis
Pressis sepulcro et dulcia
Figit labellis oscula.
n
J) Mos antiquissimus Perusiae fuit, ut quotanuis pridie natalis S. Con-
stantii solemnis pompa ad pomerium vesperi duceretur, viris coraitantibus
ac dona ferentibus; quae "supplicatio luminum" idcirco appellata est,
quod urbs tota facibus cereisque, suburbium ignibus ad laetitiam per noctem
colluceret. Pulcra extant de ea supplicatione legum municipalium decreta.
86
POEMS
Nor Winter, raging o'er the earth,
Nor heaven's cloudy coronal,
Delays the yearly festival
Or chills the holy mirth.
The twilight deepens into night;
Yet fills each street a thronging host:
And through the gloom the hills are crossed
With myriad-gleaming light.1
Behold, in prayerful guise arrayed,
March to the walls with reverent joy,
The gray-haired sage, the guileless boy,
The matron and the maid.
There on the holy Martyr's tomb
The gleaming lights a splendor shed;
While thousand chanting voices spread
A glory through the gloom:
"Thy children, Father, deign to hear:
Thy flock, 0 Shepherd, deign to bless !"
Anon a thousand lips caress
The ancient sepulchre.
*) Every year on the Eve of the Feast of St. Constantius, the Perugians,
following an ancient custom, march in solemn procession outside the walls,
bearing offerings. This is known as the " Feast of Lights," as the whole
city is ablaze with torches and tapers, and the suburbs with joyous bonfires.
Many beautiful municipal decrees deal with this festivity.
87
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXIX
II
PaNDITUR templum; facibus renidet
Ara Constanti: celebrate nomen
Dulce Pastoris, memoresque fastos
Dicite cantu.
Impios ritus et inane f ulmen
Risit indignans Iovis et Quirini;
Obtulit ferro iuvenile pectus,
Obtulit igni.
Aestuant thermae saliente flamma:
Densa plebs circum stat anhela: Praetor
Clamat: "i, lictor, calida rebellem
Merge sub unda. ' '
Mergitur: plantas simul unda tinxit,
Frigidus ceu fons per amoena riorum
Defluens, blando recreata mulcet
Membra lavacro.
Vulgus immoto stupet ore; Praetor
Frendet elusus; scelerum ministris
Mandat, obstrictum manicis recondant
Carceris antro.
88
POEMS
II
(1879)
1 HE temple-gates at length unclose;
With myriad lights the altar glows :
0 joyful greet your Martyr's name
With loud acclaim!
Against the pagan rites he strove,
And mocked the thunderbolts of Jove :
Fearless he viewed the torments dire
Of sword and fire.
The caldron feels the leaping flames:
Amidst the breathless crowd proclaims
The praetor : "Lo! the waters crave
The rebel slave! "
A marvel! 'Neath the Martyr's feet
The seething caldron seems as sweet
As a cool fount that sparkling leads
Through flowery meads.
Abashed, the crowds in wonder gaze;
And cries the praetor in amaze:
" Bind him, and let the noisome cell
His magic quell! "
89
CARMINA
Vincla nil terrent; Fidei Magister
Liber effaris; Vigilum docendo
Pectora emollis; stygiusque cedit
Mentibus error.
Saevior contra rabies tyranni
Flagrat; insontem lacerat flagellis,
Sauciat ferro, rigidaque plantas
Compede torquet.
Nee datum immani sat adhuc furori;
Hostiam diris agit, et Deorum
Numini spreto vovet immolandam
Caede omenta.
Corpus in limo iacet interemptum :
At pius forti celebrandus auso,
Luce pallenti, vigilans ad umbram
Carceris, ima
Septa pervadit Levianus; artus
Colligit sparsos; caput ense truncum
Rite componens fovet, et beata
Condit in urna.
Grande portentum! sacra membra in urbem
Quattuor latis humeris reportant
Lucis expertes, subitoque visus
Munere gaudent.
90
POEMS
But chains nor dungeon can control
The saving utterance of the soul:
His guards the Word of Truth receive,
Hear, and believe!
New storms of rage the tyrant urge:
The guiltless flesh is torn with scourge
And sword; while iron shackles greet
The guileless feet.
Nor these the praetor's wrath appease,
Who to his slighted deities
The Saint as victim offereth
In bloody death.
The corpse is cast into the mire:
At daybreak Levian draweth nigher
From out the friendly shadowing veil
That marks the gaol.
He comes to seek, with reverent tread,
The scattered limbs, the severed head:
At length the sacred urn contains
The blest remains.
Four sightless carriers are found
To bear it to Perugia's bound;
They touch the urn : 0 prodigy
Of grace — they see!
91
CABMINA
Redditur Pastor patriae, refulgens
Aureis vittis et honore palmae,
Septus aeterna superum corona
Redditur heros.
Dive, quern ternplis veneramur Umbris,
Umbriae fines placido revisens
Lumine, exoptata reduc opimae
Gaudia pacis.
Dive, Pastorem tua in urbe quondam
Infula cinctum, socium et laborum,
Quern pius tutum per iter superna
Luce regebas,
Nunc Petri cymbam tumidum per aequor
Ducere, et pugnae per acuta cernis
Spe bona certaque levare in altos
Lumina montes.
Possit o tandem, domitis procellis,
Visere optatis Leo victor oras;
Occupet tandem vaga cymba portum
Sospite cursu.
92
POEMS
So comes the Shepherd back, in calm
Of laurel-wreath and martyr-palm:
Crowned with the glory of the skies
The Hero lies!
Revisit us, 0 Patron grand —
This flock of thine, this Umbrian land;
And bring with Thee a rich increase
Of heavenly peace!
A mitred pastor, once of old
I shared thy labors, watched thy fold:
Me didst thou kindly guide aright
With thy dear light:
Now Peter's bark through troubled seas
I guide, and 'gainst the storm-fraught breeze
With hope assured I lift mine eyes
Up to Thy skies :
O when the storms of life are o'er,
May Leo gain the peaceful shore,
And to his shallop frail be given
The port of Heaven!
93
CABMINA
S. FELICIANVS
JT ELICIANUS Fulginid oriundus, episcopus civibus
suis a S. Victore Pont. Max. datus, Evangelii lumen per
Umbros et Picenos magno labore propagavit. Chrutiani
nominis caussd, a L. Flavio, Assisii Praefecto, iniuriis et
verberibus caesus; deinde a Decio Imperative, cum, Persis
Medisque devictis, per Umbriae fines iter faceret, carcere et
vario cruciatuum genere torqueri extrema iam senectute
iussus, ad caelestia martyr migravit. Eum Fulginates
adlectum sibi Patronum caelestem colunt pietate maxima.
94
POEMS
ST. FELICIAN
FELICIAN, appointed by Pope St. Victor to be
bishop of Foligno, of which he was a native, zealously
carried the light of the Gospel to the inhabitants of
Umbria and Picenum. L. Flavius, Prefect of Assisi,
ordered him to be beaten; and the Emperor Decius,
victorious over the Persians and Medes, whilst trav-
eling through Umbria, ordered him, although in
extreme old age, to be cast into prison and to suffer
various kinds of torture; until, a glorious martyr, he
ascended to his heavenly fatherland. The Folignese
have chosen him for their Patron and worship him with
the greatest devotion.
95
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCXCII
AD SANCTVM FELICIANVM EPISCOPVM
MARTYREM
HYMNVS
Y IVAX in aevum gloria Martyrurn
Feliciani nomen in aethera
Attollat, aramque et sepulcrum
Usque novis decoret coronis.
0 Fulginatum maxime Praesulum,
Patrem salutat laeta precantium
Te turba, patronumque avito
Gestit ovans celebrare cultu.
Haec namque sedes, hie tibi credita
Te plebs recepit. Sed pia caritas
Urget, nee in septis morantem
Te patrii tenuere fines.
Recti tenacem non labor arduus,
Non bella terrent aspera, dum Crucis
Inferre Picenis et Umbris
Pacificum properas tropaeum.
96
POEMS
TO SAINT FELICIAN, BISHOP AND
MARTYR
(1892)
FELICIAN ! let a martyr's fame
Exalt forevermore thy name;
Thy sepulchre and altar strew
With garlands ever new !
Foligno's mighty Prelate ! see
Thy thronging clients honor thee,
Father and Patron, as of yore
With love' s unceasing store !
This was thy See; and here thy fold
A welcome gave, but could not hold
A Shepherd long, whose charity
Sought wider ministry.
No labors could thy spirit break,
Nor War's alarm thy fears awake;
Thus Umbria and Picenum see
The Cross's victory !
97
CABMINA
Per te refulget vivida mentibus
Lux alma veri; diruta numinum
Delubra: proculcat ruinas
Relligio sine clade victrix.
Ardens in iras Tartarus infremit
Astuque versat multiplici dolos,
Si qua sacerdotis molestas
Forte queat tenuare vires.
At dira passus, praeside Flavio,
Felicianvs fortior evenit;
Non probra, non irae minaces
Intrepidi vim animi refringunt.
Quin ad supremae munera laureae
Festinat heros, quern senio gravem,
Longa fatigatumque pugn&
Dius Amor renovat iuventa.
POEMS
Through thee, the Truth in glory shines
On broken altars, falling shrines:
Thus Faith the crown of triumph wore,
A bloodless Conqueror.
Hell launches myriad angry darts
And proves a hundred subtle arts
The fruits of victory to steal
And quench thy tireless zeal.
Let Flavius work his tyrant will —
Thou only standest firmer still:
Nor taunts, nor threats, nor chains can bind
Thy free and fearless mind.
Yea, rather, to his laurel-wreath
The Hero hastens, while his breath,
Feeble with age and battling long,
The loving Lord makes strong.
CARMINA
Te christiani nominis impetit
Cruentus hostis; caesarea ferox
Lauro, triumphatisque Persis,
Vincere te Decius laborat.
Sed quid voluntas efTera Caesaris,
Aut imminentis carnificis furor
Possint? Deus te nil paventem
Praesidio potiore firmat.
Devota Christo victima concidis;
Caeli coruscans regia panditur,
Festaque praecinctum coron&
Excipiunt Superum cohortes.
Ceu Sidus istinc usque renideas
Umbris amicum gentibus aurea
Cum luce, caligantis aevi
Per dubios radiante cursus.
100
POEMS
Victorious o' er the Persian host,
Yet hating Christ's dear Name the most,
Crowned with imperial dignity,
Decius would conquer Thee !
And yet, what power in Caesar's will,
Or in his hangman's threatening skill?
Unto his servant God shall yield
A still more potent shield.
Christ's victim fallest thou — behold,
The gates of Paradise unfold !
Midst heavenly armies thou art found
With festal garlands crowned !
Shine forth from out thy heaven afar,
O'er Umbria's fields, 0 friendly Star;
The blind earth gropes thro' devious ways —
Send forth thy golden rays !
101
IN SACRAM FAMILIAM
IESVM MARIAM IOSEPH
HYMNS IN HONOR
OF THE
HOLY FAMILY
CABMINA
IN. MDCCCXCII
IN SACRAM FAMILIAM
IESVM MARIAM IOSEPH
HYMNI
I
(J LUX beata caelitum
Et summa spes mortalium,
Iesu, o cui domestica
Arrisit orto caritas :
Maria, dives gratia,
0 sola quae casto potes
Fovere Iesum pectore,
Cum lacte donans oscula:
Tuque ex vetustis patribus,
Delecte custos Virginis,
Dulci patris quern nomine
Divina Proles invocat:
De stirpe Iesse nobili
Nati in salutem gentium,
Audite nos qui supplices
Vestras ad aras sistimus.
104
POEMS
THE HOLY FAMILY
(1892)
VESPER HYMN
(J-ESUS, the Light of realms above,
Sole Hope to mortals given,
Whose Childhood crowned domestic love
With glories caught from heaven :
Ave Maria, full of grace,
Above archangels blest
To hold thy Son in sweet embrace
And feed Him from thy breast :
Joseph, of patriarchs alone
The Virgin's chosen guide,
Whose heart the joy supreme hath known
When Jesus ' ' Father ' ' cried : —
Springing from Jesse's noble root
To share a Work divine,
Prosper your clients' lowly suit
Uttered before your shrine.
105
CABMINA
Dum sol redux ad vesperum
Eebus nitorem detrahit,
Nos hie manentes intimo
Ex corde vota fundimus.
Qua vestra sedes floruit
Virtutis omnis gratia,
Hanc detur in domesticis
Referre posse moribus.
106
POEMS
Now seeks the sun his western bed,
And fades the splendorous day:
Behold, we bow a reverent head
And heartfelt homage pay.
What grace and power of love made sweet
The House of Nazareth —
Such may our hearts and homes repeat
In birth, and life, and death !
107
GABMINA
II
SACRA iam splendent decorata lychnis
Templa, iam sertis redimitur ara,
Et pio fumant redolentque acerrae
Thuris honore.
Num iuvet summo Geniti Parente
Regios ortus celebrare cantu ?
Num domus David decora et vetustae
Nomina gentis ?
Gratius nobis memorare parvum
Nazarae tectum tenuemque cultum ;
Gratius Iesu tacitam referre
Carmine vitam.
Nili ab extremis peregrinus oris,
Angeli ductu, propere remigrat
Multa perpessus Puer, et paterno
Limine sospes,
Arte, qua Ioseph, humili excolendus
Abdito Iesus iuvenescit aevo,
Seque fabrilis socium laboris
Adiicit ultro.
108
POEMS
MATIN HYMN
A THOUSAND lights their glory shed
On shrines and altars garlanded;
While swinging censers dusk the air
With perfumed prayer.
And shall we sing the ancestry
Of Jesus, Son of God most High ?
Or the heroic names retrace
Of David's race?
Sweeter is lowly Nazareth,
Where Jesus drew His childish breath —
Sweeter the singing that endears
His hidden years !
An Angel leads the pilgrim band
From Egypt to their native land,
Where Jesus clings to Joseph's arm,
Secure from harm.
" And the Child grew in wisdom's ken
And years and grace with God and men; "
And in His father's humble art
Took share and part.
*) Luc. ii., 52.
109
CARMINA
Irriget sudor mea membra, dixit,
' ' Antequam sparso madeant cruore :
1 ' Haec quoque humano generi expiando
' ' Poena luatur. ' '
Assidet Nato pia Mater almo,
Assidet Sponso bona nupta; felix
Si potest curas relevare fessis
Munere amico.
0, neque expertes operae et laboris,
Nee mali ignari, miseros iuvate,
Quos reluctantes per acuta rerum
Urget egestas:
Demite his fastus, quibus ampla splendet
Faustitas, mentem date rebus aequam:
Quotquot implorant columen, benigno
Cernite vultu.
110
POEMS
1 ( With toil, ' ' saith He, ' ' my limbs are wet,
Prefiguring the Bloody Sweat:"
Ah! how He bears our chastisement
With sweet content !
At Joseph' s bench, at Jesus' side,
The Mother sits, the Virgin-bride;
Happy, if she may cheer their hearts
With loving arts.
0 Blessed Three ! who felt the sting
Of want and toil and suffering,
Pity the needy and obscure
Lot of the poor:
Banish the i ' pride of life ' ' from all
Whom ampler wealth and joys befall:
Be every heart with love repaid
That seeks your aid !
Ill
CARMINA
III
O GENTE felix hospita,
Augusta sedes Nazarae,
Quae fovit alma Ecclesiae
Et protulit primordia.
Sol qui pererrat aureo
Terras iacentes lumine,
Nil gratius per saecula
Hac vidit aede aut sanctius.
Ad hanc frequentes convolant
Caelestis aulae nuntii,
Virtutis hoc sacrarium
Visunt, re visunt, excolunt.
Qua mente Iesus, qua manu
Optata patris perficit !
Quo Virgo gestit gaudio
Materna obire munera !
Adest amoris particeps
Curaeque Ioseph coniugi,
Quos mille iungit nexibus
Virtutis auctor gratia.
112
POEMS
HYMN AT LAUDS
O HOUSE of Nazareth the blest,
Fair hostess of the Lord,
The Church was nurtured at thy breast
And shared thy scanty hoard.
In all the spreading lands of earth
The wandering sun may see
No dearer spot, no ampler worth
Than erst was found in thee!
We know thy humble tenement
Was heaven's hermitage:
Celestial heralds came and went
In endless embassage.
There, whatsoever Joseph asks
Christ hastens to fulfill;
While Mary loves the household tasks
That wait her joyous will.
There, Joseph toileth at her side
Her joys and griefs to share,
With thousand ties knit to his bride,
Of love and work and prayer.
113
CARMINA
Hi diligentes invicem
In Iesu amorem confluunt.
Utrique lesus mutuae
Dat caritatis praemia.
Sic fiat, ut nos caritas
Iungat perenni foedere,
Pacemque alens domesticam
Amara vitae temperet !
114
POEMS
Yet how their bosoms constant burn
And deeper ardors prove
In love of Christ, whose eyes return
Tokens of mutual love!
0 then, in all the homes of earth,
Be Love the bond of life:
May it enthrone at every hearth
The peace that husheth strife!
115
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXIII
AD FLORVM
jF LORE puer, vesana diu te febris adurit:
Inficit immundo mollia membra situ
Dira lues; cupidis stygio respersa veneno,
Nee pudor est, labiis pocula plena bibis.
Pocula sunt Circes: apparent ora ferarum;
Vel canis immundus, sus vel arnica luto.
Si sapis, o tandem miser expergiscere, tandem,
Ulla tuae si te cur?, salutis habet,
Heu fuge Sirenum cantus, fuge litus avarum,
Et te Carthusi, Flore, reconde sinu.
Certa erit inde salus; Carthusi e fontibus hausta1
Continuo sordes proluet unda tuas.
J) Admissus nuper est ad Pontificem maximum Leonem XIII quidam
nobili genere adolescens, decimum sextum aetatis annum vix supergressus
idemque macilento ore et extenuatis viribus. Quod cum ipse licentions
vitae intemperantia factum non dissimularet, et dolenter ferre videretur-
admonitus est, prospiceret saluti suae opportuneque in asceterium ali,
quandiu secederet, eluendis animi sordibus unice vacaturus. Id quo facilius
assequeretur, suasit adolescenti Pontifex ut, qua maxima posset attentione,
perlegeret aureum ilium de quatuor Hominis Kovissimis librum, scilicet
auctore Dionysio Carthusiano, qui copia et sanctitate doctrinae divini nomen
invenit. Earn Pontifex rem his versibus complexus est.
») Ex consideratione scilicet rerum, quae sunt hourini novissimae.
116
POEMS
TO FLORUS1
(1883)
LrONG hath a sickly fever-flame
Consumed thee, Floras; and thy shame
Speaks from thy wasted frame.
Ah me! the chalice at thy lips,
Whereof thy eager passion sips,
With Stygian poison drips.
'Tis Circe's cup! the sorceress queen
Transforms her guests to dogs unclean
And swinish herd obscene.
0 then, if thou wouldst yet be wise,
And gain thy heavenly Paradise,
From the foul banquet rise !
Fly siren-song and hungry shore
That wait to wreck thy bark; implore
Help from Carthusian lore : 2
Drink deeply of that fount divine;
The filthy lees of Circe's wine
Wash from that soul of thine !
l)A young nobleman, scarcely past his sixteenth year, hut thin and
emaciated, gained audience, recently, of the Supreme Pontiff, Leo XIII.
He did not conceal, hut rather sorrowfully admitted the fact, that his physi-
cal condition was due to his licentious manner of life ; and he was accord-
ingly warned to consult for his salvation by entering a House of Retreat,
where he should spend some time in the task of purifying his soul. To suc-
ceed the better, the Pontiff counselled him to read with the greatest atten-
tion that golden book on the Four Last Things, written by Denis the
Carthusian, who, because of his wide learning and holiness, was surnamed
the Divine. The poem deals with this incident.
•) Namely, by a consideration of the Last End of Man.
117
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXV
AD EVMDEM
NE SE VOLVPTATVM ILLECEBRIS CAPI PATIATVR
pHANTASIA, illecebris effingens lubrica menti,
Vere est tartarei, qui latet, anguis opus.
Exitiale opus hoc; astusque, artesque dolosas
Excutere assiduus sit tibi, Flore, labor.
Eia age: certantem te lumine spectat amico,
Certantem auxilio roborat ipse Deus.
Iamque fugit, rabidusque et pugna elusus inani
Mersat se stygia luridus anguis aqua.
118
POEMS
TO THE SAME
(1885)
1 HE flowery meads through which you pass
In fancy, are but Hell's morass —
A Serpent hideth in the grass !
This deadly field hath Satan sown:
Do thou his crafty arts disown,
And hate the pleasures thou hast known.
Courage and earnest work be thine;
The Lord looks on with eye benign,
And nerves thy will with strength divine.
Already, see, by Grace o'erborne,
The baffled Serpent flies the morn,
And hides in Stygian caves forlorn I
119
GARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXIII l
lUSTITIAM colui; certamina longa, labores,
Ludibria, insidias, aspera quaeque tuli;
At fidei vindex non flectar; pro grege Christi
Dulce pati, ipsoque in carcere dulce mori.
x) Inscripsit sub imagine sua, cum S. Gregorii VII. dicta meminisset: DUexi
iustitiam et odivi iniquitatem, propterea morior in exilio.
120
POEMS
(1883) *
1 HAVE loved justice, therefore have I borne
Conflict and labor, plot and biting scorn.
Guardian of Faith, for Christ's dear flock would I
Suffer with gladness, and in prison die!
i) Lines written under his own portrait, as he recalled the saying of St.
Gregory VII.: "I have loved justice and hated iniquity; therefore I die in
exile."
121
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXV
FRVSTRATA IMPIORVM SPE
PONTIFICVM ROMANORVM SERIES
NON INTEKMITTITVR
UCCIDIT inclamant, solio deiectus, in ipso
Carcere, in aerumnis occidit ecce Leo.
Spes insana: Leo alter adest, qui sacra volentes
Iura dat in populos, imperiumque tenet.
122
POEMS
( Versione libera)
O ODE un grido : nel career dal soglio,
Nelle ambasce si spense Leon.
Grido insano : gi& impera dal soglio
Prence e Padre un novello Leon.
123
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXV
FRUSTRATA IMPIORUM SPE
PONTIFICVM ROMANORVM SERIES
NON INTERMITTITVE
(JCCIDIT, inclamant, solio deiectus, in ipso
Carcere, in aerumnis occidit ecce Leo.
Spes insana: Leo alter adest, qui sacra volentes
Iura dat in populos, imperiumque tenet.
124
POEMS
EVEN TO THE CONSUMMATION OF THE
WORLD "
(1885)
LCEO is fallen! " — List the clamorous cry:
" Broken with cares, in prison shall he die! "
Vain is the hope: another Leo wields
The sceptre, and his flock from error shields!
125
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXV
ECCLESIAE
AVSPICATVS TRIVMPHVS
ET IN COMMVNE BONVM EESTITVTA PAX
sAUGUROR: ecce, viden', crebris micat ignibus aether;
Nimboso apparent signa corusca polo.
Continuo effugiunt, subitoque exterrita visu
Tartareos repetunt horrida monstra lacus.
Gens inimica Deo portentum invita fateri,
Fletuque admissum visa piare scelus.
Tunc veteres cecidere irae, tunc pugna quievit;
Iamque fera emollit pectora dulcis amor;
Quin et prisca redire audet neglectaque virtus,
Intemerata fides, et sine fraude pudor.
Mox olea praecincta comas Pax educat artes;
Uberi et alma sinu Copia fundit opes.
Illustrat vetus ilia Italas Sapientia mentes:
Longius errorum pulsa proterva cohors.
O laeta Ausoniae tellus! o clara triumpho!
Et cultu et patria relligione potens.
126
POEMS
AN AUGURY OF TRIUMPH
JVllNE eye prophetic scans the darkling heaven
With dawn's bright arrows riven:
Forthwith the horrid crew of hellish error
Flies to the Stygian pool in terror!
God's enemies, compelled to view the vision,
Confess with tears their long misprision.
The centuried hates, the olden strifes are ended:
Victorious Love hath all amended!
Now exiled Virtue seeks again her dwelling,
Of stainless faith and candor telling;
Peace, olive-wreathed, bids art and science flourish,
And Plenty's horn is here to nourish:
In vain shall Hell its myriad errors muster —
Here Wisdom shines with olden lustre.
0 blessed Italy! 0 wondrous glory!
0 Faith enshrined in art and story!
127
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXVI
SANCTVS IOANNES BAPTISTA
PRAECVRSOR
I
JDeSERTAS Iudaeae oras Baptista pererrans,
Tegmen cui corium, mella, locusta cibus,
0 vos, errorum mersae caligine caeca,
Audite, o gentes, verba salutis, ait.
Instat summa dies; venturam Iudicis iram
Effugite: o tandem poeniteat scelerum;
Delete haec gemitn et lacrimis, Numenque piate:
Sic tutum ad caeli regna paratur iter.
128
POEMS
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
THE PRECURSOR
(1886)
I
IN the Judean solitude,
Clad in the skins of beasts he stood —
Locusts and honey wild, his food.
He crieth in the wilderness:
O ye whom clouds of error press,
Hear me, and all your sins confess !
The awful Day of God is nigh;
From His tremendous judgments fly;
With sorrowing tears beseech the sky:
Wash out your sins with sigh and groan,
And for your wicked past atone —
The way to Heaven is this alone !
129
CABMINA
II
JNlON aliena licet, rex impie, frangere iurj
Non licet uxorem fratris habere tuam.
Hac olim impavidus clamabat voce Ioannes:
Vox eadem e vultu reddita clamat adhuc.
Utrumque epigramina Pontifex insculpi iussit in theca magna elegantioris
operis, quam novissime ad custodiendum sanctissimi Praecursoris Caput re-
fecit, et in private- sacrario suo collocavit.
1J0
POEMS
II
O ACRED are others' rights, 0 impious King:
Unlawful 't is to have your brother's wife ! "
The voice that erst so fearlessly did ring
Still speaks from out this casket as in life !
The Pontiff had these epigrams engraved on a large reliquary of elegant
workmanship, which had been recently repaired for the purpose of enclos-
ing the Head of the most holy Precursor, and which the Pontiff placed in
his private treasury of sacred articles.
131
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCXXXXVII
IN IESVM CHRISTVM
A SANCTO IOANNE PRAECVRSORE
BAPTIZATVM l
MONTANA Galilaeae olim regione relicta,
Arida Iordanis qua vagus arva rigat,
Baptista advenit, divino numine ductus,
Lustrali gentes spargere iussus aqua.
Certatim ad flumen properat plebs agmine denso ;
Tingitur; affuso sanctior imbre redit.
Ecce autem e turba (cupide mirantur euntem
Obtutu tacito) magna Dei Soboles,
Progreditur Iesvs, maiestatisque verendae
Demisso celat vultu habituque iubar.
Insons sanctusque adspergi fluvialibus undis
Suppliciter, sontis more modoque, petit.
J) Tunc exibatad cum Ierosolyma, et omnis Iudaea, et omnis regio circa
Iordanem; et baptizabantur ab eo in Iordane . . . Tunc venit Iesus a
Galilaea in Iordanem ad Ioannem, ut baptizaretur ab eo. Ioannes autem
I>rohibebat eum, dicens: Ego a te debeo baptizari, et tu venis ad me? . . .
Baptizatus autem Iesus, confestim ascendit de aqua; et ecce aperti sunt ei
caeli : et vidit Spiritum Dei descendentem sicut columbam, et venientem
super se. Et ecce vox de caelis dicens : Hie est filius meus dilectus, in quo
mihi complacui. (Matth. hi.)
132
POEMS
THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST
(1887)
FORTH of the hilly Galilean land,
Unto the Jordan's mystic strand,
The Baptist came, led by the hand of God,
To wash the nations in its flood.
Hither the pressing multitudes have hied
To be baptized and sanctified.
And here they see Him press the sacred sod —
Jesus, the mighty Son of God,
Hiding, with downcast eye and modest grace,
The lightning splendors of His Face.
The lustral Sign for guilty sinners meant
He humbly craves — the Innocent.
1) Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the country
about Jordan ; and were baptized by him in the Jordan . . . Then cometh
Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptized by him. But
John stayed him, saying : I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou
to me? . . . And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water;
and lo ! the heavens were opened to him : and he saw the Spirit of God de-
scending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heaven
saying : This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matt. hi).
133
CARMINA
Persensit numen Baptista; et, non ego te, inquit,
Me me, adsum, tu me tinge, Magister, aqua.
Paruit imperio tarn en et mandata facessit:
Divinumque fluens imbuit unda caput.
Panditur interea radianti lumine caelum,
Ipsaque Iordanis ripa corusca micat.
Continuo nive candidior descendere ab alto
Praepetibus pennis visa Columba polo.
En Deus, ipse Deus, fulgente per aera tractu,
Alitis in forma conspiciendus erat.
Leniter adlabens Christum super adstitit; auras
Turn vox insonuit fusa per aetherias:
Filius hie mens est ; audite, audite docentem,
Quern genui, aeternus quern mihi iungit amor.
Audiit, et sese tibi, Iesv, maximus orbis
Subdidit Eoo e litore ad occiduum;
Teque in vota vocat, tibi iussos reddit honores,
Tu lux vera homini, tu via, vita, salus.
134
POEMS
But John perceives the Godhead: I should be
Baptized by Thee, not Thou by me !
Yet he obeys, yielding to God's design,
And bathes the awful Brow divine.
And lo! the heavens are rent, and glory bright
Floods the baptismal sward with light:
And from the shining vault descends a Dove,
And rests the sacred Head above.
'T was God, 't was very God descended then,
Dove-like unto the eyes of men :
And as It softly rested on His head,
Came from the sky a Voice that said:
/ am well pleased with my beloved Son :
Him shall ye hear ! — 0 Holy One,
Jesus, thou Son of God, the world hath heard
And bowed submissive to that Word;
And to thy Name doth holiest homage pay,
Who art the Truth, the Life, the Way.
135
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCLXXXVII
IN ILLUD PSALMI XIII.
Contritio et infelicitas in viis eorum, et viam pacis non
cognoverunt.
1 ROLABI in vetitum, turpi sordescere culpa
Si quern contingat, poena repente comes
Peccantem sequitur; pavor occupat, anxia tristem
Mordet cura animum, sollicitumque tenet.
Excruciat scelus adrnissum, ingeminatque dolorem
Impendens capiti vindicis ira Dei.
136
POEMS
ON THE WORDS OF PSALM XIII. :
Destruction and unhappiness are in their ivays, and the way
of peace they have not known.
(1887)
WHOSO pursues an evil course,
Hath made a comrade of Remorse:
His soul at once is made aware
Of anxious fear and gnawing care;
For Sin is Sorrow ! and the Lord
Holds o'er his head the avenging sword !
137
CABMINA
IN ILLUD EOCL. XXXIV. 16 :
Qui timet Dominum, nihil trepidabit, et non pavebit
quoniam ipse est spes eius.
$\T iusto tranquilla quies: ceu lenis aquae fons
Decurrens molli in gramme, vita fluit
Nescia curarum. Tacitus mortalia spectat,
Et vitae in partem librat utramque vices.
Vis inimica premat; vultus fortuna superbos
Terrore, insidiis mutet ad arbitrium:
Fortem non tangunt animum, contemnere suetum
Et terere invicto cuncta caduca pede.
Quern paveat? virtus non expugnabile scutum,
Rebusque in trepidis praesidium ipse Deus.
138
POEMS
ON ECCL. XXXIV. 16:
He that feareth the Lord shall tremble at nothing, and uhall
not be afraid : for he is his
lf>UT to the just is peace: no strife
Disturbs the gentle stream of life.
Fearless he looks on Death, nor broods
Anxious o'er life's vicissitudes.
Though buffeted by storm and stress
Of Fortune's wanton changefulness,
Fate can not touch the soul sublime
Taught to despise the things of Time.
Whom should he fear ? he can not yield,
With God Himself for sword and shield !
139
GARMINA
L^EO XIII P. M. vet ex eo tempore, quo Episcopatum
Perusinum Cardinalis gerebat, Carpinetensibus suis aquae
penuria laborantibus cum succurrere impensd sua constitu-
isset, rivum uberem ex monte proximo adducendum curavit.
Qui tamen, propter agri naturam dilabentibus scatebris,
coepit sensim decrescere ita ut iam prope intermissus vider-
etur. Opus iteratd providentid aggressus est, feliciusque
ab solvit anno MDCCCLXXXVIII, aqua ab alio capite
derivata, ac salientibus binis commoditati civium excitatis,
i}ms Kalendis Ianuariis, quo die ob memoriam sacerdotii
Eius, ante annos quinquaginta suscepti, solemnia agebantur.
140
POEMS
IT was a favorite project of the Pope, when he was
Bishop of Perugia, to relieve at his own expense the
scarcity of water from which the citizens of Carpineto
suffered, and he accordingly had an abundant supply
led down from the nearest mountain. On account of
the nature of the soil, however, the springs began to
fail and the supply gradually lessened until it seemed
to have entirely ceased. He therefore sought another
source, and the work was successfully completed on
January 1st, 1888 — the day on which he celebrated the
Golden Jubilee of his first Mass.
141
CARMINA
In platea maiore prope Templum princqis.
LEO. XIII. P. M.
AQVAM . SALVBERRIMI . HAVSTVS
E . MONTIBVS . LEPINIS
PERDVCENDAM . CVRAVIT
AN . SAC . PRINC . X .
r ONS ego decurrens, nitidis argenteus undis,
Quern cupide irriguum florea prata bibant.
At non prata bibent, cives, me florea; vestras
Gratius est largo spargere rore domos.
14:
POEMS
SONG OF THE TWO FOUNTAINS.
In the great Square of the Cathedral.
\ AM a silvery fountain, at whose brink
The flowery meadows love to drink.
And yet they shall not ! It belongs to you,
Ye cits, — my widely-scattering dew !
143
CARMINA
II
Iii parte Oppidi superiore prope avitas Pecciorum aedes.
JDlFFICILEM cursum, longosque emensa viarum
Tractus, Carpineis hue feror unda iugis.
Namque Leo, Petri regali in Sede Sacerdos,
Christiadum toto, qua patet, orbe parens,
Tempore quo dubii commoto murmure belli \
Suspensa haererent pectora pulsa metu,
Incolumis post lustra decern cum scanderet aras,
Pacis sollicita cum prece dona petens,
Cumque soli, primum dulces ubi luminis auras
Ille hausit, vivax corda teneret amor,
') Sub exitum an. mdccclxxxviii non defuere belli per Europam suspici-
on es.
144
POEMS
II
In Upper Perugia, near the Ancient Mansion of the Peccis.
AFTER a journey long and drear,
Ye Carpinetans, I am here,
A fount unfailing, cool and clear.
For Leo, who on Peter's throne
As Shepherd of his flock is known
And loved in every Christian zone —
What time to fair Italia' s shore
The trembling wings of Rumor bore !
Rumblings of European war —
Praying with deep solicitude
For peace, before the altar stood
The Priest whom lustres ten had viewed :
His heart had never yet outworn
Love for the spot where he was born,
And balmy airs of life's young morn:
*) Towards the close of the year 1888, Europe was disturbed by fears of a
war.
145
CARMINA
Me monte ex imo excussam, me calle recluso
Ad vos, o cives, carpere iussit iter.
Iamque hue per caecos plumbo ducente meatus
Advectam, nitido me capit urna sinu.
Candida, splendidior vitro, blandoque susurro
Alta e rupe scatens leniter unda fluo.
Expectata diu, atque hospes gratissima veni,
En veni, vestra ad commoda, dives opum.
Munditiae, charisin, vitae usibus, apta saluti,
Omine felici munera plena fero.
Hue ergo properate: libens benefacta Leonis
Usque egomet, rivo dulce strepente, loquar.
146
POEMS
'Twas then, ye Carpinetan folk,
He bade me come to you, and broke
Gently my immemorial yoke,
And taught my dancing feet to spurn
The heedless hill-top, and sojourn
For your sake, in this chiseled urn:
Clearer than crystal to the view,
From the high rocks I scatter dew,
And sing the livelong day for you!
Ye suffered long in fruitless quest
Until I came — a welcome guest —
With amplest largess in my breast.
And who shall all my uses tell?
Here in your very midst I dwell,
For poor and rich, for sick and well.
Come, then, ye cits, and freely take,
While I perpetual music make
Of thanks to Leo for your sake!
l4Tt
CARMINA
AD BEATAM VIRGINEM MAEIAM
PRECATIONES
( Cum paraphrasi italica. )
I
ARDETpugnaferox; Lucifer ipse, viden',
Horrida monstra furens ex Acheronte vomit,
Ocius, alma Parens, ocius afler opem.
Tu mihi virtutem, robur et adde novum.
Contere virgineo monstra inimica pede.
Te duce, Virgo, libens aspera bella geram:
Diffugient hostes; te duce, victor ero.
148
POEMS
I
( Versione libera)
JVlOSSA d' averno, arde feroce pugna;
Satana, ve', terribilmente adugna
Le incaute prede, e le tartaree squadre
Volge a sua posta. Mi soccorri, o Mad re,
Nel fler cimento; il trepidante core
Franeheggia e infiamma di celeste ardore.
Se nell' aspra tenzon tua man mi guida,
Vano e il furor della masnada infida.
Tu de' rei inostri la superba testa
Col virgineo tuo pie premi e calpesta.
Teco sard; ma sol la tua virtude
Fia che Satan ricacci alia palude.
E sara tua merce, sara tua gloria
SulP oste doma la final vittoria.
149
CARMINA
AD BEATAM VIRGINEM MARIAM
PRECATIONES
ARDET pugna ferox; Lucifer ipse, viden',
Horrida monstra furens ex Acheronte vomit,
Ocius, alma Parens, ocius after opem.
Tu mihi virtutem, robur et adde novum.
Contere virgineo monstra inimica pede.
Te duce, Virgo, libens aspera bella geram:
Diflugient hostes; te duce, victor ero.
150
POEMS
A SIGH
OF THE TRUSTFUL SOUL
FURIOUS rages the fray:
Lucifer, watching intent
For the uncertain event,
Marshals his hellish array.
Help me, 0 Mother, this day;
List to thy client's lament:
Lo! I am weak and o'erspent,
Moulded of spirit and clay.
Under thy virginal heel
Crushing the serpent of old,
Ah ! to thy servant reveal
Power the prophets foretold :
Then shall my spirit, tho' weak,
Only of victory speak !
151
CARMINA
II
SMlURI dulce melos, dicere, Mater ave:
Dicere dulce melos, o pia Mater, ave.
Tu mihi deliciae, spes bona, castus amor,
Rebus in adversis tu mihi praesidium.
Si mens sollicitis icta cupidinibus,
Tristitiae et luctus anxia sentit onus :
Si natum aerumnis videris usque premi,
Materno refove, Virgo, benigna sinu.
At celeri heu properat iam pede summa dies.
Detruso stygii daemone ad ima lacus,
Adsis, o Mater; languiduloque seni
Lumina fessa manu molliter ipsa tege,
Et fugientem animam tu bona redde Deo.
152
POEMS
II
( Versione libera)
(otUANTO all' orecchio mio suona soave
A te, Madre Maria, ripeter ave.
Ripeter ave e dirti, o Madre pia,
E a me dolce, ineffabile armonia.
Delizia, casto amor, buona speranza,
Tale tu se', ch'ogni desire avanza.
Quando spirto m' assal maligno e immondo,
Quando d' ambascie piu m' opprime il pondo,
E 1' affanno del cor si fa piu crudo,
Tu mio conforto, mia difesa e scudo.
Se a me tuo figlio apri il materno seno,
Fugge ogni nube, il ciel si fa sereno.
Ma gia morte s' appressa: deh! in quell' ora,
Madre, m' aita: lene lene allora
Quando 1' ultimo di ne disfaville,
Colle man chiudi le stanche pupille;
E conquiso il demon che intorno rugge
Cupidamente, all' anima che fugge
Tu pietosa, o Maria, 1' ala distendi,
Ratto la leva al cielo, a Dio la rendi.
153
CARMINA
II
5r\URI dulce melos, dicere, Mater ave:
Dicere dulce melos, o pta Mater, ave.
Tu mihi deliciae, spes bona, castus amor,
Rebus in adversis tu mihi praesidium.
Si mens sollicitis icta cupidinibus,
Tristitiae et luctus anxia sentit onus:
Si natum aerumnis videris usque premi,
Materno refove, Virgo, benigna, sinu.
At celeri heu properat iam pede summa dies.
Detruso stygii daemone ad ima lacus,
Adsis, o Mater; languiduloque seni
Lumina fessa manu molliter ipsa tege,
Et fugientem animam tu bona redde Deo.
154
POEMS
SUPPLICATION OF THE LOVING SOUL
HAIL, MOTHER! the enchanted ear
' ' Hail, dearest Mother ! ' ' loves to hear.
My love, my hope, my heart's delight,
In storm-rent seas my beacon-light:
When sinful pleasures woo my heart,
And thousand fears within me start,
Thy child with poignant cares opprest
Take, Virgin Mother, to thy breast.
When hastes my dying hour, repel
The demon to his deepest hell:
Be thou with me in heavenly guise,
Close gently my age-wearied eyes,
And lead my soul to Paradise.
155
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCV
PRAESIDIVM DIVINAE MATRIS
ACCEPTISSIMA ROSARI PRECE EXORANDVM
Paraphrases
I
riAC prece, magna Parens, flore hoc bene olente
rosarum
Te populi unanimes in sua vota vocant.
At tu laeta libens vota audis, provida comples:
Divinasque manu divite fundis opes.
II
Sistimus ante aras: placido nos respice vultu,
Accepta et nostri pignora amoris habe.
Gemma auroque alii cumulent altaria: florum
Haec tenui in calatho nos tibi serta damus.
Sunt humiles violae, tibi sunt gratissima, Virgo,
Candida purpureis lilia mixta rosis.
Ill
Dum roseas manibus tractamus rite corollas,
Quam dulce est nomen, Virgo, iterare tuum!
156
POEMS
OUR LADY'S ROSARY
A PRAYER POR HELP
Interpretations i
(1895)
I
WlTH one accord, O Mother fair,
Thy children offer as a prayer
The scented bloom of roses rare.
The prayer is heard and answered; we
Receive from thy dear hand the free
Mercies thy Lord commits to thee!
II
We kneel before thy shrines to prove
A Mother's care: from Heaven above
Accept the pledges of our love.
No gems we bring to thee, nor gold;
Our little baskets only hold
The wreathed flowers of field and wold:
The lowly violet's penury,
The snowy lily's chastity,
The purple rose's agony!
Ill
And while our loving hands would frame
A worthy chaplet, we proclaim
Again and yet again thy Name.
» ) Of the word Sosary-that "most acceptable prayer for the protection of
the Mother of God."
157
CABMINA
Praesens o faveas: tu dux fidissima vitae,
Tu certa extremo sis in agone salus.
IV
Quam bene Gusmanus, tua sollers iussa facessens,
Texere nos docuit serta revincta rosis.
Gratum opus in terris sanctumque; at gratius olim,
Si superum sedes scandere contigerit,
Serta tibi laudum nova texere; gratius ore
Laetari aeternum, Virgo beata, tuo.
Sumite quae vobis tradit pia serta rosarum,
Assiduaque manu nectite; Virgo iubet.
Mandata exequimur; sed qua mercede? rogamus
Filioli, o Matri fidite munificae!
Fidite; namque suis caelo Ipsa insignia servat
Praemia; pro roseis aurea serta dabit.
158
POEMS
Be thou our favoring Patron here;
Be thou our Guide in deserts drear;
Be thou our Help when death is near!
IV
How well thy client Gusman wrought
Thy will in every deed and thought —
The weaving of thy Rosary taught!
On earth, a grateful task and sweet!
But oh, more grateful, should our feet
But gain at last the heavenly seat!
Then sweeter far 't will be to raise
To thee a wreathed song of praise,
0 Virgin blest, through endless days.
V
Take to your hearts the roses rare
Your Mother giveth to your care,
And joyous weave the chaplet fair.
Lo! we obey the high command:
What then shall be the guerdon grand ?
O trust the issue to her hand!
Yes, trust in her who shall unfold
In Heaven her great reward — behold,
For wreathing roses, crowns of gold!
159
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCV
ADIUTKICI CHRISTIANORUM
ELEGIA
sA.T nunc, Virgo potens, victrices te auspice palmas
Maiori plectro concinuisse iuvat.
Per te namque almae victoria nuncia pacis
Plus semel ad veteres risit arnica patres.
Gallia, tu testis: metuendas arte maligna
Vis inferna tibi struxerat insiclias.
Tuque, olim virtute, fide splendescere visa,
Heu priscum misere iam decus exueras !
Immunda late errorum vitiique scatebas
Illuvie, gentes depopulante tuas.
Adfuit at Virgo: meritis, pietate verendum
Finibus hispanis advocat ipsa Virum ;
Cui roseas blando cum traderet ore coronas
Haec, ait, haec Gallis arma salutis erunt.
Hisce armis pugnae occurrit Gusmanius heros,
Hac arte enisus clara tropaea tulit.
160
POEMS
TO THE " HELPER OF CHRISTIANS"
(1895)
iDUT now the lyre, 0 mighty Virgin, sings
Thy victories, with deeper-sounding strings.
How oft thy power proclaimed a glad surcease
Of War, with white- winged messengers of Peace!
Be thou the witness, France! — When hellish snares
Beset thy path of glory unawares;
When thou, for faith and virtue once renowned,
Didst cast thy ancient splendors to the ground;
When vice and error ruled thy fairest sod,
And slew with filthy breath the sons of God:
Ah! then the Virgin brake thy hideous chain,
Calling her champion from chivalric Spain,
With but the Rosary for sword and shield:
"To this alone," she cried, " the foe must yield ! "
Such was his weapon — Gusman thus begins
Heroic battle, and the trophy wins;
161
GABMINA
Occubuere hostes; rursumque effulsit avita
Pulcrior in Gallis candidiorque fides.
Testor et Ioniis quas cernis Echinadas imdis:
Vivida adhuc facti fama per ora volat.
Stant ex adverso instructae longo ordine puppes,
In saeva ardescunt praelia iam mere.
Utraque fert acies signum; haec caeleste Mariae,
Lunae triste minax ilia bicornis habet:
Ut raucae sonuere tubae, concurritur; ingens
Continuo ad caeli tollitur astra fragor.
Aera tonant, reboat litus, micat ignibus aequor;
Impavidi hae iliac dant fera iussa duces.
Confracto latere et remis non una dehiscit
Navis, et immensi gurgitis ima petit.
Iactata horrisono merguntur corpora ponto,
Humano spumans unda cruore rubet.
Anceps stat fortuna: pari virtute peracta,
Hinc inde eventu pugna iterata pari.
Iamque iterum tentanda acies, cum percita fato
Nescio quo classis Turcica, sollicito
Pulsa repente metu, refugit proclucere pugnam,
Et quamvis multo milite praevalida,
162
POEMS
Thus, David-like, his tens of thousands slew,
That France might once again her faith renew.
A witness, next, from the Ionian seas —
The far-famed battle of the Echinades.
The warring vessels, ranged in battle line,
Fling to the breezes, each a various sign:
Here is the banner of the Virgin fair,
And here the Crescent flaunts the fearful air:
The trump resounds — the breathless hush is riven,
And ceaseless clamor rends the vault of heaven;
Flash the red lightnings, and the thunders roar
In thousand echoings from the affrighted shore.
With shattered oars and timbers gaping wide,
Sinks many a vessel in the expectant tide;
While mangled corpses find a watery grave,
And streaming life-blood reddens every wave.
Doubtful the issue stands: with equal art
Foe strives with foe — uncertain still they part:
And yet again the crash and roar — when lo!
(Who shall divine the cause?) the Turkish foe
Whose mightier power but spoke of victor}'-,
Struck with a sudden terror, turn and flee,
163
CARMINA
Cedere visa loco, et sese, mirabile dictu !
Ultro Christiadum dedere in arbitrium.
Ingeminat tunc victor io, nomenque Mariae
Conclamat resonis undique litoribus:
Conclamant populi portentum, Virginis almae
Patratum dia bellipotentis ope;
Romulidae imprimis, queis mirum ex hoste triumphum
Fatidico edixit praescius ore Pivs.
Inde quies et pax Europae adserta ruenti,
Inde stetit patriae Relligionis honos.
Seraque posteritas (quid adhuc ignava moratur ?)
Eia eventu dignum aggrediatur opus.
Sublime attollat pario de marmore templum
Ad litus, memori gesta ubi pugna loco.1
Hie Virgo templum teneat Regina, tumenti
Hie praecincta rosis imperet ipsa mari.
') Christianorum pietas templum Virgini a Rosario condere et dedicare
parat in litore patrensi.
164
POEMS
And to the Christians (wondrous to relate!)
Inglorious yield the strenuous combat's fate.
"All hail!" the victors cry, "to Mary's Name!"
And echoing shores prolong the grand acclaim.
While in the triumph Christian Europe sees
One of the mighty Virgin's Prodigies,
More blest the Roman eyes that could behold
A miracle, as Pius had foretold.
Thenceforward peace to troubled Europe came,
And Christian worship gained a noble fame.
Let coming ages (why do they delay?)
With just memorial celebrate the day;
In snowy marble raise a temple grand
To signalize the memorable strand,1
And the rose-crowned Virgin Queen enshrine
To rule the seas that saw her wondrous Sign !
l) Christian piety commemorates the triumph by the erection, at Patras,
of a church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.
165
IN OBITU
JOSEPHI PECCI CARD.
GERMANI FRATR1S
ON THE DEATH
OF HIS BROTHER
CARD. JOSEPH PECCI
CARMINA
IOSEPH
lUSTITIAE factum satis est, poenisque solutum ; '
lam caeli me templa tenent stellantia: sed tu
Cum tot sustineas, tarn grandia munia, debes
Tanto plura Deo, quanto maiora tulisti.
Sume animum; fidens cymbam due aequor in
altum :
Sic tibi felices, largo sic fenore digni
Sint initi sancta pro relligione labores!
Attamen ut valeas olim sublimia caeli,
Vltrices fugiens flammas, attingere, prudens,
Mortali, Ioachim, vitae dum vesceris aura,
Et gemitu abluere et lacrimis admissa memento.
IOACHIM
OUM vivam, fessosque regat dum spiritus artus,
Incensa ex imo ducens suspiria corde,
Ploratu maculas delere enitar amaro.
At tu, qui Superum securus luce bearis,
Confectum aerumnis, devexa aetate labantem
Erige, et usque memor de caelo respice fratrem.
Quern turbo heu! dudum premit horridus,
horrida dudum
Fluctibus in mediis commota procella fatigat.
x) Iosepho Pecci Card., vita functo vi. Id. Feb. mdccclxxxx, supplicatio-
nibus sacrisque perlitatum est tanto nurnero, ut sperandum de eo non im-
merito videatur, ignis iam poena liberatum ad sempiternam in caelis pacem,
Dei benignitate, avolavisse.— Hinc sumptum carminis argumentum.
168
POEMS
JOSEPH
JUSTICE is satisfied; the debt is paid;1
The starry sky is mine at last — but thou
Dost hold a mighty office, and to God
Owest the more, the more He gives to thee.
Courage! thy bark still pilot o'er the deep:
Sweet is the toil and worthy great reward,
Which thou dost undergo for holy Faith!
Yet, that thou may'st the heights of heaven scale,
Nor touch the burning pool, remember well,
O Joachim, amidst thy mortal life,
To wash away thy sins with tears and sighs!
JOACHIM
Y EA, while the spirit rules these weary limbs,
Shall I, with sighs heaved from my inmost heart,
And bitter tears, strive to undo my guilt:
But thou, secure and blest with heavenly light,
Look on me, bowed with years, broken with cares;
And from thy sky behold thy brother here,
So long oppressed with tempest, ah! so long
Wearied with storm and stress and battling wTaves!
1) The poem is based on the pious hope that the soul of Cardinal Pecci
(►$« Feb. 8, 1890) has been, through the tender mercy of God and the many
prayers and masses offered in his behalf, already freed from purgatorial
flames and taken up into the heavenly rest.
169
CARMINA
IN MARIAM ELISAM BERNEZZO
V50NIUGIS extincti crudeli funere, Elisa,
Vidimus in somnis te immotam adstare sepulcro,
Et siccis oculis premere altum corde dolorem:
Quin etiam cupidam, atque erecta fronte decoram,
Quo mens, et veteris quo vis urgebat amoris,
Vidimus obtutu tacito te quaerere caelum.
Vnde tibi haec virtus? unde haec constantia menti?
Scilicet alma fides, aeternae pacis et auspex
Spes bona nata Deo, te firmo robore praestant
Invictam, tristemque iubent compescere luctum.
Lux at Elisa, viden', rutilat nova, et aethera complet;
Aurea templa poli tremulo fulgore coruscant.
Coniugis extemplo ante oculos en dulcis imago
Apparere tuos, medioque e lumine visa
Annuere, aspectuque tibi adridere sereno.
Laetitia exultas: incenso corde supremum
Dicis ave; aeternum grata prece Numen adoras.
x) Is fnit Ioannis Caroli Alius, e patricia Perusinorum Bobilitate, Leoni
XIII apprime carus; quern aetate non minus quam ingenio litterisque flor-
entem immatura mors praeripuit.
170
POEMS
"FOR LOVE IS STRONG AS DEATH!"1
IJEATH claimed him, and he met the common doom
In dreams I see you stand beside his tomb,
And tearless press the swelling sorrow down —
Say rather, glimpse the fadeless laurel-crown ;
For with fair brow raised to the bending skies,
Hopeful you look toward heaven with love-lit eyes!
Ah! whence thy strength and constancy of mind?
Faith nourished it; and Hope auspicious shrined
God's promises within thy heart! and so
Thou wouldst not yield thy soul to depths of woe.
Anon you see a sudden splendor bright
Suffuse the golden gates of heaven with light!
Open they swing; and lo! before your eyes
His dear face smiles on you from Paradise.
Ah me, with what a joy your heart must swell!
Inflamed with love it bids the last "Farewell,"
And shall with endless praise besiege God's citadel!
J) Lines to Maria Elisa Bernezzo, widow of Count Carlo Conestabilo. The
count was the son of Giovanni Carlo, of the patrician nobility of Perugia,
and was very dear to Leo XIII. He died in the prime of life and in the
height of his distinguished literary career.
171
CARMINA
DE S. PETRO CAELESTINO V.
PONT. MAX.
I ONERE tergeminam festinas, Petre, coronam
Tota ardens uni mente vacare Deo.1
0 te felicem ! spernis mortalia regna,
Caelicolum largo fenore regna tenes.
x) Petrus Caelesthius Aeserniae in Samnitibus natus in solitudinem
secessit — In Petri Cathedram adscitus, cum variis distentus curis, assuetis
incumbere meditationibus vix posse cognosceret, oneri pariter et honori
voluntarie cessit. (Ex lect. Breviarii Rom. die xix Mail.)
172
POEMS
ST. CELESTINE V.
Y OU would lay down
The triple crown x
To think of God alone?
Dear Saint! you spurn
Earth-realms, to earn
An everlasting throne!
l) Peter Celestine, born at Isernia in Apulia — withdrew into solitude —
Having been called to the Chair of Peter, and finding that in the midst of so
many distracting cares he could scarce meditate as fully as was his wont, he
voluntarily relinquished both the burden and the honor. (From the lessons
of the Roman Breviary for May 19th.)
173
CARMINA
AD SOCIETATEM ROMANAM
IVVENTVTIS CATHOLICAE
A B. PETRO APOSTOLO NVNCVPATAM l
fc.IA age, carpe alacris, pubes Rom ana, negatum
Ignavis, virtutis iter; durare memento
Pectore magnanimo pro relligione labores.
Non nisi sudatae debetur laurea fronti.
1) Haec dicta vit inscribenda sub imagine sua in linteo picta, quam ipsemet
Societati supra dictae dono mislt an. mdccclxxxviii.
174
POEMS
"REMEMBER THY CREATOR IN THE
DAYS OF THY YOUTH "
ENTER at once the " narrow path " ;
No Open, Sesame! it hath:
Long heats and burdens must you bear-
Wet are the brows that laurels wear! 1
*) The Pope ordered these lines to he placed under his portrait in oil,
which he presented, in the year 1888, to the Roman Society of Catholic
Youth, named after the Apostle St. Peter.
175
AD SODALES ARCADICOS
ALTERO POST COLLEGIVM INSTITVTVM
EXEVNTE SAECVLO
NEANDER HERACLEVS
NEANDER HERACLEUS
TO HIS ARCADIAN COMRADES ON
THE OCCASION OF THEIR
BI-CENTENARY CELEBRATION
CABMINA
ARCADAS
AD CANENDVM INVITAT
Epigramma
E VATICANA vos, Arcades, arce Neander,
Olim quern socium dulcis alebat amor
Pieridum, salvere iubet, iuga laeta Heliconis
Scandere, maeoniis ludere carminibus.
Addit vota libens: in longum floreat aevum
Nominis arcadici gloria, priscus honos.
178
POEMS
SING, YE ARCADIANS!
NEANDER, from his citadel,
Whom erst the jealous Muses did compel
In groves of Arcady to dwell,
Sends greeting unto every one,
And bids you scale the heights of Helicon,
And play Maeonian strings upon.
A parting wish his lips would frame:
Perpetual glory to the Arcadian name,
And amplest wealth of olden fame!
179
CABMINA
II
NEANDER HERACLEVS
ARCADIAE LAVDES
COMMEMORAT
Elegia
V*UI quondam graia dictus de gente Neander
Rustica deduxit cannina puber adhuc,
Aoniae et vitreas Agarrippes pastor ad undas,
Et vaga Permessi flumina pavit oves;
Nunc senior, premere excelsi vos culmina Pindi,
Concinere et versu nobiliore, iubet.
Fronde nova redimite comas; numerisque canoris
Ingeminet longum tibia vestra melos.
Expectata diu, post saecula bina renascens
Littore ab eoo, Candida i'austa dies
Arcadiae natalis adest, accepta Camenis,
Et memori vatum rite colenda choro.
Principio arcadici nemoris dicatur origo,
Mite solum, argolica nobilis arte locus.
180
POEMS
II
NEANDER HERACLEUS
SINGS THE PRAISES OF ARCADIA
XlE who, in Grecian style, the name Neander bore,
Full many a boyish ditty spun of yore;
At Aganippe's brook his flock he shepherded,
And by Permessus' wandering waters fed.
Older, he bids you mount Pindus, and joyful see
Lifted to heaven the fame of Arcady.
Circle with leafy green your flowing locks; prolong
On oaten stop the burden of your song!
Awaited long, while years have silent slipped away,
Propitious comes at length the natal day
Of Arcady the blest, dear to the Sacred Nine,
Worthy the mindful poets' frenzy fine.
I sing how Arcady first drew each dreaming heart;
How 'twas ennobled by Argolic art;
181
CARMINA
Pastorum coetus hue convenisse frequentes,
Hue toto insignes qua patet orbe viros,
Nescio qua laudis mentem dulcedine captos,
Maturasse gradum, dicere ne pigeat;
Quorum aliis lauri placuere et amoena vireta,
Et grata in lucis otia maen aliis;
Agresti calamo, frondentis ad ilicis umbram,
Pastorum placuit more ciere sonos;
Mox et lesbiaco modulari carmina plectro
Ad murmur placuit lene cadentis aquae.
Hos inter memorem, et f estiva fronde decorum
Dicere am em merita laude Metastasium.
Dulces quern Charites aluerunt ubere pleno,
Et docuit faciles Musa benigna modos,
Quemque levi mulcentem aures modulamine cantus,
Agnovit vatem Caesaris aula suum.
Acrior ast alios incendit flamma, supernas
Altius in nubes numinis aura levat,
Quos nempe afflavit, rapuitque per ardua virgo
Heroici cantus Calliopea potens.
182
POEMS
And how the wandering bands of shepherds — men of
worth,
Illustrious names throughout the teeming earth —
How to Arcadia their spirits willing sped,
I know not by what subtle sweetness led!
Some did the laurels please, and some the grassy plots,
And some the darkling ease of Bacchic grots:
Some from a rustic reed, beneath the shady oak
Reclining, shepherd-music would evoke;
Or on the twanging lyre in Lesbian numbers dream
To the soft lullaby of lapsing stream.
First, Metastasio, with festal garlands crowned,
I love to name, and his just praise to sound:
From never-failing breasts fed by the Graces Three;
Taught of the Muse untoilsome melody;
Soothing the fretted ear with his mellifluous tone, —
Him Austria's court imperial made its own.
Some felt the sharper flame; and, soaring lightning-
browed,
Thundered majestic from the enveloping cloud:
Them did Calliope compel to arduous ways —
Strong singer of the old heroic days.
183
CARMINA
Te ne ego sublimi sileam metuende flagello,
Carmine saepe ausum grandia pindarico ?
Patria, magne senex, te Insubria vidit egentem:
Vindex posteritas te super astra local1
Neve tragoedorum, genuit quos itala tellus,
0 decus et vatum maxime, te sileam.
Namque cothurnato incedis sublimis et acer,
Et tuto calcas pulpita nostra pede,
Spirans ore minas; Sophoclemque e littore graio
Spectandum Ausoniis mente animoque refers.2
Salvete, illustres animae, queis nobile in aevum,
Et fato maius nomen Apollo dedit.
Vos divae Aonides vultu adspexere sereno,
Maeonii et doctos carminis arte, sacro
Vertice vos Pindi, laurea cinxisse corona,
Concilio et gaudent inseruisse suo.
Gloria non mendax: victricis praemia frontis:
Magnus ab arcadico nomine partus honos.
l) Iosephus Parinius. 2) Victorius Alfierius.
!84
POEMS
Parini, too, who scourged the follies of the time,
Or scaled like Pindar the far height sublime:
Careless the fatherland Insubrian saw his need
Whom to the stars avenging Time shall lead!
Nor him, Italia' s son, my faithful song forget,
Of all her tragic bards the coronet:
For, singing mighty themes, Alfieri could be seen
Treading with buskined foot Arcadia's green:
His tragic musings wrought with finest Grecian art,
Kenewed the Sophoclean mind and heart.
0 splendid band of bards! to whom Apollo gave
A sacred name, and songs that bridge the grave!
Skilled in Maeonian song, on you with kindly mien
The Muses looked, and gracious brow serene.
Your brows are wreathed with bays; forever ye belong
To Fame, enrolled amid the heavenly throng.
0 meed of toilsome Art! 0 undeceitful Fame!
0 glory born of the Arcadian name!
185
CARMINA
Talia ne temere vulgus ridere profanum
Ausitj neu livens mordeat invidia.
Arcadiae at discat late splendescere sidus,
Et fulgore suo templa tenere poli.
Splendeat; inque dies radians lux in iuga Pindi,
In nemora et colles largior usque fluat.
Haec sacra Pieridum sedes; hie rore perenni
Castalii latices plenius arva rigant.
Hos haurire datum Arcadibus; cantare pernios
Arcadas, edixit maximus ore Maro.1
Hue properent, libeat seu grand ia facta cothurno,
Seu canere argute pascua, rura, chely.
Pulchrior oh tandem vigeat divina Poesis,
Ad decus et graiam reddita munditiem!
Oh tandem ausonias misere devectus ad oras,
Fallax, barbaricus dispereat numerus I
Haec heraclea dictus de gente Neander
Nuncupat Arcadibus vota suprema senex.
i) cantabitis, Arcades, inquit,
Montibus haec vestris, soli cantare periti
Arcades—
(ViRG. Ed. x. v. 31, 32).
186
POEMS
Let not the foolish mob dispute their honors high,
Nor green-eyed Envy raise a jealous cry:
Let them the pinnacle of templing heaven see
Blaze with the glowing Star of Arcady!
O may it evermore in grander orbits move —
Pindus illume, and every hill and grove!
Here shall the Muses rest; here with perennial dew
Castalian founts the fainting earth renew.
Here the Arcadians drink — Arcadians skilled in song!
Hither did Maro bid the adventurous throng
Who would with swelling port majestic themes rehearse,
Or tilth and meadow sing in mellower verse.
0 Poesy divine! may thy delights increase,
Clad in the fairest draperies of Greece!
May the barbaric art of numbers, to the shore
Ausonian brought, be banished evermore!
To the Arcadians, Neander (now grown old)
These last and dearest wishes doth unfold!
187
CABMINA
AD GVILELMVM MASSAIA l
CARDINALEM
EX LEGATIONE AETHIOPICA
REDVCEM
OjAELESTI eloquio Aethiopum fera pectora frangis;
Mox, bonus ut pastor, Christi a& ovile trahis.
Quid, lateant tua facta, rogas ? 2 vulgare labores
Pro sancta exhaustos relligione, iuvat.
Difficiles pugnas, magnolia prodere Christi,
Vexilloque crucis parta tropaea, iuvat.
Fare, age; gesta libens memori concrede papyro:
Et tua late hominum fama per ora volet,
Excutiatque alios, mireque incendat eamdem
Carpere magnanimos, te praeeunte, viam.
X)G. Massaia Cardinalis legatione Apostolica ad Aetiopas an. xxxv felic-
iter functus, ne rerum gestarum memoria intercideret, hortante in primis
Leone XIII Pont. Max., commentaries conscripsit et evulgavit.
2) Nesciri cupidus, diu haesit anceps antequam ad scribendum auimum
induceret.
188
POEMS
TO GUGLIELMO CARD. MASSAIA1
W ITH staff of heavenly truth you struck their hearts
of rock;
Then, a good Shepherd, led them to Christ's flock.
"My life, my works, be hid!"2 your modest spirit
pleads :
Ah, but the world should know such zealous deeds,
Such combats waged with hell, such wondrous works of
God,
And the Cross planted deep in Ethiop sod.
The unforgetful page awaits thy bashful pen:
Come, let thy fame be sweet to lips of men,
That other hands may reap a glorious aftermath,
And follow bravely where you blazed a path.
*) Cardinal Massaia, at the special request of Pope Leo XIII. , wrote and
published, on his return to Italy, an historical summary of his work during
twenty-five years as Legate to the Abyssinians.
2) Wishing to remain unknown, he hesitated a long time before he could
be induced to write his narrative.
189
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCV
VIRGINE FAVENTE
FIAT VNVM OVILE
SMlUSPICIUM felix! Orientis personat oras
Vox missa e caelo, personat occiduas:
— Una fides Christi, Pastor regat unus Ovile,
Dispersas gentes colligat unus amor! —
Virgo, fave: errantes tu lumine mater amico
Respice, et Unigenae iunge benigna tuo.
190
POEMS
THROUGH THE VIRGIN'S HELP
LET THERE BE ONE FOLD
(1895)
A HAPPY Sign! In Eastern land is heard
The heaven-descended word :
' ' One Faith of Christ, one Shepherd be, one Fold
One Love the nations hold! "
Mary, with friendly light the wanderers guide
Unto the Saviour's side!
191
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCV
SVB EFFIGIE
VIRGINIS GVADALVPANAE
APVD MEXICANOS
MeXICUS heic populus mira sub imagine gaudet
Te colere, alma Parens, praesidioque frui.
Per te sic vigeat felix, teque auspice, avitam
Sic teneat Petri firmior usque fidem!
192
POEMS
THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE1
(1895)
1 HE Mexic people, 'neath this image fair,
Utters its heart in prayer.
0 may it prosper, and the Faith of old
Yet more securely hold!
J) Lines written under her picture.
193
GABMINA
AN. MDCCCXCV
IVLIVS ADOLESCENS
DEIPARAM
MATREM A BONO CONSILIO
SVPPLEX IMPLOEAT
AsSUEVI a puero dulcem te dicere matrem,
Te prece, te votis sollicitare piis.
Mox pubescenti pietas deferbuit aevo:
Mens stupet insanis icta cupidinibus.
Ast o, tu pueri memor, adsis, Virgo: vocaris
Namque boni Mater provida Consilii.
194
POEMS
THE PRAYER OF JULIUS l
(1895)
"MOTHER" I called thee from my childhood hour,
With prayer and hymn besought thy power.
A youth, I felt, alas ! the olden fires
Cool in the midst of rash desires.
But thou art faithful: help thy erring child,
Thou " Mother of Good Counsel" styled !
x) To the Mother of God, under her title of " Mother of Good Counsel.
195
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCVI
OB MEMORIAM AVSPICATISSIMI EVENTVS
QVVM FRANCORVM NATIO
PRAEEVNTE CLODOVEO REGE
SE CHRISTO ADDIXIT
ODE
Vivat Christus
Qui diligit Francos.
(jrENTIUM custos Deus est. Repente
Sternit insignes humilesque promit:
Exitus rerum tenet, atque nutu
Temperat aequo.
Teutonum pressus Clodoveus armis,
Ut suos vidit trepidos pericli,
Fertur has voces iterasse, ad astra
Lumina tendens:
Dive, quern supplex mea saepe coniux
Nuncupat Iesum, mihi dexter adsis
Si hives promptus validusque, totum
Me tibi dedam.
Illico excussus pavor: acriores
Excitat virtus ariimos; resurgit
Francus in pugnam; ruit, et cruentos
Disiicit hostes.
196
POEMS
'PRAISED BE CHRIST, WHO LOVES
THE FRANKS!"1
(1896)
1 HERE is a God who rules the earth, and rends
The lofty mountain, spares the lowly hill:
' ' There' s a Divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough hew them how we will ! ' '
Clovis, they say, at length on God relies,
Viewing the Teuton hosts with anxious brow;
Then lifteth up to heaven his kingly eyes,
Breathing a solemn vow:
' ' Help me, 0 God, to whom my dearest spouse
So oft hath offered prayer and praise divine;
If Thou our faltering courage wilt arouse,
I am forever Thine ! ' '
And lo! a sudden courage seizes all
The Frankish host; fear and dismay have fled:
With ardor new upon the foe they fall,
And strew the earth with dead.
*) Written for the fourteenth centenary of the baptism of Clovis, to com
memorate the auspicious event when the whole nation of the Franks, follow-
ing his example, gave itself to Christ.
197
CARMINA
Victor i, voti Clodovee compos,
Sub iugo Christi caput obligatum
Pone; te Remis manet infulata
Fronte sacerdos.
Ludor ? en signis positis ad aram
Ipse rex sacris renovatur undis,
Et cohors omnis populusque dio
Tingitur amne.
Roma ter felix, caput o renatae
Stirpis humanae, tua pande regna:
Namque victrices tibi sponte lauros
Francia defert.
Te colet matrem; tua maior esse
Gestiet natu: potiore vita
Crescet, ac sum mo benefida Petro
Clara feretur.
Ut mihi longum libet intueri
Agmen heroum! Domitor ferocis
Fulget Astolfi, pius ille sacri
Iuris amator,
Remque romanam populantis ultor:
Bis per abruptas metuendus alpes
Irruit, summoque Petro volentes
Asserit urbes.
198
POEMS
Clovis, thy prayer is heard. Thy favored head
Beneath the yoke of Christ thou needs must bow
At Rheims awaits thy coming, heaven-led,
The priest with mitred brow.
Dream I? for lo! each banner, spear and helm
Cast at the altar's foot where lowly kneel
Clovis, his cohorts, and the Frankish realm,
Baptismal floods to feel !
Thrice-happy Rome, thine the inheritance
Of the redeeming grace of Christ the King:
How willingly to thy dear hands doth France
Her conquering laurels bring !
Dear mother Rome, how gladly France declares
Herself thy " first-born "—(title that endears !)-
Placing a trustful hand in thine she fares
All-prosperous through the years !
How I rejoice to see the lengthening line
Of Gallic Heroes! Him that gave to flight
The furious Aistulf— how his glories shine,
Lover of sacred right,
Zealous avenger of the Roman state,
Twice through the riven Alps a fearless way
Threading, to place the rescued cities' fate
'Neath Peter's gentle sway!
199
CABMINA
Laetus admiror Solymis potitas
Vindices sancti Tumuli phalanges :
Me palaestinis renovata campis
Proelia tangunt.
0 novum robur Celebris puellae
Castra perrumpens inimica! turpem
Galliae cladem repulit Ioanna
Numine freta.
0 quot illustres animae nefanda
Monstra Calvini domuere, gentem
Labe tarn dira prohibere fortes
Sceptraque regni!
Quo feror ? tempus redit auspicatum
Prisca quo virtus animis calescat:
Ecce, remensis ciet atque adurget
Corda triumphus.
Gallicae gentes, iubaris vetusti
Ne quid obscuret radios, cavete;
Neve suffundat malesuadus error
Mentibus umbras.
Vos regat Christus, sibi quos revinxit:
Obsequi sectis pudeat probrosis;
Occidat livor, sociasque in unum
Cogite vires.
200
POEMS
Gladly anon I see the warlike host
Thronging to save Christ's Sepulchre from harm:
Methinks again I view the sacred coast,
And hear the loud alarm !
And her — the saintly Maid whose girlish hand
Hordes of a vast beleaguering foe withstood,
Saving from sword and fire her fatherland,
Strong in the might of God!
And then the band of those illustrious ones
Who conquered Calvin's wild extravagance,
Strong to redeem from error's grasp the sons
And sceptres of old France!
Yet whither am I borne on glowing dreams ?
Again may we the ancient glories view :
Behold how once again triumphal Rheims
Bids us rejoice anew!
Ye Gallic peoples, gloriously endowed,
Let naught obscure the splendors ye have known;
Let no misleading error cast a cloud
Over your fertile zone.
Be Christ your guide, who to Himself hath bound
Your souls: to follow wicked sects be shame;
Let discord flee, and every heart be found
Loyal to one grand aim!
201
CARMINA
Saecla bis septem calor actuosae
Perstitit vitae, renuens perire:
Currite ad Veslam; 1 novus aestuabit
Pectore fervor.
Dissitis floret magis usque terris
Gallicum nomen: populis vel ipsis
Adsit eois, Fideique sanctae
Vota secundet.
Nil Fide Christi prius: hac adempta
Nil diu felix. Stetit unde priscae
Summa laus genti, manet inde iugis
Gloria Gallos.
1 ) Flumen alluens Remos, ubi rei christmnae apud Fiancos dedicata sunt
nitia.
202
POEMS
Twice seven centuries hath faith imbued
Your nerves with strength secure from Satan's arts:
To the Vesle l hasten, and let faith renewed
Inflame your zealous hearts.
Unto remotest bounds of earth may France
Be known and honored : in the Eastern land
May she forever prosper, and advance
What hopes her heart hath planned!
The faith of Christ— be that her highest gain:
Once lost, what can its happy days recall ?
For 't was of old, and ever must remain,
The glory of the Gaul.
x)Rheims, situated on the Vesle (a tributary of the Aisne), became the
cradle of Christianity for the Franks.
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCVII
DEO ET VIRGINI MATRI
EXTREMA LEONIS VOTA
EXTREMUM radiat, pallenti involvitur umbra
lam iam sol moriens; nox subit atra, Leo,
Atra tibi: arescunt venae, nee vividus humor
Perfluit; exhausto corpore vita perit.
Mors telum fatale iacit; velamine amicta
Funereo, gelidus contegit ossa lapis.
Ast anima aufugiens excussis libera vinclis,
Continuo aetherias ardet anhela plagas;
Hue celerat cursum; longarum haec meta viarum:
Expleat oh clemens anxia vota Deus!
Oh caelum attingam! supremo munere detur
Divino aeternum lumine et ore frui.
Teque, o Virgo, frui; matrem te parvulus infans
Dilexi, flagrans in sene crevit amor.
Excipe me caelo; caeli de civibus unus,
Auspice te, dicam, praemia tanta tuli.
204
POEMS
VERSIONE
JL/EL sol cadente e che si asconde omai
Splendon, Leon, su te gli ultimi rai:
Nelle riarse vene inaridita,
Lenta lenta si spegne omai la vita.
Vibra Morte lo stral; le fredde spoglie
Chiuse in funereo vel la tomba accoglie;
Ma fuor di sua prigion lo spirto anelo
Ratto dispiega il vol, ricerca il cielo.
D'aspro lungo cammin questa la meta:
Deh, Signor mio, la santa voglia acqueta;
E se di tanto, tua merce, fia degno,
Lo spirto accogli nel beato regno!
Tu pur, Maria, m' accogli; mio conforto
Tu fosti, e guida al desiato porto.
In ciel mi svela tua belta divina,
Vergine Madre, alma del ciel Regina.
205
CABMINA
DEO ET VIRGINI
INSTANTE MORTE
VOTA
ExTREMUM radiat, pallenti involvitur umbra
lam iam sol moriens; nox subit atra, Leo,
Atra tibi: arescunt venae, nee vividus humor
Perfluit; exhausto corpore vita perit.
Mors telum fatale iacit; velamine amicta
Funereo, gelidus contegit ossa lapis.
Ast anima aufugiens excussis libera vinclis,
Continuo aetherias ardet anhela plagas;
Hue celerat cursum; longarum haec meta viarum
Expleat oh clemens anxia vota Deus!
Oh caelum attingam! supremo munere detur
Divino aeternum lumine et ore frui.
Teque, Maria, fruar, mundi Regina, per hostes
Infensos trepido quae benefida viam
Pandisti ad patriam. Caeli de civibus unus,
To duce, iam dicam, praemia tanta tuli.
206
POEMS
DEATH
(1897)
1 HE westering sun draws near his cloudy bed,
Leo, and gradual darkness veils thy head :
The sluggish life-blood in thy withered veins
More slowly runs its course — what then remains ?
Lo! Death is brandishing his fatal dart,
And the grave yearns to shroud thy mortal part:
But from its prison freed, the soul expands
Exulting pinions to the enfranchised lands.
My weary race is run — I touch the goal:
Hear, Lord, the feeble pan tings of my soul;
If it be worthy, Lord, thy pitying breast
Welcome it unto everlasting rest!
May I behold thee, Queen of earth and sky,
Whose love enchained the demons lurking nigh
The path to heaven; and freely shall I own
'T was thy sweet care that gained my blissful crown!
207
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCXCVII
IVLIO STERBINIO
FAMILIARI
1ULI, munus habe, Cor Iesv:1 manat abunde
Inde, viden, iugis vena salubris aquae.
Hunc alacer propera ad fontem, hoc te merge lavacro:
Contirmo labes eluit unda tuas.
Emergis nive candidior; defigere caelo
Lumina iamque acie vividiore vales.
Magna aude: discas mortalia spernere, discas
Calcare intrepido cuncta caduca pede.
^Hunc eiusque familiam die xv Septembris an. mdcccxcvi Leo XIII
augusto Iesv Cordi pie dedicat. Rei testimonium vult esse depictam eius-
dem divini Cordis tabulam, quam dono ei dat, simulque hanc poeticam hor-
tationem, et subsequentem filiis inscriptam.
208
POEMS
TO MY FRIEND
JULIUS STEEBINI
(1897)
JULIUS, as gift to thee, I send
The Saviour's heart,1 whence flow
Life-giving streams that have no end,
To heal our every woe.
0 haste thee to that fountain clear;
Accept that healing bath:
In whiter raiment thou' It appear
Than e'en the snowflake hath!
Thou comest forth; lo! cleansed of sin,
Now canst thou fix thine eyes,
With steadier gaze than erst had been,
Upon the expectant skies.
0 greatly dare! securely learn
How fearlessly thy feet
Should earth's decaying splendor spurn
To gain the heavenly seat.
2)On the 15th of September, 1896, Leo XIII affectionately consecrated
Julius Sterbini and his family to the august Heart of Jesus ; in testimony
whereof he presented them with a picture of the Divine Heart, and accom-
panied it with this and the following poem.
209
CABMINA
Sit pudor indigno flagrare cupidine; saecli
Sitque capi illecebris deliciisque pudor.
Unum Cor Iesv o sapias, Iuli! unaque Iesus
Sit tibi non mendax gloria et unus amor:
Invictum robur dubia in certamina vitae,
Fulgida lux signans tutum iter ad patriam !
10
POEMS
Shame lurks in every earthly lust;
Fear then each foul desire:
Tread wanton pleasure in the dust
And quench the smouldering tire.
Christ's heart alone thy wisdom be,
Thy strength, thy glory blest,
Thy Love, that ceaseless as the sea
Beats in thy naming breast:
A tower of strength that shall thy foes
And all their darts withstand;
A light that safe the pathway shows
Unto the Fatherland !
211
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCVII
(idem)
IVLII STERBINI
FILIIS
IOSEPHO ALPHONSO NICOLAO
I MPERAT ipse Deus Iesvm redamemus amantem :
Eia agite, o pueri, ad Iesum properate volentes;
Hue mens, hue animus; mortalia quaeque perosi
Hoc unum eniti primis assuescite ab annis,
Ardeat ut vestris divinus cordibus ignis.
Exemplo en vobis mater praelucet, lulus
En genitor; calcare iuvat vestigia sancta.
Nil sit dulce magis quam Corde quiescere Iesv
Divinoque sinu cupide magis usque recondi !
Hie fons ad vitam saliens; hinc larga bonorum
Copia, rebusque in trepidis caeleste levamen;
Hostibus in pugna domitis partoque triumpho,
Hie tranquilla quies, praesens tutissima in aevum,
Aeternae vobis felix praenuncia pacis.
212
POEMS
A SONNET ON LOVE
FOR THE
SACRED HEART
(1897)
VjrOD bids us love His ever-loving Son:
Hasten, 0 children, to the Saviour's side;
There only may your hearts and minds abide;
Through all the years to come, be this your one
Perpetual work, in tenderest youth begun —
To nourish love for Jesus Crucified !
Father and mother shall your footsteps guide,
And teach how sweetly God' s sweet will is done.
Ah, what more blessed refuge in the strife
May wearied spirits find, than Jesus' heart ?
That Fountain springing up to endless Life,
And scattering dewy balsam on each smart;
That Pledge of peace, where stormy war is rife,
Making the very earth heaven's counterpart !
213
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCVII
OB NVPTIAS
ALPHONSI STERBINI ET IVLIAE PIZZIRANI
V^ONCORDI flagrant Alphonsus Iulia amore,
Incenso a pueris: unde amor iste? rogas.
Scilicet et simile ingenium, parilisque voluntas;
Amborum inde ardens pectora cepit amor.
Relligio et pietas aluere probataque virtus,
Ingenuusque animi candor et alma fides.
Vota ambo ingeminant; affulget sidus amicum,
E Pompeiana Virgine adauctus amor.1
Quid iam plura petis ? lectos, dignosque iugali
Foedere sanctus amor quos bene iungat, habes.
1) Deiparam Virginem Pompeianarn imploraverant nuptiis feliciter in-
eundis.
214
POEMS
EPITHALAMIUM *
(1897)
1 WO hearts — twin altars — claim
A single love-lit flame:
You ask me whence it came ?
Kindred in heart and soul —
Love silent on them stole
And gained complete control!
Sweeter its victory,
When virtue's laws decree
Inviolate loyalty!
At Mary's shrine they bow,
A mutual troth to vow
In love made holier now.
What more ? I end my lay,
Heaven's choicest gifts to pray
On this, their wedding day!
) On the nuptials of Alphonsus Sterbini and Julia Pizzirani.
515
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCXCVII
TENVI VICTV CONTENTVS INGLVVIEM
FVGE
AD FABRICIVM RVFVM
EPISTOLA
talUO victu immunem morbis, et robore vitam
Ducere florentem possis, sermone diserto
Sedulus Hippocratis cultor rigidusque satelles
Haec nuper praecepta bonus tradebat Ofellus;
Multa et de tristi ingluvie gravis ore locutus.
Munditiae imprimis studeas; sine divite cultu
Mensa tibi, nitidae lances et Candida mappa. —
Apponi in mensa iubeas purissima vina;
Et vacuus curis, grato praecordia potu
Demulce et recrea, convivas inter amicos.
Sobrius at caveas, nimium ne crede lyaeo,
Neu crebra pigeat calices perfundere lympha. —
Candida lympha ! datum vix quidquam hoc munere
maius,
Vix quidquam varios vitae magis utile in usus. —
E munda cerere atque excoctos delige panes. —
Quas gallina dapes aut bos agnusve pararint
Sume libens; toto nam firmant corpore vires;
At mollire prius carnes, et fercula cures
216
POEMS
ON FRUGALITY AND LONG LIFE
EPISTLE TO FABRICIUS RUFUS
(1897)
I HAT meat and drink might health and strength
confer,
And happy life, Ofellus, follower
And careful student of Hippocrates,
Was wont to frame such thoughtful rules as these —
(Pointing the moral with men's gluttonies) :
Seek neatness first: although thy board be spare,
Be every dish and napkin bright and fair;
And be thy vintage purest of the pure,
To warm the heart and prove a pleasant lure
That shall both friends and wholesome mirth ensure.
Be frugal here, however; nor decline
To put a frequent water to your wine.
0 crystal drops that heaven from ocean lifts
To shower on earth the best of nature's gifts!
Select for home-made bread the choicest wheat,
And have in plenty all the goodly meat
Of fowl, and lamb, and ox (but first be sure
They're tender!) ; nor with plenteous garniture
217
CARMINA
Ne siser inflciat, ne faecula coa vel alec. —
Nunc age; provideas tereti defusa catino,
Ne desit mensae spumantis copia lactis.
Nil vitale magis, nil lacte salubrius; infans
Qui lac suxisti, senior bene lacte valebis. —
Degustanda simul profer dulcissima mella;
Attamen hyblaeo parcus de nectare liba. —
Turn laudata tibi sint ova recentia, succum
Leni igne aut libeat modicis siccare patellis,
Sugere seu mollem pleno sit gratius ore;
Utcumque absumas erit utilis esca saluti. —
Culta suburbano, riguoque virentia in horto
Adde olera et pubens decusso fiore legumen.
Adde novos quos laeta refert tibi vinea fructus,
Dulces pampinea decerptos vite racemos,
Pruna admixta pyxis, imprimis mitia poma,
Quae pulcre in cistis mensam rubicunda coronent.
Postremo e tostis succedat potio baccis,
Quas tibi Moka ferax e littore mittit eoo:
Nigrantem laticem sensim summisque labellis
Sorbilla; dulcis stomachum bene molliet haustus.
De tenui victu haec teneas, his utere tutus,
Ad seram ut valeas sanus vegetusque senectam.
At contra (haec sapiens argute addebat Ofellus)
Nectere nata dolos, homines et perdere nata
Vitanda Ingluvies, crudelis et improba siren.
Principio haec illi sollers et sedula cura,
Instruere ornatu mensas cultuque decoras.
218
POEMS
Of spice and pickle play the epicure!
Next, have the beakers foaming to the brim
With milk no thrifty maid hath dared to skim :
No draught than this more wholesome shall assuage
The thirst of childhood or declining age.
Let golden honey be thy daintier fare;
Of Hybla's nectar take a scantier share.
Be thy fresh eggs the talk of all the town —
Hard-boiled or soft, or fried to savory brown,
Or poached, or dropped, or sipped raw from the shell,
Or done in ways too numerous to tell.
Add herbs and salads to the feast — whatso
May in suburban gardens freely grow.
Bring forth the clustered fruitage of the vine,
Plucked where the clambering tendrils intertwine.
Have plums and pears — the bursting panniers crown
With red-cheeked apples laughing gaily down.
And, last, delicious fragrance of the East!
With cups of steaming Mocha close the feast;
But taste the amber with a lingering lip —
No hasty draught! — 't was made for gods to sip!
Now if you diet thus, why, I'll engage,
You've found the secret of a green old age.
But Gluttony, Ofellus argues well,
Can quickly lay her snare, and cast her spell,
And lead to shipwreck like the siren shell.
This only is her dream: The festive board
Must groan with all that wealth and art afford.
219
GABMINA
Explicat ipsa, viden', tonsis mantelia villis;
Grandia disponit longo ordine pocula, lances,
Caelatas auro pateras, argentea vasa;
Mensa thymo atque apio redolet florumque corollis.
His laute instructis, simulata voce locuta
Convivas trahit incautos; succedere tecto,
Et lectis blanda invitat discumbere eburnis;
Continuoque reposta cadis lectissima vina
Caecuba depromit, coumque vetusque falernum;
Quin exquisita stillatos arte liquores
E musto et pom is, ultro potantibus ofTert.
Convivae humectant certatim guttura, et una
Succosas avido degustant ore placentas.
Ecce autem lucanus aper, perfusus abunde
Mordaci pipere atque oleo, profertur edendus,
Et leporum pingues armi, et iecur anseris albi,
Assique in verubus turdi, niveique columbi.
Carnibus admixti pisces; cum murice rhombi,
Ostrea, et educti Miseno e gurgite echini.
Hos super, immanis patina porrecta nitenti,
Apparet squillas inter muraena natantes. —
Attonitis inhiant oculis; saturantur opime;
Cuncta vorant usque ad fastidia; iamque lyaeo
Inflati venas nimio, dapibusque gravati
Surgunt convivae, temere bacchantur in aula,
Insana et pugiles inter se iurgia miscent,
Defessi donee lymphata mente quiescunt.
Laeta dolum ingluvies ridet, iam facta suorum
220
POEMS
She spreads her costly napkins, meant for show,
'Twixt plates and glasses in a gleaming row:
Silver and gold the hooded lights illume,
While the air reeks with Araby's perfume.
Her table set, with hospitable air
She draws the thoughtless to her hidden snare;
On ivory couches bids their limbs recline,
And taps forthwith her cask of choicest wine
Sleeping old summers in the Falernian vine;
Cordials she offers next, and fine liqueurs
By patent arts distilled (for all are hers!) :
The guests drink eagerly with envious haste,
And gorge themselves with cake and juicy paste.
Then grosser dishes: a Lucanian boar
With oil, and spice, and pepper covered o'er;
Liver of duck, and leg of fatling hare,
Plover and squab, and all such gourmet-fare.
And what's not flesh is fish: turbots and clams,
Oysters, and what-not, caught in streams and dams.
A hugh murena fills the shining dish,
And swims amidst a shoal of smaller fish.
The guests look on with hungry eyes: in fine,
With stomachs gorged, and veins afire with wine,
They rise to dance, where they have come to dine:
They rise to dance — each crazy bacchanal,
Bandying threats and blows, around the hall
Stumbles, till drunken stupors silence all.
But Gluttony looks on the rout, and smiles
221
CARMINA
Compos votorum, et gaudet, memor artis iniquae,
Ceu nautas tumida pereuntes aequoris unda,
Mergere convivas miseros sub gurgite tan to.
Nam subito exsudant praecordia, et excita bilis
E iecore in stomachum larga affluit, ilia torquet,
Immanemque ciet commoto ventre tumultum;
Membra labant incerta, stupent pallentia et ora.
Corpore sic misere exhausto fractoque, quid ultra
Audeat ingluvies ? Ipsum, proh dedecus! ipsum
Figere humo, ac (tantum si fas) extinguere malit
Immortalem animum, divinae particulam aurae.
222
POEMS
To see the outcome of her patient wiles:
How Circe's guests have sunk to shameful sleep,
As sailors perish in the yawning deep;
And how anon the tortured liver wakes
To sudden protest; how the stomach aches,
While steaming sweat bedews the trembling limbs,
And a thick mist the bloodshot vision dims.
With the wrecked body brought to such a pass,
Shall Gluttony essay beyond? Alas!
Her arts would seek to bury in the sod
Even the soul — spark of the breath of God!
223
CABMINA
AN. CHRISTI MDCCCC
PKIDIE KALENDAS IANVARIAS
A IESV CHRISTO
INEVNTIS SAECVLI AVSPICIA
vrULTRIX bonarum nobilis artium
Decedit aetas; publica commoda,
Viresque naturae retectas,
Quisquis avet, memoret canendo.
Saecli occidentis me vehementius
Admissa tangunt; haec doleo et fremo.
Proh! quot, retrorsum conspicatus,
Dedecorum monumenta cerno.
Querarne caedes, sceptraque diruta,
An pervagantis monstra licentiae ?
An dirum in arcem Vaticanam
Mille dolis initum duellum.
Quo cessit Urbis, principis urbium,
Nullo impeditum servitio decus ?
Quam saecla, quam gentes avitae
Pontificum coluere sedem.
224
POEMS
THE OPENING CENTURY
LINES WRITTEN ON NEW YEAR'S EVE
(1900)
A NOBLE nurse of all the arts,
The Age departs:
Let who will sing the truths it taught,
The marvels wrought:
Me rather shall its sinful years
But move to tears,
As in a backward glance I see
Its infamy.
Shall blood of men be my lament,
Or sceptres rent,
Or Vatican's dear citadel
Besieged of hell ?
The glory, Rome, that crowned thy brow,
Where is it now ?
Of old, all nations loved in thee
Thy Pontiff's See.
225
CARMINA
Vae segregatis Numine legibus!
Quae lex honesti, quae superest fides ?
Nutant, semel submota ab aris,
Atque ruunt labefacta iura.
Auditis ? effert impia conscius
Insanientis grex sapientiae;
Brutaeque naturae supremum
Nititur asseruisse numen.
Nostrae supremam gentis originem
Fastidit excors; dissociabilem,
Umbras inanes mente captans,
Stirpem hominum pecudumque miscet.
Heu quam probroso gurgite volvitur
Vis impotentis caeca superbiae,
Servate, mortales, in omne
Iussa Dei metuenda tempus.
Qui vita solus, certaque Veritas,
Qui recta et una est ad Superos via,
Is reddere ad votum fluentes
Terrigenis valet unus annos.
Nuper sacratos ad cineres Petri
Turbas piorum sancta petentium
Is ipse duxit; non inane
Auspicium pietas renascens.
226
POEMS
0 godless laws, count up your gains :
What truth remains ?
A shrineless Justice, lo! it stands
On shifting sands.
Hark ye the new hierophant
Of Science, chant
His song to Nature's soulless clod
As to a god !
And yet Man's birthright from on high
He will deny,
And search to find a single root
For Man and Brute.
0 to what hideous depth is hurled
The proud, proud world !
Kneel, then, 0 mortal man, to God,
And kiss His rod.
Him only, Truth, and Life, and Way,
Learn to obey,
Who only, through the fleeting years,
Can dry thy tears.
The pilgrim hosts to Peter's shrine
His Hand divine
But now hath led — a portent viewed
Of Faith renewed.
227
GARMINA
Iesv, futuri temporis arbiter,
Surgentis aevi cursibus annue:
Virtute divina rebelles
Coge sequi meliora gentes.
Tu pacis almae semina provehe;
Irae, tumultus, bellaqua tristia
Tandem residant: improborum
In tenebrosa age regna fraudes.
Mens una reges, te duce, temperet,
Tuis ut instent legibus obsequi:
Sitque unum Ovile et Pastor unus,
Una Fides moderetur orbem.
Cursum peregi, lustraque bis novem,
Te dante, vixi. Tu cumulum adiice;
Fac, quaeso, ne incassum precantis
Vota tui recidant Leonis.
i28
POEMS
Jesus, Who on Thy throne sublime
Shalt judge all time,
Make the rebellious will obey
Thy sovereign sway:
Scatter the seeds of gentle peace
Till war shall cease;
And to their native hell exile
Tumult and guile:
One dream let hearts of kings pursue —
Thy Will to do;
One Shepherd let the earth behold,
One Faith, one Fold.
Long ninety years my course is run —
Thy Will be done:
My prayers the crowning grace to gain,
Be not in vain!
229
CARMINA
AN. MDCCCCI
IN PRAELVDIO NATALIS IESV CHRISTI
DOMINI NOSTRI
ANNUA nascentis Iesu sollemnia iamiam
Exoriens revehit rite colenda dies.
At non laetitiae praelucet Candida ut olim
Nuncia, nee pacis munera grata refert.
Humanae heu! genti turba undique dira malorum
Instat flebiliter, flebiliora parat.
Numinis en oblita, indigne oblita parentum,
Succrescens aetas excirtit omne iugum.
Scindit in adversas cives discordia partes,
Ardetque immitis facta cruenta, neces.
Iura verenda iacent; cessere fidesque pudorque;
Omne impune audet caeca cupido nefas: —
Adsis, sancte Puer, saeclo succurre ruenti:
Ne pereat misere, Tu Deus una salus.
230
POEMS
THE EVE OF CHRISTMAS
(1901)
CsOMETH the yearly Feast, the wondrous Holy Night,
Worthy of sacred hymn and solemn rite.
No harbingers of joy the olden message sing,
Nor gifts of Peace to waiting mortals bring.
Alone the thronging hosts of evil men I hear,
And see the anxious brow and falling tear.
The Age will bear no yoke; forgets the God above,
Nor duteous payment yields to parents' love.
Suspicious Discord rends the peaceful State in twain,
And busy Murder follows in her train.
Gone are the loyal faith, the rights revered of old —
Reigns but a blind and cruel lust of Gold!
0 come, Thou holy Child! Pity the fallen world,
Lest it should perish, into darkness hurled.
231
CARMINA
Auspice te, terris florescat mitior aetas,
Emersa e tantis integra flagitiis.
Per te felici collustret lumine mentes
Divinae priscus Relligionis honos.
Ardescant per te Fidei certamina; per te
Victrices palmae, fracta inimica cohors;
Disiectae errorum nubes, iraeque minaces
Restinctae, populis reddita arnica quies.
Sic optata diu terras pax alma revisat,
Pectora fraterno foedere iungat amor.
POEMS
Out of the laboring Night grant it a newer birth,
And a New Age to bloom o'er all the earth.
Circle with splendors old the brow of Faith divine;
Let her full glory on the nations shine.
Nerve her to battlings new; palsy her foes with dread;
Place the victorious laurel on her head.
Be Error's mist dissolved, and ancient feuds repressed,
Till Earth at last find quietude and rest.
O gentle Peace, return, nor evermore depart;
And link us hand in hand and heart to heart!
233
CABMINA
AN. MDCCCCI
IN PKAELVDIO NATALIS IESV CHRISTI
DOMINI NOSTRI
ANNUA nascentis Iesu sollemnia iamiam
Exoriens revehit rite colenda dies.
At non laetitiae praelucet Candida ut olim
Nuncia, nee pacis munera grata refert.
Humanae heu! genti turba undique dira malorum
Instat fiebiliter, flebiliora parat.
Numinis en oblita, indigne oblita parentum,
Succrescens aetas excutit omne iugum.
Scindit in adversas cives discordia partes,
Ardetque immitis facta cruenta, neces.
Iura verenda iacent; cessere fidesque pudorque;
Omne impune andet caeca cupido nefas: —
234
POEMS
{Free Translation)
A CHRISTMAS EVE REVERY
(1901)
YY ITH solemn rite and sacred mirth
Greet ye the ever-blessed morn,
When to the long-expectant earth
A Child was born:
But ah ! not now, with splendor swift,
The darkling heaven shall glow again;
Nor Angel-heralds bring the gift
Of peace to men!
Alone the hosts of hellish wrath
Reaping its children, earth may hear;
Alone the garnered aftermath
Of groan and tear.
God's law the growing Age hath broke,
On parents' tender love hath trod :
The world can bear no more the yoke
Of man or God!
Foul Discord rends the State in twain;
Old Friendship scowls in hostile bands;
Red Slaughter wields her sword amain
With dripping hands.
Rights venerable from of old
Dragged in the dust; Truth overthrown;
Honor forgot — blind lust of Gold
Reigneth alone.
235
CABMINA
AdsiSj sancte Puer, saeclo succurre ruenti:
Ne pereat misere, Tu Deus una salus.
Auspice te, terris fiorescat mitior aetas,
Emersa e tantis integra flagitiis.
Per te felici collustret lumine mentes
Divinae priscus Relligionis honos.
Ardescant per te Fidei certamina; per te
Victrices palmae, fracta inimica cohors;
Disiectae errorum nubes, iraeque minaces
Restinctae, populis reddita arnica quies.
Sic optata diu terras pax alma revisat,
Pectora fraterno foedere iungat amor.
236
POEMS
Come, come, Thou heaven-descended Child!
Old earth is hastening to its fall:
Save it, and still the tumult wild,
Saviour of all!
Listen auspicious to my prayer:
Scatter the arid wastes with dew,
Until they bloom with fruitage fair,
And harvests new.
Through Thee may olden godliness
Brightly illume the darkened mind,
And tongues instruct to curse, but bless
The Truth divined.
Through Thee may Faith new laurels win,
New battles wage, new victory speak;
Through Thee, the scattered hosts of sin
Hell-covert seek!
Dissolved be Error's misty dream,
And ancient hatreds melt in mirth,
And friendly Quiet reign supreme
Through all the earth.
0 long-desired of every land,
Come, Peace, and nevermore depart:
Come, Love, and join us hand to hand,
And heart to heart!
237
INSCRIPTION ES
INSCRIPTIONS
INSCRIPTIONES
±NNO MDCCCXXIV
X
ANNA. ALEX. F. PROSPERIA
EGENORVM . ALTRIX . FILIORVM . AMANTISSIMA
DOMO . CORA
FEMINA . VETERIS . SANCTITATIS
FRVGI . MVNIFICA
H. S. E.
QVAE . OMNI . MATRIS . FAMILIAS . MVNERE
NITIDE . ET . IN . EXEMPLVM . PERFVNCTA
DECESSIT . CUM . LVCTV . BONORVM
NON . AVG . ANNO . MDCCCXXIV
VIX . DVLCISS . CVM . SVIS . ANN . LI . M. VII . D. XI
LVDOVICVS . PECCIVS . CONIVX . CVM . LIBERIS . MOERENTIBVS
MVLIERI . RARISSIMAE . INCOMPARABILI
M. P.
AVE . ANIMA . CANDIDISSIMA
TE . IN . PACE
1) In obitu matris carissimae. Extat monumentum Romae ad Bacrorum
Francisci Assisiensis Stigma turn.
240
INSCRIPTIONS
(1824) 1
* x ■
HEEE LIES
ANNE, DAUGHTER OF ALEX. PROSPERI,
of coei :
a mother to the poor,
most devoted to her children,
a matron op the olden piety,
a model of domestic virtue,
provident and generous :
mourned by all good people,
she departed this life
AUG. 5TH, 1824,
AGED 51 YEARS, 7 MONTHS, 11 DAYS.
TO THIS DEAR AND INCOMPARABLE WOMAN,
HER HUSBAND LUIGI PECCI
AND HER WEEPING CHILDREN
HAVE ERECTED THIS MONUMENT.
FAREWELL, THOU PUREST SOUL !
REST IN PEACE!
1) At the death of his dearest mother. The monument is set up in the
Church of the Sacred Stigmata of Francis of Assisi.
241
INSCRIPTIONS
AN. MDCCCLXXin
GERTRVDI STERBINIAE
VIRGINI . SALESIANAE
INNOCENTISSIMAE
QVAE
VTI . CHRISTO . IESV . PLACERET
ASPERA . MVLTA . FORTITER . TVLIT
EADEM
RIGIDIORVM . ALVMNA . ET . CVLTRIX . VIRTVTVM
MVNERIBVS . LABORIBVS . QVE . SANCTE . PERFVNCTA
MATURA . CAELO
LAETA . LIBENS
IN . PACE . CHRISTI . CONQVIEVIT
III. NON. FEBR. AN. MDCCCLXXIII.
ANNOS . NATA . XLIII . M . I . D . XXVI.
IVLIVS . FRATER
SORORI . INCOMPARABILI
SE . SVOS . QVE . COMMENDAT
242
INSCRIPTIONS
(1873)
TO
GERTRUDE STERBINI
A SALESIAN1 NUN
OF MOST BLAMELESS LIFE,
WHO,
THAT SHE MIGHT BE PLEASING
TO CHRIST JESUS,
BORE WITH FORTITUDE MANY TRIALS
AND CULTIVATED AND EXEMPLIFIED
THE MOST RIGID VIRTUES.
HAVING PERFORMED HOLILY HER DUTIES AND LABORS,
BEING RIPE FOR HEAVEN,
HAPPY AND RESIGNED
SHE SLEPT IN THE PEACE OF CHRIST,
FEB. 3D, 1873,
AGED 43 YEARS, 1 MONTH, 26 DAYS.
TO THIS INCOMPARABLE SISTER
HER BROTHER GIULIO COMMENDS
HIM AND HIS.
1) i. e., a Nun of the Order of the Visitation founded under the direction
of St. Francis de Sales.
243
INSCRIPTIONES
AN. MDCCCLXXXVII
LEO XIII. P. M.
AEDES . VETERES
DYNASTARVM . SIGNIENSIVM
AERE . SVO . COEMPTAS . REFECTAS
PVERIS . PVELLISQVE
AD . RELIGIONEM
AD . HVMANITATEM . ERVDIENDIS
DESTINAVIT
AN. MDCCCLXXXVII
BLASIO . SIBILIA . EPISCOPO
244
INSCRIPTIONS
(1887)
LEO XIII. P. M.
HAS DEVOTED
THIS ANCIENT PALACE
OF THE LORDS OF SEGNI,
WHICH HE PURCHASED AND REPAIRED
AT HIS OWN EXPENSE,
TO THE EDUCATION
OF BOYS AND GIRLS
IN KNOWLEDGE AND PIETY :
IN THE YEAR 1887,
DURING THE EPISCOPATE OF
BLASIO SIBILIA.
245
MORALIA
MOB ALIA
AN. MDCCCLXXXVI
RERVM . MORTALIVM . VICES
VIRTVTE . RELICTA
MISERAE . ET . LAMENTABILES
248
MORALIA
(1886)
THE VICISSITUDES OF OUR MORTAL LIFE,
ONCE VIRTUE IS LEFT BEHIND,
ARE INDEED FULL OF MISERY AND MOURNING.
249
MORALIA
Omne quod in mundo est, concupiscentia carnis est, et
concupiscentia oculorum, et superbia vitae.1
{loan. Ep. i, c. n, v. 16.)
AN. MDCCCLXXXVI
Concupiscentia carnis
INSANA . VOLVPTATVM . CVPIDITAS
INIMICA . RATIONI
MULTORVM . SCELERVM . ABOMINATA
PARENS
HOMINVM . GENERI
DEDECVS . ET . IGNOMINIAM
INVRIT
*) Cornelius a Lapide in hunc locum: " quidquid spectabili hoc mundo
1 continetur, aut carnis cupidinibus, aut illecebris animum emollit et in-
1 quinat, aut opum cupiditate accendit, aut superbia et fastu extollit; quae
omnia sunt a Deo Patre eiusque amore aliena, atque ad haec caduca
mundi bona, vel potius bonorum umbras et simulacra pertinent."
250
MORALIA
All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the
flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the
pride of life. !
(John, Ep. i, c. ii, v. 16.)
(1886)
Concupiscence of the flesh
I.
INSENSATE LOVE OF PLEASURE,
AN ENEMY TO REASON,
AN ACCURSED PARENT OF MANY SINS,
BRANDS MANKIND
WITH SHAME AND DISGRACE.
]) Cornelius a Lapide, commenting on this text, says: "Whatever this
visible world contains, either weakens and stains the soul through the lusts
and allurements of the flesh, or inflames it with the desire of riches, or exalts
it with pride and arrogance ; but all this is foreign to God the Father and to
His love, and belongs to the transitory goods— or rather shadows and phan-
toms of good things— of this world."
251
MORALIA
II.
VOLVPTAS
INVERECVNDA . ET . IMPEOBA . SIREN
CANTV . BLANDITIIS
HVMANA . PECTORA . EMOLLIT
FASCINAT
CIRCAEO . POCVLO
AD . EXITIVM . ET . NECEM
ADDVCIT
252
MORALIA
II.
PLEASURE
IS A LEWD AND SHAMELESS SIREN:
WITH SONGS AND CARESSES
SHE ENERVATES THE HEART;
BEWITCHING
WITH HER CIRCEAN DRAUGHT
SHE LEADS THE WAY TO RUIN
AND DEATH.
253
MORALIA
AN. MDCCCLXXXVI.
Concupiscentia oculorum
I.
EXLEX . DIVITIARVM . AMOR
PESSIMVM . GENVS . SERVITVTIS
AD . TERRAM . AFFIGIT . IMMORTALES
ANIMOS
CONSECTARI . INEXPLEBILI . AVIDITATE . COACTOS
VMBRAM . ET . IMAGINES
BREVI . DILAPSVRAS
254
MORALIA
(1886)
Concupiscence of the eyes
I.
LAWLESS LOVE OF RICHES,
THE MEANEST OF SLAVERIES,
BINDS CLOSE TO EARTH IMMORTAL
SOULS,
WHO ARE FORCED
BY AN INSATIABLE CRAVING
TO PURSUE DREAMS AND SHADOWS
THAT SOON FADE AWAY.
255
MORALIA
II.
PECVNIAM . INFINITE . CONCVPISCENS
FASTTDIT . HOMO
MANSVRA . ANIMI . BONA
REBVSQVE . ADHAERESCENS
INCERTIS . ET . FLVXIS
HVMILI . METV . HVMILIORE . SPE
LVDITVR . INVICEM
256
MOBALIA
II
WHO HATH BOUNDLESS CEAVING FOR WEALTH
LOATHES
THE LASTING TREASURES OF THE SOUL J
CLEAVES TO THE UNSTABLE AND PERISHABLE )
BECOMES THE SPORT BY TURNS
OF A MEAN FEAR
AND A STILL MORE IGNOBLE HOPE.
257
MORALIA
AN. MDCCCLXXXVI
Superbia vitae
AMBITIO
SIMVLTATVM . CONTENTIONVMQVE
ACERRIMA . INSTIGATRIX
IVSTITIA . POSTHABITA . FALLACIA . COMITE
AD . PRAEMTA . AVDACTER . NITITVR
VIRTVTI . DEBITA
258
MORALIA
(1886)
The pride of life
AMBITION,
THE FIERCEST SPUR
TO HIDDEN HATE AND OPEN WAR,
TURNS ITS BACK ON JUSTICE,
AND, MAKING DECEIT ITS COMPANION,
STRIVES BRAZENLY FOR THE REWARDS
DUE TO VIRTUE.
259
MORALIA
II
TVMENS . ANIMVS . SVPERBIA
IN . SE . VNO . PON IT . OMNIA
CORRVPTOQVE . IVDICIO . VERI
GRANDIA . AGITANS . INANIA . CAPTANS
ERRORE . VARIO
AD . PEIORA . DELABITVR
260
MOB ALIA
II
THE SOUL PUFFED UP WITH PRIDE
CENTERS ALL THINGS IN HERSELF;
AND, BY HER CORRUPT ESTIMATE OF TRUTH,
SCHEMING GREAT DEEDS,
SEIZES BUT SHADOWS ;
AND THROUGH VARIOUS ERRORS
FALLS FROM BAD TO WORSE.
261
MOB ALIA
AN. MDCCCLXXXIII
De ratione vitae in pontificatu degendae
IN . MORTALI . VITA . QVAE . SVPEREST
DECRETVM . EST
OBLATA . QVOTIDIE . PIACVLARI . HOSTIA
ARCTIVS . DEO . ADHAERERE
CVRANDAEQVE . HOMINUM . SALVTI . SEMPITERNAE
STVDIOSIVS . IN . DIES
VIGILANTI . ANIMO
ADLABORARE.
MOBALIA
(1883)
On the life he shall lead in his pontificate
FOR THE REST OF MY MORTAL LIFE
I AM FIRMLY RESOLVED,
BY OFFERING DAILY
THE VICTIM OF PROPITIATION,
TO CLEAVE MORE CLOSELY TO GOD;
AND, WITH WATCHFUL
AND EVER-GROWING ZEAL,
TO LABOR
FOR THE ETERNAL SALVATION
OF THE SOULS OF MEN.
263
MOB ALIA
II
AGE . IAM
ENITERE . ENITERE . 0 . LEO
ARDVA . QVAEQVE . FIDENTER . MOLIRI
DVRA . FORTITER . PATI
NE . REFORM IDES
DEVEXA . IAM . AETATE . EMENSOQVE . PROPEMODVM
VITAE . CVRSV
REBVS . CAD VCTS . ABDICAT1S . CONTEMPTIS
ALTIORA . APPETENS . ANIMO
AD . CAELESTEM . PATRIAM
CONSTANTER . ADSPIRA.
264
MORA LI A
II
FORWARD, THEN, LEO !
STRIVE, STRIVE
TO SURMOUNT WITH COURAGE
WHATSOEVER OBSTACLES;
TO ENDURE WITH PATIENCE
WHATSOEVER TRIALS;
FEAR NOT:
YOUR LIFE IS NEARLY ENDED,
YOUR RACE IS NEARLY RUN:
RENOUNCE AND SPURN
ALL THAT IS PERISHABLE;
ASPIRE TO THE HEIGHTS;
PRESS FORWARD
WITH CONSTANT LONGING
TOWARDS THY HEAVENLY
FATHERLAND.
265
NOTES
AD VINCENTIUM PAVANIUM (p. 2).
' ' Ever since the school-boy of Viterbo has become the teacher of
the Christian world, European and American scholars have been
able to admire and praise the classic taste and exquisite finish of the
productions of his pen, in prose and verse. He gave early promise
of uncommon literary distinction. Just as he had completed his
twelfth year, a college festival was got up to welcome the Provincial
of the Jesuits. Father Vincent Pavani. This gave to Vincent Pecci
the first recorded opportunity of showing his proficiency in Latin
verse, as well as his admiration for the character of the venerable
man who honored the name of Vincent." (O'Reilly's Life, p. 55.)
"II est interessant de retrouver dans 1' enfance des grands hommes
les premiers germes des qualites qui se developperont dans le cours
de leur vie. A ce titre. on peut citer une epigramme latine, faite, a
1' epoque dont nous parlons, par le jeune Pecci. ... On y reconnait
deja la pure et classique latinite qu' on admire dans tout ce qui sort
de la plume du pontife regnant." (Mgr. de T'Serclaes: Le rape
Leon XIII, Vol. I, p. 35. ) And Brunelli, in his monograph ( Vita
letteraria di Leone XIII), calls these distichs "quei primi suoi versi
cosi ingegnosi ed eleganti."
DE INVALETUDINE SUA (p. 4).
The poem was written when the author was but twenty years of
age. Over seventy years have passed since then — years, all of them,
filled with the daily and hourly labors* of a most active public career.
Some hints as to the details of that life are given in the author's
poem Ad Josephum Fratrem. But when we read the fuller narratives
of Keller, O'Reilly, McCarthy, De T'Serclaes and other biographers,
we can understand better the physical miracle of the Pope's life —
that tremendous burden of work borne so adequately by an attenu-
ated frame, which one writer has compared to a translucent vase of
alabaster. I quote from O'Reilly: "Leo XIII is an early riser. His
valet awakes him at a stated and early hour. The aged priest has
267
NOTES
not changed the simple habits of a lifetime because he is Pope. He
is soon dressed in his cassock of pure white, and spends a few mo-
ments in adoration at the altar of his private chapel. Then there is
a half hour spent in meditation or mental prayer on some of the
great Gospel truths or mysteries. This over, one of his chaplains
recites with him Prime, Terce and Sext — the three first morning
'Hours' of the canonical office— and the Holy Father is ready for
Mass. . . . At length the Mass is over, and the Pope and all pres-
ent have heard a second Mass of thanksgiving. . . . They bring an
arm-chair . . and all present come once more in succession to
kneel at his feet. . . Family groups are introduced. . . . Quite
near the little chapel is the Pope's breakfast-room. It is simple
enough in all conscience. And what is the breakfast ? A cup of
black coffee with a small roll of bread. Nothing more. And now
the breakfast is ended and the Pope withdraws to his private study,
where his enormous correspondence and his secretaries are waiting
for him. Every day in the week and every hour in each day has its
own appointed labor. The congregations or standing committees of
cardinals, among whom are divided all the matters connected with
the vast administration of a Church numbering 200.000,000, report
regularly to the Holy Father. Some of them have the Pope for
president, and hold their sittings in his presence. . . . Innumerable
congregations and commissions besides have their special work to do,
and to report regularly. . . . His memory and his all-grasping in-
tellect seem to be equal to the most astounding labor. . . . And
then there is the Cardinal Secretary of State and the terribly difficult
and incredibly delicate work of dealing with the foreign govern-
ments. Look over the entire political and diplomatic field, and
think of the hard and long battles the Holy See has to fight, not
only with non-Catholic courts, but with those that we call Catholic.
All this is a matter of daily, sometimes of hourly, concern and labor
for the Holy Father. He has to receive ambassadors, archbishops,
bishops, pilgrims, deputations, addresses from the numerous Catholic
unions and committees, and from Catholic congresses. You look at
the Pontiff's own face and form, and wonder how the lamp of life is
fed or does not go out in such a frail vessel. . . . The Breviary
Office is recited with one of his chaplains. The utter weariness be-
gotten by the terrible round of official duties is lightened or dispelled
by the pleasure the Pope finds in prayer, in the recitation of the
inspired Psalms of 'the sweet Singer of Israel,' in the lessons of Holy
268
NOTES
Scripture and the brief record of the life of the saint of the day.
After examination of conscience and night prayers, the aged Pope is
supposed to retire and to rest. . . . But does he never break in upon
his rest? Too frequently, they say. His magnificent encyclicals,
his consistorial allocutions, his addresses to pilgrims, deputations
and societies, his most important bulls or constitutions, like those on
the restoration of the Scotch hierarchy, . . . are written or cor-
rected or finished in the quiet of the night." (Chap. XXXIV. )
What a marvellous commentary on the poem De Invaletudine Sua/
Since it was written, its august Author has rounded out more years
than the patriarchal three-score-and-ten. By what is little short of
a physical miracle, the gloomy forecast has been dissipated thor-
oughly by a glorious fact.
KOGEEIUS A. C. EFFRONTEM MULIEKEM DEPELLIT
(P- 6).
The epigram was written while Joachim Pecci was residing at the
Muti palace with his uncle Antonio Pecci, and pursuing a course as
a day-scholar at the Roman College. The verses put on the lips of
the pseudonymous Ruggero are the only ones quoted by De T'Ser-
claes (Vol. L, p. 43). They illustrate " how chaste and how ardent
was the muse of the Carpinetan," and how it recalls the holy anger
of Thomas Aquinas "chassant loin de lui, un tison enfiamme a la
main, la malheureuse qui venait tenter son innocence." Of this
period of his life the biographer remarks: u Sa vie etait retiree et
solitaire comme celle d'un moine Et cependant cet austere
etudiant etait un poete de race. Ses vers coulaient de source avec
une verve sans pareille. Ajoutons que c'etaient des vers latins."
ARTIGIANO (p. 12).
In placing the little shrine of Janus on the Tarpeian or Capitoline
hill (sul Tarpeio, a pud Capitolium seu Tarpeum montem) the author
of the Charade (written, says Prof. Brunelli, in 1834) has for com-
panion no less an authority than Mommsen, who in 1844 published
in the Annali dell' Institute an essay De Comitio Romano, in which
he maintains that the temple of Janus was on the Tarpeian hill (in
ipso monte), and endeavors to support his thesis by quotations from
Tacitus, Festus, Ovid, Martial, and Servius. Perhaps these are the
aliqui scriptores referred to in the foot-note to the Charade. But
Dyer, in his excellent article on Rome (Smith's Diet, of Gr. and
269
NOTES
Rom. Geog.), shows clearly how far Mommsen erred in his interpre-
tation. The sacellum of Janus probably lay between the Forum
Roman um and the Forum Julii. The English translation fol-
lows, of course, the erroneous implication, or rather statement, of
the Italian original; and the correction has been relegated to this
place.
The Charade also assumes that in the three arcades or Jani re-
ferred to by Horace, statues of the god had been set up. The Eng-
lish translation of the Charade follows the implication of the Italian
original, although the more recent view refers the Janus summus,
medius and imus to three arches near the Forum. The Charade
would lead one to infer that the "piu simulacri" was based on
Forcellini, who is given as an authority in the foot-note. Forcellini,
however, considers Janus to be the name of a street, so called either
because of a temple or image of the god, or of three arcades it pos-
sessed (tribus Janis perviis). He then continues: Prima hujus vici
pars, ubi pecunia fenori dabatur, summus Janus, ultima imus, media
medius Janus vocabatur. And he adduces the illustrations from
Horace in support of this interpretation.
CANESTRO (p. 16).
The charade is addressed to Silvia. In the opening words of
Shakespeare's Song (u Two Gentlemen of Verona," Act IV. , sc. II),
we may ask:
Who is Silvia? what is she,
That all our swains commend her?
That Shakespeare's Silvia is meant might readily be inferred from
the similarity of the praises awarded her by the Charade:
O delle donne italiche,
Silvia, decoro e vanto,
which accord well with the third stanza of Shakespeare's Song:
Then to Silvia let us sing,
That Silvia is excelling:
She excels each mortal thing
Upon the dull earth dwelling ;
To her let us garlands bring.
As the "anglo vate" has offered garlands to her, the young author
will modestly tender but "un fiorellin poetico" culled in his little
garden.
270
NOTES
Or does Silvia symbolize Florence ? The first four lines of the
Charade seem to be but an Italian translation of Kogers (" Italy,"
I, xx):
Of all the fairest cities of the earth
None are so fair as Florence.
Or, lastly, does she typify Eome ? Silvia, the mother of Romulus
in the old myth, might very well be chosen as Home personified.
And the preeminence of Rome would make the declaration that she
is the " decore e vanto" of all Italia' s queenly cities nothing more
than a literal statement of a historical fact; for what Shakespeare
sings of his Silvia may be said as well of Rome:
Holy, fair and wise is she,
The heaven such grace did lend her,
That she might admired be.
Is, then, the " anglo vate" Shakespeare? or is it, perchance,
Byron that is referred to? From the preceding Charade on " Arti-
giano," wherein Silvia is addressed in similar fashion, a reader
might well conclude that Silvia is Rome, and from the present
Charade on "Can-estro," that the English bard is Byron.
A MONSIGNOR ORFEI (p. 22).
Many biographers of the Pope tell us of the really romantic con-
tests waged by the young man of twenty-seven who, as Delegate
Apostolic in Benevento. found himself confronted with a well-
entrenched brigandage. But despite a severe sickness from which
he suffered at the outset of his official life there, and despite the har-
assing cares besetting a reformer in civil life, he seems to have re-
tained a fine sense of the ludicrous. This sense of humor is, in the
opinion of Father Faber, a saving grace. We find it charmingly
displayed in this poem (written first in Italian and subsequently
translated by its author into Latin elegiacs). It is dedicated to
Mons. Orfei, the author's predecessor in office, who had assigned a
part of the Apostolic palace, called the Castcllo, to the President of
the Court, a certain awocato recently arrived from Loretto. The
lawyer's name was Palomba, which is good Italian for " ring-dove"
or " wood-pigeon." He came with his wife and children to take up
his residence in a house whose demure quiet had been broken only
by the lyric accomplishments of Mons. Orfei. We can easily fancy
the jarring of nerves consequent on such an invasion by noisy chil-
271
NOTES
dren and, perhaps, crying babies. At all events, the antithesis fur-
nished by two such names as Orfei and Palomba was too good to
escape appropriate recognition.
The similarity of the thought of the first stanza to that of Dryden's
Ode has led the present translator to borrow one line from the Eng-
lish bard: " Sequacious of the lyre." He has not felt called upon
in this and similar instances of appropriation (e. g., the Macbethian
"way to dusty death" in De Invaletudine Sua, and the Scriptural
" poison of asps is under their tongue" in Bogerius A. C. Effrontem
Mulierem Depellit, etc. ), to credit the stolen phrases to their several
obvious sources.
IN MAEVIUM (p. 28).
The poem "In Maevium " is a pretty piece of writing, and not
without an obvious humor — although the allusion is not clear. Was
this modern Maevius a wretched poet like him of old on whose luck-
less head Horace, throughout his tenth Epode, calls down a choice
collection of maledictions? and whom Virgil scores in his Third
Eclogue:
Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua carmina, Maevi ;
Atque idem iungat vulpes et mulgeat hircos.
Or was he merely an eccentric "sharper" with "method in his
madness ?" However it be, the poem is full of life and movement,
the portraiture is vivid, and the whisper of the bystander — "Calli-
dior vulpes pol ! Maevius" — is refreshingly true to nature. The
full title of the poem is: "In Maevium, Virum Callidum et Ab-
IN SERAPHINUM PARADISIUM (p. 36).
Whilst Archbishop of Perugia, Cardinal Pecci was wont to have
recourse to verse, both as a solace amidst the cares of his office and
as a means of testifying to his affectionate remembrance of certain
excellent priests who had toiled faithfully and gone to their reward.
The verses in honor of one Serafmo Paradisi, parish -priest of S.
Elena, in playing delicately on the words of his name, make use of
what is ordinarily a dangerous experiment; for where such word-
play happens to escape banality, it meets the danger either of un-
pleasant criticism or of uncritical flattery. Happily, the Bishop's
poem is free from all these complications; for a note appended to it
272
NOTES
assures us that it has chosen for praise a man who was " integer
vitae et carus ubique modestia sua,"
AKS PHOTOGEAPHICA (p. 44).
Cardinal Pecci, while Archbishop of Perugia, found some slight
leisure in the midst of the many grave perplexities and laborious
undertakings of that period of his life, to cultivate the muse with
his old ardor. The only poem cited by De T'Serclaes (I., p. 151)
is the Ars Photographica, which certainly deserves the comment:
" Citons de lui quel ques vers charmants, qui traitent a la verity un
sujet profane, mais avec quel charme! la difficulte £tait d'autant
plus grande qu' il s' agissait de celebrer en latin une chose essentielle-
ment moderne: la photographic "
IN GALLUM (p. 46).
Doubtless Virgil's Tenth Eclogue suggested the name to the
Bishop:
.... sollicitos Galli dicamus amores (1. G).
But Virgil condoles with his Gallus, while the Bishop condemns
his Gallus. And although the opening line of the poem commences
with the same words (Galle, quid insanis) as the 22nd line of the
Eclogue, the "insanity" assumes different complexions in the two
cases. A further correspondence of the two poems is found in the
words:
Ecquis erit modus,
which commence the 28th line of the Eel. and the 9th line of the
Bishop's poem.
AD JOSEPHUM FRATREM (p. 64).
I.
Quam felix flore in primo, quam laeta Lepinis
Orta jugis, patrio sub lare, vita fuit!
" Our Carpineto is a populous little town of five thousand
inhabitants, situated in a cleft of the Monti Lepini, a portion of the
Volscian range nearest to Velletri. It is an eagle's nest, placed for
security high above the plain, between two gigantic rocks. (Such
was the picturesque expression used by the venerable Cardinal
Joseph Pecci in describing to the author the mountain-home of his
family ) ." — O' Reilly' s Life.
273
NOTES
The Lepini mountains were recently (Aug. 29, 1901) the subject
of a triple embassage:
' ' The cross of the Solemn Homage on the Leo XIII. peak of
Mount Capreo at Carpineto has been inaugurated with great pomp.
The ceremony over, at half-past 8 on August 29 carrier pigeons
were despatched to the Vatican. The first reached the dovecot in
the Papal gardens at ten minutes past 10, bearing the greeting:
Victrix nunc Christi Capreo Crux fulget ob alto:
En tibi, Magne Leo, nuncia grata fero.
E. Santesarte.
The signature was that of the parish priest.
At half-past 10 a second pigeon arrived with:
Praepetibus pennis agros emensa latinos
Nuntia sisto: Crucis stant monunienta Leo.
At a quarter to 11 a third arrived with:
Te vexilla Crucis Capreo de nionte salutant;
Te, Leo, nunc plausu, saxa lepina sonant."
Doubtless the three distichs were suggested as an appropriate
metrical form by this poem De Se Ipso. They might be rendered
into English as follows:
The Cross of Christ shines forth from Capreo's mount:
And I, great Leo, bear the glad account.
With pinion swift I clove the Latin sky
To bear the news: The Cross is raised on high!
Leo, behold the Cross of victory,
While the Lepini echo praise to thee !
It was a happy thought to raise on the native hills of Leo the
standard of Him to whom Leo, in his majestic Carmen Saeculare, had
dedicated the New Century.
II.
Altrix te puerum Vetulonia suscipit ulnis,
Atque in Loyolae excolit aede pium.
The young Pecci remained six years (1818-1824) at Viterbo.
Here it was that he wrote, in his twelfth year, the two distichs in
honor of the Provincial of the Jesuits — his earliest recorded poem.
Here it was, too, that a ' ' very serious sickness, which he had during
274
NOTES
the college sessions of 1821, impaired not a little the robust health
nourished in the bracing air of his native Volscian hills. ... He
neyer afterward enjoyed the physical vigor of his early boyhood."
(O'Reilly.)
III.
The next eight distichs may be considered under one paragraph.
''When, in 1825, the Roman College solemnly inaugurated its
courses of ecclesiastical and secular teaching, its halls were at once
filled by fourteen hundred students. Among these was Vincent
Pecci. . . . More remarkable still was his success in Latin verse.
The rule for all who contended here for the prize of excellence was
that they should, within the space of six hours, and without any
external aid whatever, write a certain number of Latin hexameters
on a specified subject. This subject happened to be the Feast of Bel-
shazzar. Young Pecci [then 15 years old] produced one hundred
and twenty verses of such unquestionable excellence that the prize
was unanimously awarded to him by the judges. This, however, was
not his only success: to him were also awarded the first honors in
Greek." (O'Reilly.) In 1830, he was matriculated among the
Divinity students of the Gregorian University, his Alma Mater.
Father Manera, mentioned so lovingly in the poem, was Prefect of
Studies, and had founded an Academia for the theological students.
"To give this academy a firm standing in the public opinion of the
university, two solemn disputations were held in the university hall.
. . . The person chosen on both occasions to expose the doctrines
of Revelation and to detect and refute all possible objections was
Pecci." After his course in the university, he studied law and
diplomacy at the Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics. Cardinal Sala,
who is referred to with such great affection in the poem, was a ven-
erable man ' ' who had been associated with Cardinal Caprara in the
disastrous legation to Paris in 1808, and whose soul had been tried,
like that of Pius VII himself, by the six terrible years that fol-
lowed." He had "conceived a warm attachment for Pecci. In
their intercourse the young and inexperienced churchman learned,
from one who had been thrice purified in the furnace, many lessons
which were soon to be of priceless service to himself in governing
men and dealing with governments." (O'Reilly).
But here the limitations of space give warning that the remaining
lines of the poem may not be illustrated even in the sketchy way of
275
NOTES
the preceding paragraph. Anything approaching an adequate com-
mentary would constitute little short of a volume of biography.
While we may not venture on such an undertaking, the poem
surely invites to a closer and fuller knowledge of the Pope's life and
wonderfully fruitful activity. That life does not lack romantic as
well as instructive details. In illustration, we quote from the Life
of Leo the Thirteenth, edited by John Oldcastle (Wilfred Meynell).
The incident quoted may serve as a part of the abundant commen-
tary on the lines of the poem :
Dulcis Parthenope, Beneventum dehi tenet, aeque
Ut lege I-Iirpinos imperioque regas.
" The first public post assigned to Monsignor Pecci by Gregory
XVI. was the governorship of the Province of Benevento. Brigan-
dage was rife in the district, with other disorders— the result in part
of the French invasion and of the long imprisonment of the Sover-
eign Pontiff. Class was divided against class. The tillers of the
soil, subject to cruel exactions, were yet unable to form combinations
for their mutual protection and support. Such was the account of
things sent by agents of the peasantry to the Pope King-- an ac-
count which was of course impugned by the nobles, who retorted by
vaguely but vehemently charging the people with laziness and a love
of impracticable politics. The Delegate began his work of pacifica-
tion in his own way. ' He went amongst the peasantry,' says a
careful writer (C Byrne's Lives of the Cardinals, in The Oscotian);
he visited them in their homes; he questioned and cross-questioned
them about their affairs, and all this with such gentleness of man-
ner and such deep sympathy for their hard lot, that they took cour-
age; whereas, before, they had been full of fears . . . [now] they
boldly told the history of their sufferings and wrongs. The nobles
and officials next came under the Delegate's notice, their accounts
were overhauled and their administration subjected to a searching
examination. They were compelled to meet every precise charge
that any of the peasantry chose to make against them. The ac-
cuser and the accused were brought face to face and their evidence
taken by the Delegate in person. ... he was too alert to be hood-
winked and too firm to be terrified. In a short time it became easy
to see in what direction the judgment and sympathies of the Dele-
gate were tending. The officials and nobles began to grow alarmed.
Kecourse was had to intrigue. An impeachment was carried to
276
NOTES
Rome of the Delegate's manner of procedure . . . But Pope Greg-
ory refused to move or to interfere in any way. He had deliber-
ately and with open eyes chosen his man and was determined to
trust him . . . Consequently the Delegate was left with a free hand
to work out the problem in his own way.' A number of stories,
more or less to the point, are told to illustrate the energy and the
impartiality with which he carried out his operations against the
brigands, who seem to have terrorized the population and to have
secured for themselves friends in high places. A certain noble, on
whose movements invidious watch had been kept, came one day to
the Delegate in a fit of injured innocence, threatening to go to Rome
to bring his complaints before a higher tribunal:
'Have you given the matter enough thought?' asked the Dele-
gate quietly.
'Certainly,' said the Marquis.
' I don't agree with you,' replied Monsignor. ' In these matters
one cannot reflect too much, and you will therefore favor me by re-
maining here as my prisoner.'
That night the noble's castle was surrounded, and twenty-eight
brigands who enjoyed its protection were either slain or secured."
All of the above illustrates prettily the rather dry statement of the
poem :
"Benevento sees
Thy Ilirpiiie rule observe all equities! "
AD IEREMIAM BRUNELLI RHETOREM (p. 70).
Geromia Brunelli was professor of Literature in the seminary of
Perugia when Cardinal Pecci was Archbishop of that city. Ecclesi-
astical seminaries have a curriculum usually of ten years, and are
divided into two institutions — the Preparatory or "little" and the
Higher or "great" seminary. In Italy, however, the compara-
tively small dioceses do not permit of such a division; as Mgr. de
T'Serclaes remarks (Vol. I., p. 150), they are usually under the
necessity " de concentrer dans un seul etablissement le cours complet
des etudes litteraires, philosophiques et theologiques. Cette res
marque etait necessaire pour faire comprendre le joli trait que nou-
allons rapporter d' aprcs 1' abbe Jer^mie Brunelli, professeur de
belles-lettres au seminaire de Perouse, qui y joua le role qu' on va
voir." The anecdote referred to, which is of sufficient interest to
justify quotation in this connection, is told by Brunelli himself in
277
NOTES
his edition of the Carmina translated into Italian, and issued iii
1883 (Prolusione, pp. 77-8): "It happened one day (what the
reason was I recall not) that I was late in getting to my class of
literature. Knowing that I might chance to meet the Cardinal,
who was watchful over the silence and order of the place, in the
corridors of the seminary, I reached the door of my class-room with
some haste and anxiety, as you may well imagine. What was my
surprise, on entering the room with great briskness and assurance,
to see the Cardinal, whose presence I did not suspect, seated in my
chair and translating to my delighted pupils a passage of Cicero's
Oratio pro Milone, and expounding with the greatest elegance and
taste the beauties hidden in the tongue of the Eoman orator. You
can imagine, gentlemen, my bewilderment. Collecting my wits, I
sat down on the benches with my pupils, and begged the Cardinal
to continue the lesson he had begun. But leaving the chair, he
courteously invited me to ascend, and commended to me the ad-
vancement of my pupils in literary studies. At the same time I was
able to recognize, in his always dignified smile, a gentle and quiet
rebuke." This graceful anecdote discovers (as our French biogra-
pher remarks ) in the austere prelate, the man of letters and taste,
and the enthusiastic lover of whatever adorns humanity.
Brunelli is the author of the Vita Letteraria di Leone XIII.
(40 pp.), which serves as a preface to the latest edition of the Car-
mina el hiscriptiones (Udine, 1893).
HYMNUS IN S. HEKCULANUM (p. 76.)
The hymn has been very highly praised by several competent
critics. Taking as its subject a Patron of Perugia, a martyred
Bishop of the early ages of Christianity, it appealed with special
force to the interest and admiration of Cardinal Pecci's diocese.
Perhaps its greatest admirer was Bishop Eotelli, to whom one of the
longer poems in this collection (p. 52) is dedicated. From his ap-
preciative criticism (written in 1881) we learn that he considers the
three poems in honor of St. Herculanus and St. Constantius ("rniei
santi vescovi e martiri perugini" ) "three magnificent poems, truly
worthy of the dignity of the Pope." He "read and re-read them,
analyzed them, elaborated them into prose, subjected them to a hun-
dred searching tests," and found them so untouched by the severest
criticism as to lead him to the conclusion that their author was
"veramente un innografo sommo." They recall the golden age of
278
NOTES
Leo X., and will brook comparison, he thinks, with but two hymns
of that age, those by Sannazzaro in honor of St. Gaudiosus and St.
Nazarius. He quotes for special comment the stanza:
Furens Getharum ab algidis
Devectus oris Totila
Turres Perusi et moenia
Hoste obsidebat barbaro,
comparing the admirable portraiture ( ' ' pennelleggiato a meravig-
lia" ) of Totila with that of Herculanus, framed in these rapid and
energetic iambics :
Ardens et ore: " pro fide
Pugnate avita, filii :
Dux ipse vester: Nunxini
Servate templa et patriam.
He quotes with approbation the penultimate stanza:
Laetare Etrusca civitas
Tanta refulgens gloria:
Attolle centum gestiens
Caput decorum turiibus !
In a brief but admirably written estimate of the Pope's muse,
Father Valle, S. J., spends not a little effort in analyzing the three
poems. We give in full his treatment of this hymn: " Hymnus s.
Herculani est natura historicus, vehemens, mira varietate contextus,
sive cum ob oculos ponit furores crudelissimi Totilae obsidentis Peru-
siam, terroremque popularium ab imminenti urbis excidio; sive cum
Herculanum describit animo impavidum, et ruentes in arma cives,
quos ad patriae tutelam Herculani vox excitaverit. Hinc diversi
animorum motus; quorum alii anxia quadem trepidatione lectorem
comprimunt, alii erigunt spe optatissimi exitus, qui egregiam civium
audaciam et constantiam secundet. Nisi quod tristi eventu subit
hinc Perusiae casus, quam non hostium virtus prostravit sed dolus,
hinc Herculani caedes, qui pro salute suorum barbari regis acinaci
praecidendam cervicem obtulit. At vero ab hoc lugubri ac miser-
ando rerum adspectu raptim (ut lyricorum mos est) animum extollit
vates, oculosque in Herculanum intendit iam sempiterni aevi beati-
tate potitum; quos hide ad Perusiam declinat, caelitus beati noven-
silis patrocinium illi gratulatur, hortaturque ne ab invictae fidei
documentis, quae Herculanus praebuit, degeneret."
279
NOTES
S. CONSTANTIUS— HYMNUS I (p. 84).
Bishop Rotelli comments on the fourth stanza as follows: uIIyems
rigescit: i monti (il Subasio e le lontane montagne di Leonessa all'
oriente di Perugia, gli appenini di Gubbio a tramontana) sono cop-
erti di neve ; asperis Monies pruinis albicant: il sole stesso viene
scientificamente descritto nella sua posizione zodiacale ; Solisque
crines frigido — Irrorat imbre aquarius: coi quale due elegantissimi
versi il Poeta evidentemente ha voluto render latino 1' ardito concetto
dell' Alighieri, la dove dice:
Che '1 sole i crin 1' Aquario tempra."
They are indeed "elegantissimi versi," whether borrowed from
Dante or of universal appropriation:
Solisque crines frigido
Irrorat imbre Aquarius.
In translating them, we have borrowed the equally elegant phrase
( " the bright-haired sun " ) of Collins' Ode to Evening.
This hymn differs from the following one on the same theme (as
well as from that on St. Ilerculanus), in that it is not historical in
its treatment. It is a song of triumph, an Io triumphe. Father Valle
thinks it should be rightly called "sacri epinicii exemplar absolutis-
simum." And he continues: "Simplex porro est huius hymni pro-
cessus ; festiva laetitiae pompaeque descriptio, quam in honorem
caelestis Patroni incolae decunt; florens denique imaginum species;
atque hae (ut eminentia ex umbris in pictura) pulcrius renident ex
tristi hyemis tempestate, quae graphice exprimitur hac strophe :
Hyems rigescit, asperis . . . Huius hymni lectione animus dulci
quodem pietatis castaeque voluptatis sensu perfunditur; quern sensum
Auctor versiculis ipsis adeo feliciter affavit, ut quantum prioribus
hymnis per maiestatem carminis grandia exaequat, tantum hoc altero
modestioribus argumentis perpoliendis se natum ostendat."
S. CONSTANTIUS— HYMNUS II (p. 88).
The second poem in honor of the Saint condenses into a few
Sapphic stanzas the details of his sufferings and martyrdom. The
sequence of the short narrative would easily lead one to infer that
his trial was undergone at one place and time. The brief introduc-
tion in prose, however, indicates the variety both in time and in
place. The 8th and 10th stanzas offer great difficulty in interpreta-
280
NOTES
tion. They seem to declare that he was executed in prison, and
that Levianus, hiding in the shadow of its walls, awaited a favorable
opportunity to take the body away.
The Bollandists {Acta SancL, Jan., T. II.) have three lives of
the Saint. All of these give the highway as the place of his
martyrdom, which resulted not from any legal process, but from the
superstitious fears of the soldiery who were conducting him to
Spoleto. He had been seized thrice, and now being led from prison
in Assisi, passed with his guard through Spello (Hispellum). This
town lies distant about three miles from Foligno. Somewhere be-
tween the two places he was martyred. Here one of the soldiers
said: " Ne iste magus quern trahimus suis nos artibus interiiciat in-
terimatur . . . Illico vibrato gladio abstulerunt caput eius; corpore
vero dimisso in tramite qui dicitur Fulgineato" {op. ci7., p. 930).
Another Vita has this: " Venerunt itaque in trivio Fulgineato, non
longe a civitate ipsa . . . et decollaverunt eum, et dereliquerunt
corpus eius in ipso loco" (p. 928). A foot-note remarks: kt Describit
hunc locum Ludovicus Iacobillius de S. Fulginatibus pag. 345;
traditque agrum vicinum vocari etiamnum la Contrada di S. Con-
stanzo)." The third Vita has: " Cum igitur ad trivium quoddam
Fulgineatum quod vocant, non procul ab ipsa urbe Fulginea posi-
tum, noctu pervenissent . . . strictis gladiis in hominis iugulum
invadunt" (p. 935). All of these accounts seem to imply not a
prison but a highway.
But the stanzas offer another difficulty. What is the meaning of
lucepallenti? Is it the twilight of the dying, or of the beginning
day? Brunelli, one of the first translators, does not specify:
Giace nel sangue esanime tua spoglia;
Ma vigilando Levian pietoso,
Dell oscuro tuo carcere la soglia
Di varcar oso,
Per la queta raccoglie ombra notturna
La membra sparte.
The "queta ombra notturna" would serve either hypothesis, and
can scarce be accounted a rendering of luce pallenti. But all the
"Lives" speak of Levianus as having been warned in sleep by an
angel. The twilight is therefore that of the dawning day. Bishop
Kotelli, in his estimate of the poem, understands the wan light of
the prison itself : " la pallida e incerta luce del carcere nel quale entra
il coraggioso Leviano— Luce pallenti vigilans ad umbram."
281
NOTES
Part of the Bishop's estimate may be quoted with interest: " La
lingua e purissima: lo stile e vibrato; espressivo l'epiteto, incisiva
la frase, il verso spontaneo."
AD SANCTUM FELICTANUM (p. 97).
The poem appeared originally in the Paese, a journal of Perugia,,
and had 13 stanzas, the last two being as follows :
Ilinc sidus O tu finibus Umbriae
Affulge amicum ! Fulginiam, pia
In vota te patrem vocantem
Usque suum, bonus O tuere!
Intaminata et sacra ab avis fide
Tu nostra clemens pectora robora,
Quae nulla vis insanientis
Temporis, insidiaeve frangant.
In English :
Shine forth from out thy heaven afar,
O'er Umbria's fields, O friendly Star;
Foligno craves thy glory bright-
Shine forth, O Beacon-light!
Strengthen the stainless faith Ave hold
From our ancestral saints of old :
Nor frenzy wild, nor subtle snare,
Its pristine strength impair !
The two stanzas were subsequently condensed into the one which
appears in our text. A French journal reproduced the poem with
the comment that it is " une tres belle poesie que S. S. Leon XIII.
a composee a 1' occasion de la solennite de S. Felicien, e'veque de
Foligno, dont la fete vient d'etre celebree le 24 Janvier. Nous
sommes heureux de la reproduire, car, en meme temps que Fex-
pression de la plus haute piete, il s'en degage un parfum classique
qui sera, sans doute, un vrai regal pour les connaisseurs."
IN SACEAM FAMILIAM (p. 104).
In 1893 the Holy See established a special Feast (the 3rd Sunday
after Epiphany) in honor of the Holy Family, the three hymns of
the Breviary .Office being contributed by Leo XIII. "Les hymnes
d'une haute et chretienne poesie qui figurent dans 1' office de cette
solennite, sont l'oeuvre de Sa Saintete" elle-meme" (De T'Serclaes,
Vol. II.,p. 548).
The mind of the church in the institution of such a feast is well
282
NOTES
illustrated both by the moral contained in each of these hymns, and
by the words of Leo XIII. when establishing a Pious Association in
honor of the Holy Family. The special devotion is meant to meet
a special need : " Every one is aware," says the Holy Father in his
Apostolic Letter, " that the prosperity and happiness of public and
private life depends most largely on the home. For the deeper the
roots of virtue strike into that soil, and the more alert parents are,
by word and deed, to inform the souls of the young with the pre-
cepts of religion, the more plentiful are the fruits resulting to the
good of society in general. It is of the highest importance, there-
fore, not merely that domestic society should be constituted holily,
but as well that it should be governed by holy rules; and that a
religious spirit and a Christian life should be diligently and con-
stantly nourished in it. Therefore it was that the merciful God,
when He had decreed to perfect the work of Kedemption which the
ages had so long awaited, so ordered the work that its first begin-
nings should exhibit an august model of a Family divinely consti-
tuted, in which all men might see an exemplar of every virtue and
holiness. Such a Family was that at Nazareth, in which the Sun of
Justice, ere He should shine with full radiance on all the nations,
was first hidden; and this Family comprised Christ, the Lord God,
together with His Virgin Mother, and her most holy spouse Joseph,
who was to be the foster-father of Jesus . . . And so all fathers
may see in Joseph a splendid norm of parental watchfulness and
care ; mothers may perceive in the most holy Mother of God an
admirable illustration of love, modesty, obedience and perfect faith-
fulness; and children have in Jesus, Who ' was subject to them/ a
divine model of obedience which they should admire, worship, and
imitate." These lessons of domestic government are but an elabo-
ration of the words of St. Paul (in his Epistle to the Colossians)
which form a part of the " second Lesson" of the Office for this
Feast: "Wives, be subject to your husbands, as it behooveth, in the
Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not harsh towards them.
Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing
to the Lord."
These are the thoughts and principles inculcated by the Holy
Father in the hymns. We can not pass by without special notice
the beautiful moral contained in one of the last stanzas of the hymn
for Matins:
283
NOTES
O Blessed Three! who felt the sting
Of want and toil and suffering,
Pity the needy and obscure
Lot of the poor.
In his Apostolic Letter, the Pope calls attention to the unrest of
the workingmen of to-day. In an Encyclical dealing with this mat-
ter, he has shown his deep sympathy with their cause; but when, or
in whatever degree, an enlightened agitation fails of its purpose, he
reminds them of the heavenly sanction given especially to their toils
and needs : "If workingmen," he says in his letter from which I
have been quoting, " and all those who, especially in our times, feel
grievously afflicted at their humble condition and the straitened cir-
cumstances of those dependent on them, will but glance at the mem-
bers of the Holy Family, there will not be wanting reasons why they
should rather rejoice than be grieved at their lot. They share with
that sacred Family in toil and in the cares of daily life; Joseph was
bound to provide for its subsistence from the wages of his labor; nay,
even the hands of the God-Man were exercised in a workshop."
This is the lesson of contentment to be derived from a contempla-
tion of the House of Nazareth. But another lesson may be found
equally suitable for those who are blessed by fortune. The Holy
Father prays the sacred Three to
Banish the "pride of life" from all
Whom ampler wealth and joys befall.
And this is but a poetical version of his own words in the Letter:
;' Qui nobiles nati sunt, discent a Familia regii sanguinis quomodo
et in edita fortuna se temperent, et in afflicta retineant dignitatem:
qui dites noscent ab ea quantum sint virtutibus posthabendae divi-
tiae." The noble are reminded of the royal blood of that lowly
Household; and the wealthy, that virtue is to be preferred to riches.
Thus this devotion to the Holy Family includes in its scope the ex-
tremest stations of life — poverty and lowliness, wealth and nobility.
These lessons are sorely needed in our times; and the hymns, like
the Feast whose office they serve to adorn, while they are indeed ex-
quisite in their Christian thought and classic phrase, possess even a
higher value as prayers than as poems.
TWO FOUNTAINS (p. 142).
While many a Pope has been literally a " Pontifex Maximus,"
the long line of the Papacy has splendidly preserved the architec-
284
NOTES
tural and engineering tastes of the older Empire of the Komans.
Leo XIII. manifested throughout his whole life a similar activity,
which might well have been construed into a prophetic admonition
of his future incumbency of the Chair of Peter. Apropos of these
two poems, I extract from Mgr. T'Serclaes' " Le Pape Leon XIII."
(Vol. I, p. 17), an interesting account of his benefactions to his
natal town of Carpineto:
u Jadis Carpineto soufFrait d'une disette d'eau presque habituelle.
Aujourd'hui, cette calamite n'est plus a craindre. Deja etant eVe-
que de Perouse, Joachim Pecci avait essay e de fournir l'eau a son
pays natal en faisant capter une source voisine, qui malheureusement
se tarit bientot. Devenu pape, Leon XIII. recominenca l'entreprise
sur nouveaux frais. L'ingenieur Olivieri fut charge de ce travail.
II amena a Carpineto les eaux de source du mont Carpino, situe au
sud-est du bourg a une distance de cinq kilometres. La montagne,
composee de roche calcaire fort dure, fut entamee au moyen de la
dynamite. On y creusa deux galeries, l'une de 400, 1' autre de 90
metres. Les travaux mirent au jour une caverne longue de 100
metres ou Ton decouvrit une nouvelle source. Les eaux de celle-ci
et des sources connues anterieurement furent emmagasinees dans
cinq grands reservoirs, echelonne's l'un au-dessous de 1' autre et cap-
ables de contenir environ 7,000 metres cubes d'eau. Une disposi-
tion ingenieuse permet de regler le debit de 1' eau suivant sa plus ou
moins grande abondance, si bien que, meme pendant les trois mois
de grande secheresse, chaque famille de Carpineto peut compter sur
une consommation journaliere de cent onze litres, sans compter tout
ce qui est utilise pour les usages agricoles. Deux gracieuses fon-
taines, Tune sur la place publique de Carpineto devant l'eglise col-
legiale, 1' autre devant le palais Pecci, versent avec abondance leur
eau saine et limpide aux habitans du pays. Elles dont decorees
d' inscriptions latines composees par le Souverain-Pontife. Voici
celle qu'on lit sur la fontaine de la place publique:
" Fons ego, decurrens, nitidis argenteus undis
Quem eupide irriguvim florea prata bibant.
At non prata bibent, cives, me florea ; vestras
Gratius est largo spargere rore domos. — Leo XIII."
For this long extract made apropos of a very brief poem, I must
offer the same apology as that of the writer just quoted: "Nous
nous sommes e*tendus sur ces travaux hydrauliques, reellement re-
285
NOTES
marquables d'ailleurs, par ce qn'ils sont un immense bienfait de
Leon XIII. envers ses compatriotes."
The second, and much longer poem:
Difficilem cursum, longosque emensa viarum
Tractus, Carpineis hue feror unda iugis . . .
appears to be an emendation and elaboration of a shorter, but very
beautiful, poem on the same theme. It should prove interesting to
give it here in its original form:
Fons Loquitur.
Leniter exiliens Pandulphi e colle superno,
Hue e nativis deferor unda iugis.
Nam qui romani Ioachimus Peccius ostri
Primus natale hoc auxit honore solum,
Fer caecos terrae, plumbo ducente, meatus
Oblitam patriae me iubet ire viam.
Improvisa quidem, sed gratior advena vobis
Ultro, municipes, Candida, inempta fluo.
Hue ergo, properate : adsum nam sacra saluti,
Munditiae, vitaeque usibus et charism.
(Translation.)
The Fountain Speaks.
A gushing stream, forth of my olden yoke
On Pandulph's hill I broke ;
For Pecci, who in Roman purple clad
His natal soil makes glad,
Hath led me hither, mindless of my birth,
Through darkest ways of earth.
More welcome am I, cits, as unforeseen,
Unpurchased, cool, and clean.
Come ! I am dedicate to cleanly health,
To poverty, to wealth !
It may well be doubted if the pleasant simplicity and directness
of this previous poem have not disappeared somewhat in the pomp
and circumstance of its elaborated emendation. It is, we think, an
exquisite idea exquisitely carried out. The technique is worthy of
the inspiration. A foot-note attached to it (in the edition of the
Carmina published in 1883) remarks: " Aquam saluberrimi haustus
Carpinetum adducendam curavit an. MDCCCLXIV."
James Kussell Lowell treated a similar theme in his " Ode Writ-
286
NOTES
ten for the Celebration of the Introduction of the Cochituate Water
into the City of Boston." In several stanzas the thought and ex-
pression run on parallel lines:
Per caecos terrae, plumbo ducente, meatus
Oblitarn patriae me iubet ire viam
is not unlike Lowell's
My name is Water : I have sped
Through strange, dark ways, untried before ;
while the last couplet:
Hue ergo properate : adsum nam sacra saluti,
Munditiae, vitaeque usibus et charimi,
is quite the same thought as Lowell's
For countless services I'm fit,
Of use, of pleasure, and of gain.
AD B. V. MAKIAM PRECATIONES (p. 148).
The text followed for both of these poems is that of the Udine edi-
tion of 1893. In 1896 an edition de luxe of the Pope's (nine) poems
in honor of the Blessed Virgin appeared from the press of Descl£e,
Lefevre et Cie., Rome, with the title Leonis XIII. In Mariam Vir-
ginem Flosculi. The variations in the texts are here noted :
I.
Horrida monstra furens ex Acheronte vomit (1893)
Horrida monstra furens evomit ex Erebo (1896).
Tu mihi virtutem, robur et adde novum (1893)
Tu mihi virtutem suffice magnanimam (1896).
Si mens sollicitis icta cupidinibus (1893)
Si mens sollicitis acta cupidinibus (1896).
Si natum aerumnis videris usque premi (1893)
Si natum aerumnis videris implicitum (1896).
Detruso stygii daemone ad ima lacus (1893)
Detruso in sedes daemone tartareas (1896).
Lumina fessa manu molliter ipsa tege (1893)
Lumina conde pia molliter ipsa manu (1896).
As a sort of preface to his Encyclical (1892) on the Marian Ros-
ary, Leo XIII. confesses to the tender devotion which, in his very
287
NOTES
infancy, he had cherished towards the Blessed Virgin; and to the
fact that, as years passed, he beheld more clearly the love and honor
which are due to her " whom God was the first to love and to favor,
yea, to love in such wise that she was the one whom, elevated above
all the rest of creation and adorned with amplest gifts, He chose to
be His Mother." His words are so beautiful in themselves, and
serve so well to introduce his poems entitled Flosculi (" little flow-
ers"), that space is made here for a brief quotation: " Magnae Dei
Matris amorem et cultum quoties ex occasione liceat excitare in
christiano populo et augere, toties Nos mirifica voluptate et laetitia
perfundimur, tanquam de ea re quae non solum per se ipsa praestan-
tissima est multisque modis fi'ugifera, sed etiam cum intimo animi
Nostri sensu suavissime concinit. Sancta nimirum erga Mariam
pietas, semel ut paene cum lacte suximus, crescente aetate, succrevit
alacris valuitque in animo firmius: eo namque illustrius menti ap-
parebat quanto ilia esset et amore et honore digna, quam Deus ipse
amavit et dilexit primus, atque ita dilexit, ut unam ex universitate
rerum sublimius evectam amplissimisque ornatam muneribus sibi
adjunxerit matrem."
PAKAPHKASES.
Throughout the Paraphrases the Pope plays on the word
" Rosary," comparing the devotion now to a basket of flowers
offered at the shrine of the Blessed Virgin, now to a wreath of
roses, a chaplet, a crown, etc., woven for the brow of the heavenly
" Queen of the May." How the devotion came to be styled the
''Rosary " is a matter of dispute amongst the learned. The Cath-
olic Dictionary of Addis and Arnold remarks: "The original mean-
ing is very doubtful. We think it most likely that the word was
used in a mystical sense and meant Mary's rose-garden. (So the
writer of the article Rosenkranz in Herzog, ' Encycl. for Protestant.
Theol.') " Not an unlikely hypothesis, whose mystical significance
might have been further illustrated by the title of " Rosa Mystica"
in the Litany of Loretto, and the "Rose of Sharon" as a poetical
appellation. The words with which Wisdom exalts herself are
applied mystically to the Blessed Virgin: "I was exalted . . as
a rose-plant in Jericho" (Eccl. xxiv. 18). In somewhat similar
fashion, attribution is made of the glory of Simon the high-priest
{ib. 1. 8): "as the flower of roses (flos rosaruin) in the days of
spring," and the praise of the just {ib., xxxix. 17): "as the rose
planted by the brooks of waters."
288
NOTES
In the Paraphrases the Eosary is also called "sertum," "rosea
corolla." Anciently it was styled " Psalterium Marianum," in
imitation of the 150 Psalms. Alanus Eupensis assigns five reasons
why it should be called Psalterium rather than Eosarium, Corona,
or Sertum. His second argument is : ' ' Secundo, vocabula corona'
rosarium, sertum metaphorica sunt, ex similitudine dicta ; psal-
terium vero a psallendis Deo laudibus nomen habens, proprie est
oratio* (apud Acta SancL, Aug., T. I., p. 423, where an elaborate
historical treatment of the devotion is given, pp. 422-437).
The first line of the fourth Paraphrase mentions the name of
Gusman, t. e., St. Dominic, who, about the year 1208, is said to
have introduced the Eosary in its present form. He was born, in
1170, at Callaruega (Calahorra, in Old Castile), of the powerful
house of Gusman.
In the following poem, ;tAdiutrici Christianorum," he is re-
ferred to :
Adfuit at Virgo: meritis, pietate verendum
Finibus hispanis advocat ipsa Virum.
ADIUTEICI CHEISTIANOEUM-ELEGIA.
The title " Help of Christians" (Auxilium Christianorum) was
inserted in the Litany of Loretto by St. Pius V., after the marvel-
ous victory of Lepanto. In his devotional and historical treatment
of this Title, Barthe (Litanies, etc., pp. 185-7) gives a number of
illustrations of the heavenly protection afforded by the Blessed
Virgin. Amongst them he cites that of Pius VII. over Napoleon,
a moral victory which is commemorated by a special Feast ordered
by that Pontiff to be celebrated on the 24th of May (the day of his
entry into Eome), in honor of the Auxilium Christianorum.
Leo XIII. cites in his poem two illustrious instances of the help
of the Blessed Virgin, namely, the labors of St. Dominic in spread-
ing the devotion of the Eosary among the Albigenses, and the
splendid victory of the Christian fleet over the Turks near the
Echinades islands. Lines 5-18 celebrate the former; lines 19-54
the latter.
Besides the vindication of St. Dominic made by Lacordaire, a
very excellent biography by Archbishop Alemany tells with great
clearness and moderation the part taken by him in the matter of the
Albigenses. This is not, however, the place to enter upon hotly
disputed matters; and the allusion to St. Dominic suggests merely
289
NOTES
an interesting quotation illustrative of the poem: " There remains
yet one more particular to be mentioned about the Albigenses . . .
that the beautiful devotion of the Kosary began at this time, and
owes its origin to this very heresy. The Kosary is, as you know, in
an especial manner, a devotion in honor of our Lord's Incarnation;
and I have already told you that the Albigenses denied this doctrine.
They believed that our bodies and all matter were evil; they could
not believe, therefore, that the Son of an all-good and all-holy God
had taken upon himself a material body of flesh and blood like unto
ours. They chose rather to say that He had taken only the semb-
lance, or appearance, of a human body; so that He had not really
been born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, nor really died upon the
Cross, nor really risen from the dead, nor really ascended into
heaven. When, therefore, the holy St. Dominic came to labor
among these miserable heretics, and wished both to reclaim those
who had been already deceived, and to confirm in the true faith
those souls that had not yet been corrupted, he instituted this form
of prayer, in which the whole history of our Lord's life, passion,
and resurrection, is brought before our minds, to be thought about
and meditated upon in prayer by means of what are called the joy-
ful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries. I do not mean to say but
that the practices of frequently reciting Our Father and the Hail
Mary, and of counting the number of prayers by means of stones,
beads, or other such marks, were far more ancient than the days of
St. Dominic; but the union of these two practices in that particular
form which we still use, and which we call the Rosary, was certainly
first made by him, and for the purpose we have mentioned, viz.,
deeply to impress upon the minds and hearts of the people the great
fundamental truth of Christianity, ' God made man.' It was, in
fact, an abridgment of the whole Gospel history — the sum and sub-
stance of the Gospel put into a short and simple form, which even
the poorest and most ignorant could frequently repeat and easily re-
member: nor can we doubt that it was by a special inspiration from
heaven that St. Dominic Avas led to establish a devotion which has
become so universal in the Church, and which has been so abund-
antly blessed to the instruction and salvation of souls" (Points of
History, p. 99).
It is but proper to say that the ascription to St. Dominic of the
institution of the Rosary, and of the practice of meditating on the
Mysteries during its recitation, have been questioned by Catholic
290
NOTES
writers. A very elaborate discussion of these questions may be
found in the Acta Sanctorum (Aug. , T. I. ). In quoting as we have
done, in order to illustrate the poems, we do not pretend to pass any
judgment on the questions in dispute, but have endeavored merely
to make the historical allusions clear.
The second instance of the assistance rendered by the Blessed
Virgin, namely, at the battle of Lepanto, is worthy of greater space
than may be accorded it in our comments. The battle deserves to
be ranked among the decisive battles of the world. It ' ' arrested
forever the danger of Mahometan invasion in the south of Europe,"
says Alison. St. Pius V., of whom Ranke has left us such a glow-
ing portrait, was then in the Chair of Peter (1571). ." It is not to
be supposed," says Cardinal Newman (The Turks, iii, $ 6), "that
a Saint on whom lay the ' solicitude of all the churches,' should
neglect the tradition which his predecessors of so many centuries
had bequeathed to him, of zeal and hostility against the Turkish
power. lie was only six years on the pontifical throne, and the
achievement of which I am going to speak was among his last; he
died the following year. At this time the Ottoman armies were
continuing their course of victory; they had just taken Cyprus, with
the active cooperation of the Greek population of the island, and
were massacring the Latin nobility and clergy, and mutilating and
flaying alive the Venetian governor. Yet the Saint found it im-
possible to move Christendom to its own defence. How, indeed,
was that to be done, when half Christendom had become Protestant,
and secretly perhaps felt as the Greeks felt, that the Turk was its
friend and ally ? In such a quarrel England, France and Germany,
were out of the question. At length, however, with great effort he
succeeded in foaming a holy league between himself, King Philip of
Spain, and the Venetians . . . Meanwhile, the Ottomans were scour-
ing the Gulf of Venice, blockading the ports, and terrifying the
city itself. But the holy Pope was securing the success of his cause
by arms of his own, which the Turks understood not. He had been
appointing a Triduo of supplication at Rome, and had taken part in
the procession himself. He had proclaimed a jubilee to the whole
Christian world for the happy issue of the war. He had been in-
teresting the Holy Virgin in his cause. He presented to his ad-
miral, after high mass in his chapel, a standard of red damask,
embroidered with a crucifix, and with the figures of St. Peter and
St. Paul, and the legend, k In hoc signo vinces' . . . Accordingly,
291
NOTES
a fast of three days was proclaimed for the fleet, beginning with the
Nativity of our Lady (Sept. 8) . . .At length, on the seventh of
October, they found the Turkish fleet half way between Lepanto and
the Echinades on the North, and Patras, in the Morea, on the South.
. . . The night before the battle, and the day itself, aged as he
was, and broken with a cruel malady, the Saint had passed in the
Vatican in fasting and prayer. All through the Holy City the
monasteries and the colleges were in prayer also. As the evening
advanced the pontifical treasurer asked an audience of the Sovereign
Pontiff on an important matter. Pius was in his bedroom, and be-
gan to converse with him, when suddenly he stopped the conversa-
tion, left him, threw open the window and gazed up into heaven.
Then closing it again, he looked gravely at his official, and said
* This is no time for business; go, return thanks to the Lord God.
In this very hour our fleet has engaged the Turks, and is victorious.'
As the treasurer went out, he saw him fall on his knees before the
altar in thankfulness and joy. And a most memorable victory it
was: upwards of 30,000 Turks are said to have lost their lives in the
engagement, and 3,500 were made prisoners. Almost their whole
fleet was taken. I quote from Protestant authorities when I say
that the Sultan, on the news of the calamity, neither ate, nor drank,
nor showed himself, nor saw any one for three days; that it was the
greatest blow which the Ottomans had had since Timour's victory
over Bajazet, a century and a half before; nay, that it was the turn-
ing-point in the Turkish history, and that, though the Sultans have
had isolated successes since, yet from that day they undeniably and
constantly declined; that they have lost their prestige and their self-
confidence, and that the victories gained over them since are but the
complements and reverberations of the overthrow at Lepanto."
The Breviary, in the 5th Lesson of the Feast (Fest. SS. Eosarii)
associates this victory with the Rosary: " Nam cum ilia ipsa die
victoria relata sit, qua die sanctissimi Eosarii sodalitates per univer-
sum orbem consuetas supplication es peragerent, statutasque preces
de more funderent, iis precibus haud immerito refertur accepta."
The poem recalls the prophetic promise of victory, made by Pius
to his admiral:
Mirum ex hoste triumphum
Fatidico edixit praesciura ore Pius.
Eohrbacher refers to this in his history (Vol. 12, p. 739): "II
[sc. Pius V.] manda au generalissime que 1' unique moyen de salut
292
NOTES
etait une bataille ; il lni predisait la victoire, mais en lui recoui-
mandant de s'y preparer chretiennement et de renvoyer de son armee
tous les gens de niauvaise vie." The vision of the triumph subse-
quently vouchsafed to the Pope agreed with the event: " Tous en-
semble noterent le jour et l'heure de la vision du Saint-Pere; 7 oc-
tobre, cinquieme heure apres midi. C etait bien l'heure ou triom-
phait la croix dans le golf de Lepante " (ib., p. 740).
In his encyclical for October, 1895, the Pope speaks of the project
of erecting at Patras, on the Gulf of Lepanto, a basilica in honor of
Our Lady of Victory, to stand as a perpetual memorial of gratitude
and veneration : ' ' Illud spectamus propositum . . . quod in per-
nobili Conventu eucharistico, Hierosolymis acto, initium duxit,
templi videlicet exaedificandi in honorem Reginae sacratissimi Ros-
arii; idque Patrae in Achaia, non procul a locis ubi olim nomen
christianum, ea auspice, eluxit. Ut enim a Consilio quod rei pro-
vehendae curandoque operi, probantibus Nobis, constitutum est,
perlibentes accepimus, iam plerique vestrum rogati, collaticiam sti-
pem omni diligentia in id submiserunt; etiam polliciti, se deinceps
non dissimi liter adfore usque ad operis perfectionem. Ex quo satis
iam est consultum, ut ad molitionem quae amplitudini rei conveniat,
aggredi liceat: factaque est a Nobis potestas ut propediem auspicalis
templi lapis sollemnibus caeremoniis ponatur. Stabit templum,
nomine christiani populi, monumentum perennis gratiae Adiutrici
et Matri caelesti; quae ibi et latino et graeco ritu assidue invocabi-
tur, et Vetera beneficia novis usque velit praesentior cumulare."
His Eminence Cardinal Parocchi was placed at the head of the Com-
mission having the work in charge. The basilica, with convents
and schools attached, will be a noble memorial and monument.
IN OBITU JOSEPHI PECCI.
Cardinal Joseph Pecci, brother of the Pope, died in the year 1890.
His life had been devoted to the study of philosophy. He taught
this branch at the seminary of Perugia, until nominated by Pius IX.
to the chair of philosophy in the Eoman University. He took part
in the work of several philosophical and theological Commissions
which prepared matter for the deliberations of the Vatican Council.
After the capture of Rome, he refused to take the oath of loyalty
exacted by the new government from professors of the universities,
and was in consequence compelled to resign. He contined, how-
ever, to give lectures in philosophy at the Institute for Higher
293
NOTES
Studies founded by Pius IX. to replace the secularized Roman Uni-
versity. Mgr. de T'Serclaes (I., p. 522), from whom I have taken
these details, adds a pathetic incident of the illness which shortly
preceded his death. Experiencing in 1888 a first attack of apoplexy,
he detached himself more and more from the things of the world.
He collected an immense mass of manuscripts, the fruits of his long
years of study, and commanded that they should be burnt. Seeing
the flames devour in a moment the product of labors so prolonged,
he was momentarily troubled, but immediately regained his cheer-
fulness, and with his own hands fanned the flames. Some one re-
proached him for having thus caused an irreparable loss to the study
of Christian philosophy. "I have formed disciples," he replied,
" who will expound my views better than myself." Neveitheless,
we cannot but regret (adds the writer I quote), the destruction of
these manuscripts. They comprised very important works; amongst
others, a critical history of the modern systems of philosophy.
Cardinal Joseph Pecci died on the 8th of February, 1890, having
received in perfect consciousness the sacraments of Holy Church.
" Sa mort fut un coup douloureux pour Leon XIII, qui avait tou-
jours porte a son fr ere Joseph 1' affection la plus tendre. II exhala
sa douleur dans une touchante £legie en vers latins. Les deux
freres y sont representee echangeant par-delale tombeau les effusions
de leur sentiments affectueux. Joseph encourage Joachim du haut
du ciel et 1' engage a se preparer a la mort en pleurant ses peches.
Joachim, du sein des flots agites du monde, promet d'obeir a ses
paroles et implore son secours. Ce dialogue est un petit chef-d'oeuvre
de poesie mystique et de sentiment " (/. c).
The text is an emendation of a previous draft appearing in an
Italian journal. It should be interesting to note the emendations:
Joseph.
Iustitiae factum satis est ; admissa piavi (1st)
Iustitiae factum satis est; poenisque solutum (2d).
Numine propitio tibi sint cum fenore multo
Felices initi pro relligione labores (1st)
Sic tibi felices, largo sic fenore digni
Sint initi sancta pro relligione labores (2d).
Joachim.
Enitar gemitu lacrimisqne abstergere culpas (1st)
Incensa ex imo ducens suspiria corde
Ploratu maculas delere enitar amaro (2d).
294
NOTES
Both poems are highly praised for their affcctionateness, brevity
and classical finish.
AD SOD ALES AKCADICOS.
The "Arcadia" was founded in Home in 1690. Tiraboschi
(Storia della Lett. Ital, T. VIII, lib. 1) notices the many " academ-
ies" founded in Italy in the 17th century. Of those nourishing in
Eome, he mentions some of greater or lesser prominence, passes
over in silence those which left behind them no printed monuments
other than their names, and comes down to speak at some length of
the "Arcadia," of which, in after years, he himself became a mem-
ber: " Di phi distinta e piii onorevol menzione sarebbe degna
1' Arcadia fondata in Roma nel 1690, perciocche il fine, che questa
illustre adunanze si prefisse, basterebbe esso solo a renderne memora-
bile e glorioso il nome." The great purpose on which he compli-
ments the Arcadia, was to wage war on the bad taste (il pessimo
gusto) prevailing over nearly all of Italy, and to bring Poetry back
to the path from which she had wandered far. With the great
names connected with its foundation we have no present concern.
It was made immortal afterwards by the names of Metastasio, Parini,
Alfieri, mentioned or referred to by Leo XIII. in this poem.
" Arcadia" was a happy and significant name for the new society.
Its pastoral simplicity challenged the other fantastic titles, "come
quelle de' Parteni, de' Malincolici, degli Intricati, degli Uniformi,
de' Delfici, de' Fantastici, de' Negletti, degli Infecondi," etc.
Virgil had made Arcady his own in the Bucolics, and Horace had
delicately acknowledged the fact by the close connection he makes
between the names (Od. iv, 12):
Dicunt in tenero gramine pinguium
Custodes ovium carmina fistula,
Delectantque deum, cui pecus et nigri
Colles Arcadiae placent.
"Beside his full-fed sheep, the swain
In tender grass, indites the strain,
And charms the god, that loves to see
The dusky hills of Arcady." -Gladstone's transl.
The muse was indeed to return to Arcadian simplicity; but the
simplicity was to be ennobled by art and classicism. The Arcades
ambo of Virgil did not mean, as we mistranslate it nowadays, " both
sweet innocents" or "fools alike;" but
295
NOTES
Et cantare pares, et respondere parati (Eel, vii);
or as the Pope's poem quotes (Eel., x, 32):
Soli cantare periti *
Arcades.
No special significance attaches, so far as I know, to the name
Neander Heracleus, which the young Pecci received on his admit-
tance to the Academy in 1832. It was a relic of the older spirit of
the Eenaissance. Hausschein became Oecolampadius; Schwarzerd,
Melanchthon, etc., while Metastasio, in later times, covered over
the humbler name of Trapassi. Sometimes the Greek name was
not a translation of the vernacular, however, nor, as in the case of
Metastasio, signified even the " changing" of one name into another.
Before publishing his Arcadia, Sannazaro had joined a literary
society, and had changed his name into Azio Sincero. Had the
fashion any connection with the pleasant identification which Virgil
makes of himself with Tityrus in the 6th Eclogue? It is not, in-
deed, likely; although the fanciful Arcadia of the poets had grown
almost into a reality from the Arcadia of Sannazaro and that of Sir
Philip Sidney, and the Arcades of Milton.
Keminiscences of the Eclogues shine throughout the Pope's poem.
It is, of course, unnecessary to give illustrations of this close inspira-
tion. The biographic details alluded to by the Pope may not, per-
haps, be equally familiar to all the readers of the poem. Metastasio
was made imperial laureate by Charles VI. :
Agnovit vatem Caesaris aula suum.
Parini was the greatest Italian satirist of his day— " scourged the
follies of his time:"
Te ne ego sublirui sileam metuende flagello—
and excelled also in lyric poetry:
Carmine saepe ausum grandia pindarico.
Although successful in lyric, satiric, and dramatic verse, and attain-
ing to many honors— (he was elected to membership in many literary
societies, such as the Transformati in Milan, the Arcadia in Kome;
was professor of literature in two institutions; and was highly hon-
296
NOTES
ored by the Emperor Leopold and by Bonaparte) — nevertheless he
was as poor at the end of his career as at its commencement:
Patria, magne senex, te Insubria vidit egentein—
but his renown has survived his death, and is being more and more
vindicated by the cooler judgment of to-day. The Pope is quite
within the bounds of accuracy:
Vindex posteritas te supra astra locat.
Alfieri created a new era of tragedy in Italy; and after discovering
his talent, labored most energetically, producing fourteen tragedies
in seven years. He also translated some plays of Aeschylus, Sopho-
cles and Euripides:
Visus, qui tragicum spiralis, e littore graio
Ausoniis Sophoclen mente animoque refers.
The London Tablet (Jan. 13, 1900) contained this comment on
Parini, without mention of Metastasio or Alfieri:
"The following distichs have been composed by His Holiness
quite recently in memory of Giuseppe Parini:
Te ne ego sublimi sileam rnetuende flagello
Carmine saepe ausum grandia pindarico ?
Patria, magne senex, te Insubria vidit egentem
Vindex posteritas te super astra locat.
"The temperament of Parini differed widely from that of Leo
XIII ; his was acrid, violent, unsparing ; the Pope's is exactly the
reverse. But both are shown to have many points of resemblance
when we remember that, leaving the poets of North Europe out of^
count for the sake of argument, Parini was probably the greatest
satirist since the days of Juvenal, though possessed of qualities which
made him resemble both Virgil and Horace, as the Cardinal Vice-
Chancellor has shown in an eloquent discourse. In a double way,
therefore, he resembles the poet-Pope, who has celebrated him in
verse.
Patria, magne senex, te Insubria vidit egentem,
sings Leo XIII.
La mia povera madre nou ha pane
Le non da me, ed io non ho danaro
Da mantenerla almeno per domane,"
sings Parini himself.
297
NOTES
Vindex posteritas te supra astra locat,
sings the Pope, as Monti sang :
Cor di Dante e del suo duca il canto !
comparing the poet-priest to Virgil. The Consult ore Pecci saved
Parini after the death of the Count Fermian and the poet's refusal
to versify in honor of Maria Teresa, and the verses of Leo XIII are
likely to be as well remembered as the friendship of the Consultore.
About the same time that he set himself to celebrate Parini. and thus
to rob civil Italy of the honor of paying due honor to its eighteenth-
century poet on the centenary of his death, Leo XIII turned the
following sonnet of Professor E. Frontini into flowing verses, illus-
trated the original poem with an Italian note, and signed his own
dear academic name of Neander Heracleus."
Then follows the Sonnetto with its version into Latin elegiacs:
SONNETTO.
Dal poggio occidental deH'Appennino 1
Discendi, o linfa di perenne vena,
E, abbandonato il natural cammiuo,
Riguadagna la cima entro Turrena.
Qui accolta nell'ampissirno bacino,
Dove l'arte mostro sua maggior lena,
Al grarno e all'opulento cittadino
Vieni a far lieta e salutar la cena.
Salve, o figliuola della pia Natura,
Acqua, ristoro all'aniraal famiglia,
Che da rei mordi teco si assicura.
E tu, salve, deH'uom provvido ingegno,
Che or con una or con altra meraviglia
D'Igea propaghi il benedetto regno.
— G. Prof. Frontini.
*) Dalle roccie dell'Appennino Umbro, a Bagnara presso Nocera, sgorga
1'acqua che periti ingegneri idraulici, superando le non lievi difficolta del
lungo cammino, hanno condotto a Perugia. Declinando a destra del Sub-
asio, essa percorre l'estesa pianura di Assisi, e riguadagna la cima a Monte
Ripido, elevatissimo colle che domina la vestusta Turrena. Lassu e raccolta
in un vasto bacino, appositamente or costruito, stupenda opera d'arte per
solidita ed eleganza de stile; e di la scende e diramasi in citta perdiversi
canali, uno de'quali va ad alimentare la monumentale fontanadi piazza del
Duomo.— The Pope's note.
298
NOTES
PAPAPHRASIS.
E colle occiduo, qua nubifer Appenninus
Attollit frontem, Candida lympha, veni.
Oblita aerei montis praerupta vagari
Per saxa infrenis praecipitesque vias.
Hue iam fiecte iter, hue propera tranquilla per Umbram
Labere substructo fornice planitiem ;
Mox celerans cursum, regalia moenia et arces *
Fortis Turrenae scande et amoena iuga.
Turn subito e latebra erumpens, deeurre perarnplum
In labrum, excellens nobilis artis opus ;
Subiectaeque urbi iugi ac praedivite vena
Provida defer opes, Candida lympha, tuas,
Inque domos deducta, patrumque humilisque popelli
Perge salutifero rore hilarare dapes.
Prodesse o cunctis assueta animantibus, o quae
Frigidula et dulcis languida membra levas,
Pepellis morbos, prohibes contagia dira,
Salve naturae filia lympha piae!
Tuque o mens hominum salve, quae lenis Hygeae
Miris usque modis provehis imperium !
—Neander Heracleus.
VIVAT CHRISTUS QUI DILIG1T FKANCOS (p. 196).
This poem was sent by His Holiness to Cardinal Langenieux,
Archbishop of Kheims, apropos of the proposed celebration at
Kheims, of the 14th centenary of the conversion of Clovis. The
commemoration seems to have moved the heart of the Pope very
powerfully, for besides two letters which he sent to the Cardinal ap-
proving the proposed celebration, and lilled with affection for the
French people, he subsequently wrote a congratulatory letter, dated
Oct. 28, 1896, on the outpouring of religious zeal manifested during
this "Jubilee year" of the French nation. From these letters as
well as from the Pastoral of Card. Langenieux announcing the Papal
approbation and special favors granted, it will be interesting to ex-
tract some passages illustrating the poem.
After the noble prelude of the first stanza, the Pope recalls the
occasion that led to the conversion of Clovis. To understand some-
J) Nonnulla Imperii romani numismata titulum praeferunt Perudae
augustae.
299
NOTES
thing of the enthusiastic view of this event taken by all Catholics,
and especially by all Catholic French hearts, we must leave the
desiccated narratives of modern historians and hie us back to St.
Gregory of Tours, to Alcuin and to Hincmar. Guizot ( Memoires
sur V Histoire de France, T. L, p. viii) remarks that: "De tous les
monumens qu'il nous a transmis sur ce long et sombre chaos, le plus
important est, a coup sur, V histoire ecclesiatique des Francs de
Gregoire de Tours; titre singulier et qui revele le secret de l'etat
social a cette epoque. Ce n'est pas 1' histoire distincte de l'Eglise,
ce n'est pas non plus 1' histoire civile et politique seule qu'a voulu
retracer l'ecrivain; l'une et 1' autre se sont offertes en meme temps a
sa pensee, et tellement unies qu'il n'a pas cru pouvoir les separer.
Le clerge et les Francs, c'etait alors en effet toute la societe, la seule
du moins qui prit part vraiement aux evenemens et put pretendre a
une histoire." Guizot seems to find fault with this treatment, since
he continues: "Le reste de la population vivait et mourait miserable,
inactif, ignore." I shall not pause to quarrel with his implied criti-
cism, but shall merely call attention to the fact which he signalizes,
namely, that to St. Gregory's mind, France and its religion were to
be inseparable companions; that, to the French mind, Gesta Dei per
Francos was not merely a chronicle, but as well a symbolism; and
that, for its war-cry, France took the words Noel! Noel! and thus
recalled the Christmas night of the year 476, when France, in the
baptism of Clovis, became the " eldest daughter of the Church." A
nation was born on the natal day of Christ the Saviour. The oldest
narratives of the baptism of Clovis are redolent of this interfusion of
religious and national aspirations. And it is not strange that the
14th centenary of the event should have moved the Pope to write a
poem summarizing the grand story of France into a condensed
Gesta Dei.
Teutonum pressus Clodoveus armis. — "The queen," says Gregory
(lib. ii), " ceased not to implore the king to acknowledge the true
God and to give up his idols; but he could not be prevailed on to do
this until, in a war with the Allemanni, he was forced by necessity
to confess what until then he had wished to deny. It came to pass
that in an engagement marked by great slaughter [in 496, at Tol-
biac (?) now Ziilpich, near Cologne], Clovis, perceiving that his
army was being cut to pieces, raised his hands towards heaven, and
exclaimed with tears: 'Jesus Christ, whom Clothilde declares to be
the Son of the living God, who art said to help them that are in
300
NOTES
danger, and to grant victory to them that hope in Thee, I devoutly
invoke Thy help; if Thou wilt grant me victory over my enemies,
if I experience that power of which the people consecrated to Thy
name declare they have received so many proofs, I will believe in
Thee and be baptized in Thy name " This long prayer is
summarized in the third stanza of the poem. Hincmar, in his Life
of St. Remigius (c. 24), introduces Aurelian as speaking to the king
in almost the same words as the poem: " Uomine mi rex, crede
modo Deum coeli quem domina mea regina praedicat, et dabit tibi
ipse rex regum et Deus coeli atque terrae victoriam."
Illico excussus pavor, etc. — Gregory: u As he said these words, the
Allemanni turned and fled; and seeing that their king was dead, sur-
rendered to Clovis."
Itemis te manet infulata f route sacerdos. — At the request of Clotilda,
St. Remigius (Remi), bishop of Rheims, began to instruct Clovis in
Christianity. Several bishops, including those of Chartres and
Soissons, together with many priests, joined in this apostolate which
had for its catechumens a whole army. Finally the great day of
baptismal regeneration was at hand (Christinas, 496). St. Gregory
of Tours and Hincmar have left us glowing descriptions of the cere-
mony, which have been pleasingly condensed by Darras (Eng.
transl. ): " The baptismal fonts of St. Martin's, the great church of
Rheims, were magnificently adorned; the nave was decorated with
white hangings; the same emblematic color also appeared in the
dress of Clovis and the other catechumens chosen from among the
flower of the Salians. On Christmas night (A. D. 476), all the
streets were tapestried from the king's palace to the basilica; the
church blazed with a thousand fires shed from richly perfumed
tapers. The procession moved on towards the basilica, preceded by
the Cross and the book of Gospels borne in state. St. Remigius led
the king by the hand; they were followed by queen Clotilda, and
the two prinoesses Albofleda and Lantilda, sisters of Clovis. Up-
ward of three thousand officers and nobles of the court, all dressed
in white ornaments, were going to receive baptism with their king."
These details are more summarily given in the first two paragraphs
of the letter containing the papal grant of a Jubilee (dated Jan. 8,
1896). The Pope next remarks that the union of the scattered ter-
ritories of the Frankish realm was brought about rather by divine
assistance than by the civil or military exploits of Clovis; and that
France began thenceforward to flourish and to merit well of Catho-
301
NOTES
licity; and draws the conclusion stated in the poem (Et cohors omnis
populusque dio tingitur amne): " Non igitur sine causa affirmant, in
eo ipso commemorabili Baptismate totam simul Galliam fuisse quo-
dammodo renovatam, consecutaeque peramplae eius claritudinis inde
extitisse primordia."
Te [Honiara] colet matrem; tua maior esse gestiet natu. — St. Anas-
tasius II, in his Letter to Clovis, utters the same thought: "Glorious
son, your entrance into the Christian fold coincides with the begin-
ning of our pontificate. . . . May you become our crown ; and may
the Church, your Mother, applaud the progress of the great king she
has brought forth unto God. Be the joy of your mother." This
letter, printed by d'Achery in his Spicilegium, and subsequently
reprinted by him and by others, is considered spurious by Julien
Havet {Questions Merovingiennes, II., Les Decouvertes de Jerome
Vignier. Paris, 1885. ) France has always rejoiced in the title of
" eldest daughter of the Church." The Pope recalls this title in his
second letter (Oct. 28, 1896) to Card. Langenieux : "Mais ce qui
nous a surtout rejoui et console, c'est la tres noble ardeur que vous
deployez pour amener vos concitoyens a repondre, comme le firent
leurs ai'eux, a Notre toute particuliere affection pour la Fille ainee
de l'Eglise."
JDomitor feroeis fulget Astolfi.—'Peym le Bref. Singularly enough,
the Oivilta Gattolica. commenting very briefly on the poem, mentions
Charlemagne and omits Pepin.
Sociasque in unum cogite vires. — " Cette commemoration nous a etc"
d' autant plus agreable qu'elle offrait au peuple franeais une occasion
plus excellente de puiser des energies nouvelles pour ranimer, accro-
itre meme les gloires de la foi des ancetres et de renouveler ... les
engagements pris jadis an jour du bapteme." (Letter of Pope Leo
XIII. to Card. Langemeux, Oct. 28, 1896. )
Nil Fide Christi prius. — This last stanza recalls the prophecy of
St. Kemigius to Clovis, on the eve of his baptism: "Your posterity
shall nobly govern this kingdom, bring glory to Holy Church, and
inherit the empire of the Komans. As long as it follows the path of
truth and virtue, it will not cease to prosper. But its fall will follow
the invasion of vice and corrupt morals." Darras (Vol. 14, p. 86)
remarks: "La prophe'tie de 1' £veque de Eeims au berceau de la
monarchic francaise s'est e'galement realisee au pied de la lettre.
Plus la France s'ecartera des voies de la v^ritd et de la vertu, plus
elle precipitera sa propre ruine."
302
NOTES
I can not forbear to translate a part of the admirable Pastoral of
Card. Langenieux: "The year 1896 brings the fourteen hundredth
anniversary of a providential event, which has already fixed the his-
toric and religious destinies of the French nation, and which remains
the glory of our city of Rheims. For indeed it was not merely a
barbarian leader, but a whole people whom St. Eemi baptized on
Christmas day of the year 49G; and this memorable date makes an
epoch in the history of modern times. The effects of the conversion
of Clovis were felt in the very confines of the people of Gaul; and it
loses nothing when placed in comparison with the conversion, so
important for the Church, of Constantine, in a preceding age. It
really inaugurated in the West a new order of things; and, by as-
suring definitely to the Franks a predominance amongst the king-
doms started in the fifth century by the invading barbarians, it gave
to the Holy See that support which was humanly indispensable if it
was to survive the destruction of the Empire and upon its ruins
build up, out of other materials, the Christian civilization which we
now enjoy. The baptistery of Rheims has become, therefore, the
cradle of this Christian France, the first-born daughter of the
Church. She has received from Christ a special mission of devotion
to the Papacy; above all things is she honored by her service in the
apostolate of God amongst the nations. And now, my dear breth-
ren, when a nation has for fourteen centuries lived on such an act of
faith; when it has carried in its bosom, as a clear privilege, that
original compact which became the law, of its history; when it has
been able to demonstrate, by the material evidence of facts, that the
interests of its own policy as a state have been always inseparably
blended in the world with the very interests of God; and that, fol-
lowing the example of the elect race of biblical times, it has seen its
prosperity, with all its glories, increase or decrease in proportion as
it has been faithful or faithless to its mission; it is proper, if it
should find opportunity, to recall, by prayer, thanksgiving and re-
pentance, the far-off memory of its first days; it is proper that it
should silence, for a time, the tumult of current affairs; that it
should look up to God, and, confronting its own image the better to
know itself, should read again, in the truth and splendor of its his-
tory, the divine bond that unites it to Christ." Concerning the
Letters sent by His Holiness, the Cardinal says: The Sovereign
Pontiff ' ' conjures the France of Clovis not to depart from its provi-
dential pathway; l to remain faithful to its genius and its Christian
303
NOTES
destinies;' to reawaken in its bosom ' the active and militant faith of
past ages;' and to continue still to be in the hands of God ' a mighty-
weapon for the defense of the Church, and for the spreading of the
social kingdom of Christ upon earth.' He invites all 'the sons of
the French fatherland' to turn their eyes and hearts towards our
ancient national baptistery and the glorious tomb of St. Remi. . . .
He reminds them that ' the abandonment of the principles consti-
tuting their power till now, will infallibly lead to their decay, and
will hand them over defenceless to the enemies of property, of the
family, and of society.' He urges them to banish every germ of
political dissension and to be united in truth, justice and charity, as
children of the same Father, in order to proclaim in a national act
of faith, above all lassitudes and divisions, the idee fran(;aise; that
is to say, the eternal design which God has had for our country."
This is almost a perfect summary of the Pope' s Ode.
DEO ET VIRGINI INSTANTE MORTE VOTA (p. 206).
The poem appears to have been written by His Holiness origi-
nally in Italian, and comprised only the first twelve lines as found
in our text. It was sent by him to Cesare Cantu, u the Prince of
Church historians," and appeared in an Italian journal together
with a Eisposta by the avvocato Giov. Sinistri and a translation into
Latin elegiacs by " Un Sacerdote." This Latin version is given
below.
Jam prope deciduus se sol abscondit, et aurea
Luce tibi inspergit ternpora cana, Leo.
Exustae venae ; sensimque extinguitur arens
Vita ; suum torquet pallida mors iaculum.
Frigida funereo mox membra teguntur amictu,
Urnaque mortales colligit exuvias.
At rapidus, vinclis abruptis, explicat alas
Spiritus in coelum ; sidera anbelus avet.
Hoc opus, hie labor, haec longarum meta viarum :
Sancta haec care, precor, perfice vota, Deus.
Et si quid merui, da animam hanc in regna beata,
Namque tuus favor est, scandere Teque frui.
JULIO STERBINIO FAMILIARI (p. 208).
The poem appears in the text much changed from the following,
which was probably the original draft:
304
NOTES
IVLIO STERBINIO.
FAMILIARI.
Iuli munus habe, Cor Iesv: * manat abunde
Inde salutiferse vena perennis aquae.
Quern lesu de Corde fiuens lustraverit unda,
Abstergi labes sentiet ille suas.
Tu quoque iam propera ad fontem, hoc te merge lavacro ;
Pulchrior evenies et nive candidior—
Mergeris : en subito detersus lucida cselo
Figere vividius lumina munda vales ;
Queerere nee caelum cessas ; insana cupido
Si quando illecebris urgeat in vetitum,
Reiicis indignans : animum tenet una voluptas
Divinis mentem pascere deliciis.
Atque, imo quae corde latent, arcana recludens
Ad Jesum perhibes te magis usque trahi
Vi dulci et grata ; benefacta et dona recenses
Quae tibi munifica contulit Ipse manu—
Sic tua sit semper virtus, tua gloria Iesus !
Et tuus incenso pectore iugis amor:
Invictum robur dura in certamina vitee,
Fulgida lux signans tutum iter ad patriam!
-Leo XIII.
OB NUPTIAS ALPHONSI STERBINI ET JULIAE
PIZZIKANI (p. 214).
Written as late as the year 1897, this pretty Epithalamium is a
convincing proof that, with some hearts, the sympathies of life only
grow mellower with age. The venerable Pontiff had not merely
attained the proverbial three-score years and ten, but had exceeded
that limit by more than three added lusters; and still his heart could
enter into the joyous forecastings of youth. Which of his themes
should be considered more " humanizing" than this? His verse is
not, however, full of airy nothings about Cupid and Hymen. He
sees in that ' ( world-without-end bargain" (as the Princess styles it
in Love's Labor's Lost), a great Christian sacrament, to be placed
under the protecting wing of the Virgin of Pompeii, and to be ren-
dered more and more holy by the continued blessings of heaven. It
* An. MDCCCXCVII. Leo XIII. depictam divini Cordis lesu tabulam Iulio
Sterbinio eiusque filiis dono dedit.
305
NOTES
is interesting to note that the Pope answers his own query: "Whence
this love? ( Unde amor istef)" by a Latin verse which is the equiva-
lent of
Two souls with but a single thought,
Two hearts that beat as one.
Scilicet, he says, simile ingenium; that is, two souls with but a single
thought: and he assigns as a second reason, parilis voluntas ; that is,
two hearts that beat as one. We scarce could escape — nor, indeed,
wished to do so— the influence which the old thought and the old
jingle exercised in shaping the suggestion of the first stanza of the
translation.
AD FABRICIUM RUFUM (p. 216).
The text given in this volume is a revision of the Epistle as it
originally appeared. Some lines have been added, many have been
altered, and the succession of topics has been slightly introverted.
Altogether, the text has been so changed as to render interesting the
following comparison of the two drafts of the poem. The first seven
lines are identical in both poems. The original text:
Albana e cella iubeas purissima vina
Apponi ; exhilarant animos curasque resolvunt
appears revised as follows:
Apponi in raensa iubeas purissima vina ;
Et vacuus curis, grato praecordia potu
Demulce et recrea, convivas inter amicos.
After the next two lines the revision inserts:
Candida lyrnpha! datum vix quidquam hoc munere maius,
Vix quidquam varios vitae magis utile in usus.
The next two lines remain unchanged, except that "dapes et,"
appears as " dapes aut."
The next line:
Sume libens, firmandis viribus utilis esca
appears revised as:
Sume libens ; toto nam firmant corpore vires.
306
NOTES
The next two lines:
Sint teuerae carnes ; instructaque fercula spissum
Non ius vel siser inficiat, non fercula coa,
are revised into:
At mollire prius carnes, et fercula cures
Ne siser inficiat, ne faecula coa vel alec.
"Eggs" is the topic next introduced in the original, while the
introversion in the revision brings up immediately that of "milk
and honey." We shall indicate the original text by the letters (O.
T.), and the revision by (It. T.).
Lento igne aut libeat modicis siccare patellis,
Sugere seu mollem pleno sit gratius ore ;
Atque alios sunt ova tibi percommoda in usus. (0. T.)
Leni igne aut libeat modicis siccare patellis,
Sugere seu mollem pleno sit gratius ore;
Utcumque absumas erit utilis esca saluti. (R. T.)
Neve accepta minus spumantis copia lactis:
Nutriit infantem ; senior bene lacte valebis.
Nunc age, et aerei mellis caelestia dona
Profer, et hyblaeo parcus de nectare liba.
Adde suburbano tibi quod succrescit in horto
Dulce olus, et pubens decusso flore legumen ;
Adde et maturos, quos fertilis educat annus,
Delectos fructus, imprimis mitia poma,
Quae pulcre in cistis mensam rubicunda coronent. (O. T.)
Nunc age; provideas tereti defusa catino,
Ne desit mensae spumantis copia lactis.
Nil vitale magis, nil lacte salubrius ; mfans
Qui lac suxisti, senior bene lacte valebis.
Degustanda simul profer dulcissima mella ;
Attamen hyblaeo parcus de nectare liba.
Turn laudata, etc.
Culta suburbano, riguoque virentia in horto
Adde olera et pubens decusso flore legumen.
Adde novos quos laeta refert tibi vinea fructus,
Dulces pampinea decerptos vite racemos,
Pruna admixta pyris, imprimis mitia poma,
Quae pulcre in cistis mensam rubicunda coronent. (R. T.)
Postremo e tostis succedat potio baccis,
Quas tibi Moka ferax, mittunt et littora eoa :
Nigrantem laticem sensim summisque labellis
Sorbilla ; dulcis stomach um bene molliet haustus. (O. T.)
307
NOTES
Postremo e tostis succedat potio baccls,
Quas tibi Moka ferax e littore mittit eoo :
Nigrantein, etc. (R. T.)
The next three lines are unchanged. Then:
Principio hoc illi studium ; cornponere mensas
Ornatu vario, aulaeis ostroque nitentes. (0. T.)
Principio haec illi sollers et sedula cura,
Instruere ornatu mensas cultuque decoras. (R. T.)
The next line is unchanged. Then:
Grandia stant circum longo ordine pocula, aheni
Crateres, paterae, lances, argentea vasa: (O. T.)
Grandia disponit longo ordine pocula, lances,
Caelatas auro pateras, argentea vasa ; (R. T.)
The next three lines are unchanged. Then:
Mollibus et blanda invitat discumbere lectis ; (O. T.)
f Et lectis blanda invitat discumbere eburnis ; (R. T.)
The next ten lines are unchanged. Then :
Carnibus admixti pisces ; conchylia rhombi,
Mollia pectinibus patulis iuncta ostrea, et ampla
In patera squillas inter muraena natantes. (O. T.)
Carnibus admixti pisces ; cum murice rhombi,
Ostrea, et educti Miseno e gurgite echini.
Hos super, immanis patina porrecta nitenti,
Apparet squillas, etc. (R. T.)
The remaining eighteen lines are unchanged.
The extended comparison just made, besides affording a pleasant
peep into the literary work-shop of the august author, serves to point
the necessity for a new translation No version made from the origi-
nal draft could well be confronted with the revised poem, amended,
enlarged and introverted as this is. The necessity under which we
lay, of furnishing a new translation, affords us an opportunity of
paying a tribute to the exquisite version made by Andrew Lang from
the original text. We have followed his example in using the
rhymed iambic pentameter couplet of Pope, but have been more
careful to make the number of lines in the translation the same as
308
NOTES
in the Latin text, and — doubtless at the expense of smoothness and
elegance — to translate as far as possible line for line.
Andrew Lang's translation was cabled to the New York World.
"The Pope's poem," he wrote by way of introduction, "is on the
model of the Epistles of Horace. From the reference to coffee, he
seems to have modern manners in mind, but the ' banquet of greed
reflects the intemperance of ancient Home. The translation is neces-
sarily in the manner of the eighteenth century." We are tempted
to quote from the "Epistle to a Friend," written by the poet Rogers
"in the manner of the eighteenth century," and, indeed, in the
eighteenth century (it was published in 1798), the following perti-
nent illustration :
Vain is the blaze of wealth, the pomp ot power!
Lo, here, attendant on the shadowy hour,
Thy closet-supper, served by hands unseen,
Sheds, like the evening-star, its ray serene
To hail our coming. Not a step profane
Dares, with rude sound, the cheerful rite restrain;
And, while the frugal banquet glows reveal'd,
Pure and unbought— the natives of my field ;
While blushing fruits through scattered leaves invite,
Still clad in bloom, and veil'd in azure light !
With wine, as rich in years as Hoeace sings,
With water, clear as his own fountain flings,
The shifting side-board plays its humbler part,
Beyond the triumphs of a Loriot's art.
The thought and even the expression of the Pope are akin to the
lines of Kogers and, like the " Epistle" of that English poet, are
designed "to illustrate the virtue of True Taste, and to show how
little she requires to secure, not only the comforts, but even the ele-
gancies of life" (from the Preface of Kogers).
It is inquiring rather closely into the poetical prescription of the
Pope to make his suggestions the basis of an elaborate menu. But
one eminent chef essayed such a task. "I have read," he said,
"Pope Leo's poem a dozen times this morning and found it — ah —
sublime. His Holiness has it right. Simple food, delicately pre-
pared, gives health and years. I am a cook, an artist, and I endorse
all that the Pope has written. . . . Give me but two hours and I
will have a menu ready— a menu fit for a prince's stomach. Pooh,
it will be easy." The result of his profound thinking was as
follows:
309
NOTES
Small clams.
Soup.
Cream of artichoke. Madeleine.
Relishes.
Radishes. Almonds. Olives.
Petites duchesses.
Fish.
Boiled brook trout, sauce Grenadine.
Potatoes mousseline.
Entrees.
Beef tenderloin larded. Mercedes.
Breast of chicken. Beaumanoix.
New peas saute in butter.
Sorbets Princesses.
New corn fritters.
Game.
Roast plover on canapes.
Mixed salad.
Dessert.
Mousse of strawberry, imperial.
Fancy cakes. Fruits.
Cafe.
The Epistle hums with echoes of the Epistles and Satires of Hor-
ace. Ofellus, the rustic philosopher, steered a course between osten-
tation and meanness: " Sordidis a tenui victu distabit, Ofello iudice"
(Sat. II. , ii, 53). The menu of the Pope follows his wise suggestion
and compromises well :
Quae virtus et quanta, boni, sit vivere parvo
(Nee meus hie sermo est, sed quae praecepit Ofellus
Rusticus, abnormis sapiens, crassaque Minerva),
Discite, non inter lances mensasque nitentes,
Cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus et cum
Acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat, etc. (Ibid., 1-6.)
The dire consequences of excess in eating and drinking are pointed
out in similar fashion by both poets:
" Simul assis
Miscueris elixa, simul conchylia turdis,
Dulcia se in bilem vertent, stomachoque tumultum
Lenta feret pituita. Vides ut pallidus omnis
Cena desurgat dubia? Quin corpus onustum
Hesternis vitiis animum quoque pergravat una,
Atque affigit humo divinae particulam aurae." (lb., 76-9.)
The last phrase of the Pope's poem, borrowed from Horace, is, of
course, endued with "strength from on high" by its Christian sig-
310
NOTES
nificance, and serves not alone to round out the poem with an ele-
gant rhetorical finish, but as well to dignify the whole Epistle with
a high ethical moral. The Horatian allusions or echoings of the
Epistle need not be indicated here (Cf. Epp. I., v ; Satt. II., iv).
The many changes indicated in the first part of this Note (pp.
306-8) will serve to illustrate how materially the revised text
differs from the original one from which Andrew Lang made his ex-
cellent translation. " The eighteenth century style" was singularly
well suited to the spirit of such a version. It remained, however,
for a fellow-countryman of his to attempt the unique experiment
of "doing" Lang's version into Scotch. The tang of the new
idiom seems to add a spice-like flavor to the wise counsels of the
Epistle. Mr. James D. Law (born in Lumsden, Aberdeenshire,
Scotland) had already published his iC Dreams o' Hame," "Colum-
bia-Caledonia." and many other poems on Scottish and American
topics before essaying this task. Apart from the question of its ex-
cellence—and it is wholly delightful and refreshing— his experiment
should find a place here merely as a tribute to the original of the
Pope and the version of Lang. Mr. Law has kindly permitted it to
appear in this volume for the first time in print.
POEM ON FRUGALITY AND LONG LIFE BY POPE LEO XIII.
ALSO SHOWING FORTH THE EVILS OF GREED AND GLUTTONY.
Done into Scotch.
BY JAMES D. LAW.
I.
Ofellus good, who understood Hippocrates lang syne,
In language plain and pleasant vein has tauld us hoo to dine.
And he has shown us not alone what evils to avoid,
But jotted doun in numbers roun' what things may be enjoyed:
What gies us health far mair than wealth man's best and greatest prize,
And what beta's by Nature's laws to a' that gormandize.
The glutton thus he scores for us in words he doesna spare
And lat's us ken wi' ready pen the rules o' frugal fare.
311
NOTES
II.
Noo first o' a' tho' bare or braw your table maun be neat,
Your linen seen aye fresh and clean, your dishes bricht and sweet,
Your grey-beard pig, if sma' or big, keep primed wi' mountain-dew,
Nae foreign trash in which to splash, but Scotia's choicest brew!
And bena sweir your he'rt to cheer wi' whiles a waught or twa
Provided aye ye dinna try owre aft to drink it raw.
Your hame-baked bread let it be made frae pure selected grain,
And a' the meat that ye may eat be carefu' o' its strain.
Fill up your plate wi' delicate and dairy-flavor' d roasts
But shun wi' care the bill o' fare tbat spice profusely boasts.
And as for eggs, if fresh, by fegs, prepare them as ye please
And ye'll declare they'll brawly sair your hunger to appease.
Of milk drink deep and ever keep sweet heather-honey near
As choice a boon as handed doun frae Heav'n to mortals here.
Pease, lintels, beans, aiid crispy greens in thick abundance use,
Wi' wholesome roots and tasty fruits whene'er ye may them choose ;
Forgettin' nae at least to hae what else ye can afford,
Reid aipples ranked like roses banked to croon your rustic board;
And last of a' a cup (or twa, provided they are wee)
O' Mocha fine, and thus ye'll dine frae aches and ailments free.
III.
By sic repasts ye'll bide the blasts o' mony a lang, lang year
And greet auld age a healthy sage, nor lack for lots o' cheer.
IV.
But something mair as we're aware Ofellus preaches still :
The Path o' Greed that can but lead to ilka kind o' ill.
Greed likes to wile wi' sang and smile the feet o' men astray
A siren she that's kent to be aye watchin' for her prey,
Wi' witchin' airt she plays her pairt and bids the table shine
Wi' claith like snaw embroider'd braw and napkins just as fine.
Pure gowden jugs and siller mugs in raws she ranges roun'
The massy plate that in its state ootweighs a monarch's croon.
Wi' scented sprays and sweet bouquets she lures her devotees
The wines to pree, the meats to see on couches at their ease:
Then brings she oot frae neuks aboot the choicest drinks sbe owns,
And Gluttony wi' honours high, she for the nonce enthrones.
Like bacchanals at country balls her guests drink deep and lang,
312
NOTES
And stuff and strive till like to rive their stammacks sae they pang,
Still lures she on wi' mair anon and finer aye the fare,
'Mang oily Dree, for instance see a spicy pig's the snare,
Then maxikins' legs and lav'rocks' eggs and livers torn frae geese,
And reed-birds rare and doos as fair as ony snaw- white fleece.
In mony a dish flesh mixed wi' fish and clam and oyster stews;
And look! an eel she sets to svveel 'mang prawns wi' gapin' mou's.
The gourmands stare and glut the mair, syne rage and fecht and drink,
Till nae a man is fit to stan' or limp or lisp or wink!
V.
Syne Greed guffaws and croosely craws and in her fiendish glee
The fun arrests and droons her guests like sailors in the sea.
Then brings them back to work them wrack by Indigestion's aid,
And grins again to note their pain and hoo they've been betray'd.
But tho' they sweat and freeze and fret wi' fevers and wi' chills,
And gripe and girn and curse their birn o' self-inflicted ills;
Wi' faces pale and limbs as frail and feckless as can be
The Dish and Cup still buoys them up while they can hear or see;
For Greed yet reigns in a' their brains and letsna up her sway
Till they succumb, deaf blin' and dumb, insensate lumps o' clay!
VI.
What if the Soul greed could control and capture in her snare!
But thank the Lord sic fate abhorr'd oor minds need never scare.
For aifter death has stopped oor breath nae lust can hurt or hairm,
Or e'er molest whae'er may rest in God's protecting Airm;
And weel it's sae, for were it nae and Greed could pass the Grave
Oor pairts divine would perish syne beneath Oblivion's wave!
THE OPENING CENTUEY (p. 224).
It is a curiosity of literature— this classical Alcaic Ode in fourteen
stanzas, written by a nonagenarian pontiff. Its virile thought finds
poetic expression in the Greek form and the Latin phrase loved of
Horace above all other verse. And our wonder grows when we re-
flect that it is the utterance in poetry of the hard lessons of a long
and most active life which has been compelled to spend its energies
on the issues presented by a whole world and almost a century of its
life. In addition to this, a pathetic interest attaches to it in the
thought that it shall be one of the last songs of its august author.
3:3
NOTES
It rapidly became a curiosity of literature for another reason.
Two distinguished men of letters concentrated their best culture on
its translation into English. Andrew Lang's version might well be
an original song, so little does it smell of midnight oil. And
Francis Thompson had almost poetized it into one of his own moods.
Names of- lesser note are in the lengthening list; a list which would
doubtless be very formidable to print, were an accurate canvass to
be made of the current literature of other tongues than English. I
have not made it my concern to look up any versions but English
ones; but a hint of their existence has been furnished to me by an
attempt to render the Ode into German Alcaics, which I find in the
Katholisches Kirchenblatt of Dresden, a copy of which has been sent
to me by a friend (and poet) residing in that city.*
Despite such a long list, a writer who attempts a new version
should really find some more cogent excuse than the goodliness of
the company in whose midst he sins; neither may he fairly allege
the attractiveness of the theme. Gladstone, it must be confessed,
achieved a task requiring the fullest courage of his convictions when
he ventured to publish his translations of the Odes of Horace. A
long series of poets from the lordly Milton downwards had already
essayed the high emprise. "Why," confessed the great statesman,
'•why add to the number?" Why, indeed? And Gladstone felt
himself under a gentle compulsion to answer his own query at some
length. His reasons must be those of the present writer, who also
ventures to add to the English renderings of the Pope' s Ode. But
one of these reasons may be pleaded so justly in the present case,
that a prefatory account of it will not be inappropriate.
Gladstone thought that in translations of the Horatian Odes the
best faithfulness should lie in the direction of reproducing the
crystalline sparkle of the original rather than its material bulk. I
state his thought crudely, and I follow it but partly. It has seemed
to me that the thought — the essential thought — of the Pope might
be made to "pack more neatly" (to quote a critical phrase of
Lowell's) in an English stanza of much shorter syllabic length than
the original Alcaic. It may well be that Lang has done this suc-
cessfully and once for all. None of the renderings is more com-
pressed than his. And it may well be that the present attempt to
lop off four of his twenty-eight syllables has resulted in a mere jew
* Pustet has issued a collection of translations of the Ode into twelve dif-
ferent tongues of Continental Europe.
314
NOTES
de plume. Francis Thompson allows himself six syllables more than
Lang, while most of the others go even beyond this large limit.
It will perhaps prove interesting to compare with the Alcaic orig-
inal of forty -one syllables the variously ranging lengths of the trans-
lations. As the strength of a chain is the strength only of its weak-
est link, the stanza chosen here for illustration is the fifth, which
has proved a veritable crux to the translators, and which has been
both strongly and weakly wl done into English."
In the original this runs:
Vae segregatis Numine legibus !
Quae lex honesti, quae superest fides?
Nutant, semel submota ab aris,
Atque ruunt labefaeta jura.
It is a curious thing that in both of the prose translations pub-
lished, larger syllabic limits are found than in any of the versified
renderings — an illustration of the truth that while prose may be a
good way of saying a good thing, poetry is the best way of saying
the best thing. The Daily Express, London, used forty-six syl-
lables:
Woe ! to all laws deprived of sacred sanction ;
What law of decorum, or what sense of honor now remains?
All institutions nod and totter to their ruin
When once removed from altars.
A contributor to The Sun, New York, contents himself with three
syllables less; but is not correct in translating u honesti '\by "good
man:" " Alas for laws turned away from the Deity! What law,
what faith is left for the good man ? As soon as they are removed
from the altars, all laws totter and fall into ruin."
In verse, the highest limits run but to forty syllables. The fol-
lowing is by the Rev. Father Campbell, S. J.:
Ill fare the laws from which God's name's erased !
All honor perishes and mutual trust :
The Rights of Man are trampled in the dust;
The altar shattered— Justice dies disgraced.
The only woman who has published a translation, as far as I know,
is Fannie Fenton Bayne :
Woe to all laws divorced from sacred right!
Honor, decorum— who their bounds may tell?
Far distant from the altar's hallowed spell
All institutions rush to blackest night !
315
NOTES
Four syllables less are found in the version of Father Cormican,
S. J. , of Boston College :
Woe, woe to laws divorced from God ! What vow
Is kept, what rule of right is left us now ?
Exclude the Altar, and your laws
Have shattered every sacred cause.
Francis Thompson contented himself with two syllables less than
this last example :
Alas for laws dissociate from Awe !
What rests of faith, or honorable law?
Eights, from the altar disallied,
Nod, and to ruin slide.
William Hayes Ward, in the Independent, uses a three-lined stanza,
of thirty syllables :
Woe when man's law the law of God defies !
What faith can stay, once from God's altar rent?
Then justice faints and falls, and honor dies.
Ten syllables have thus far been retrenched. As the limit de-
creases, the difficulty, of course, increases. Andrew Lang used but
twenty-eight syllables and, with slight ambiguity of meaning, moved
with evident freedom within this ' ' narrow plot of ground ' ' :
Woe for a time of godless laws !
What faith, what loyalty abides?
Torn from the shrines the ancient cause
To ruin glides.
Equal limits with these were observed by the Very Rev. William
Byrne, V. G., of Boston, in what he styled a '' Free Translation " :
Alas for laws
Dissevered from the base of law divine :
What rights secure remain to me or mine,
Or God's own Cause ?
The sequence of the above illustrations is logical, not chrono-
logical. It is somewhat strange that Lang and Thompson, who were
first in the field and who were content to move within narrow limits,
achieving, withal, such notable success, should have been followed
by so many who either repeated or exceeded their limits. Perhaps
the desire for greater literalness was the motive. But has not the
Ode's pungency been lost in the dilution of the syllabic vehicle? It
316
NOTES
should be remarked, nevertheless, that this fifth stanza, while it may
properly be selected as typical of the difficulties encountered in trans-
lation,' can scarcely be considered, in the translations given above, as
typical of the various successes achieved by the authors quoted. At
least in one instance, this stanza misrepresents the real triumph of
literalness found in one of the longer-limit versions. It may be dif-
ficult to retain
" With the flash of the gem its solidity too,"
as Tom Moore not seldom was able to do. And there is room for
the two classes of translators; those who aim principally at a repro-
duction of the thought in the most literal exposition possible to
patience and idiom, and those whose first wish is to effect the best
compromise between literalness and beauty.
The present translation attempts to preserve the thought of the
original in a still more limited stanza than that of Lang — four sylla-
bles being lopped off. It can pretend to little more than an experi-
ment in compression, and may serve, perhaps, to illustrate the futil-
ity of such experiments.
INSCRIPTION TO HIS MOTHER (p. 210).
The inscription is illustrated by the following biographical details,
which we translate from De T'Serclaes :
"On his mother's side, Leo XIII. is connected with a family cel-
ebrated in the history of Rome in the middle ages. Anne Prosperi
was a descendant of the famous Cola da Rienzi. . . . After his
death, his son Angelo fled to Cori and there founded a family under
the name of Prosperi, as P. Sante Lauriente narrates in a chronicle
of Cori dedicated in 1631 to the guardians of Rome: ' Prosperi an-
tiquitus vocabantur Rientii, ex Nicolao Rientio Rom. pop. tribuno'
( Vita populare ancdottica del Sommo Pontefice Leone XIII. , published
by the Roman review, La Palestra del Clero).
41 Anne Prosperi, countess Pecci, was, in the fullest meaning of
the phrase, a strong woman. Her portrait, preserved at Carpineto,
represents her in an attitude at once dignified and attractive, and
displays the regularity of her features and the grace of her whole
person. Sweet and firm at the same time, she knew how to inspire
her children with the virtue she herself practiced. Unceasingly oc-
cupied with their education in the first years of their childhood, so
important for all the remainder of life, she produced in their hearts
317
NOTES
the deep sentiments of piety and charity filling her own breast.
They could see their mother frequently visiting and consoling the
poor of Carpineto, and during the years of scarcity afflicting the
country at this time, giving food daily to forty of fifty needy poor;
they could admire her unshaken confidence in God, her devotion to
Mary and the Saints; and thus, side by side with their love for their
mother, was developed in them both a love for that God whom they
saw so much beloved by their mother, and a love for the religion
which constituted her happiness and strength.
' ' The piety of the Countess Pecci was neither high-minded nor
narrow. She never allowed it to hinder her assiduous attention to
household duties and to the temporal interests of her family. Thus,
she introduced into Carpineto the breeding of silk-worms, and
practiced on a grand scale this remunerative industry which after-
wards attained to such vast proportions in Italy.
" Anne Pecci died at Rome on the fifth of August. 1824, and was
buried in the Church delle Stimmate ..." (pp. 11 and 27).
SUB EFFIGIE VIRGINIS GUADALUPANAE APUD
MEXICOS (p. 192). .
The verses were written for the coronation of " Holy Mary of
Guadalupe," which took place on Saturday, October 12th, 1895. I
am indebted for the following illustrations to the admirable work of
the Rev. G. Lee, C. S. Sp. {Our Lady of America), published in
1897:
" That American Catholics will gain much by an intelligent and
affectionate cherishing of Our Lady's American title, there can be no
reason to doubt. . . . Nor should it escape our observation that if
origin, length of time, nobility of record, can impart and interpret
titular characteristics, then Our Lady's title of Guadalupe is both
sacredly and distinctively American " (p. 284).
' ' Within these three centuries not less than fifteen Popes have
had occasion directly or indirectly to approve of the devotions
founded on the Apparitions. ... It may be remarked also that it
has been the Popes specially distinguished by liturgical, doctrinal,
and historical research and decisiveness, who have most favored the
devotion to Holy Mary of Guadalupe. And among these the reign-
ing Pontiff is prominent. He, more perhaps than any of his pre-
decessors, has officially stamped authenticity on the living American
318
NOTES
tradition, and more effectually sanctioned and encouraged the ven-
eration of the Picture" (p. 16).
"It is interesting to see such a Pope brought into contact with a
many-sided, delicately-venerable question like that of Guadalupe.
Here was authorized doctrine, but not so general and well-defined as
to bear all treatment; and devotion enthusiastic but jealously sensi-
tive; and considerations of public and private fitness, as well as of
racial and national partiality. It was never easy to legislate for
Guadulupe, least of all since Benedict XIV. gave it so high an
ecclesiastical standing. But the light, strong hand of Leo XIII.
has magically touched the sacred subject, and has beautified what
was already veay beautiful" (p. 82).
Pope Leo XIII. enriched with some special additions the Office
granted by Benedict XIV. The Lessons of the Second Nocturn give
a concise but highly-interesting narrative of the historical side of the
devotion. Father Lee furnishes a translation of these (pp. 37-39).
The Pope also wrote a beautiful Letter (pp. 35-37) and approved
the ceremony of the Coronation, for which he composed the Latin
verses given in our text :
"Leo XIII. had sent his polished Latin distichs, which the dean
of the Mexican hierarchy, the renowned Archbishop of Guadalajara,
though in the forty-fourth year of his episcopate, undertook to inter-
pret in Spanish verse CVid. Tiempo Supl., Oct. 12, '95). The lines
of these two most venerable men have such ecclesiastical, and will
have such historic interest, that it may be well to give them here
with a free English rendering.
''These are the Pontiff's lines:
" Mexicus heic populus iuira sub imagine gaudet
Te colere, alma parens, praesidioque frui.
Per te' sic vigeat felix, teque auspice Christi
Immotam servet firmior usque ridem.
-Leo PP. XIII.
(Imagini augustae Mariae I). N. Guadalupensis in Mexico sub-
scribendum.)
Eomae ex aedib. Vatic, die XXVI febr. an. MDcccvc.
" Kendered by the Archbishop :
" En admirable imagen,
Santa Madre nuestra
El pueblo Mexicano
Gozoso te venera,
319
NOTES
Y tu gran patrocinio
Con gozo y gratitud experimenta.
Feliz y floreciente
Por ti as! permanesca
Y mediante el auxilio
Que benigna le prestas
La f6 de Jesucristo
Fija conserve con tenaz firmeza.
fPedro, Arzob. de Guadalajara.
"In thy portentous Picture treasured here,
The Mexic race, O Gracious Mother, joys
To honor thee and reap the golden wealth
Of thy unfailing aid. In happy strength
Still make it grow, that blessed by thee it hold
In ever tightening grasp the changeless Faith of Christ" (pp. 48, 49).
The marvellous character of the Picture; the testimonies of Artists
who scientifically examined the texture of the cloth; the vivid col-
oring; the circumstances of the place, so highly unfavorable to col-
oring or texture; the remarkable state of preservation in which it
still is— all these interesting inquiries are treated fully by Father Lee
in Chapter VIII. I shall quote but one paragraph:
"In the Brief of Benedict XIV. we find quoted these remarkable
words: ' In it there is nothing that is not wonderful : a Picture from
flowers gathered in midwinter on a soil entirely sterile and fit to
bear only thorns: on a cloth so thin that through it as through a
lattice, transennam, the temple lay easily open to the eyes : and that
after two centuries the nitre of the neighboring lake, which erodes
silver, gold, and brass, has not in the least injured its supreme beauty,
summam pulchritudinem, nor its most vivid colors' " (p. 115).
GEETRLTDI STEEBINIiE (p. 242).
The memory of this saintly religieuse is enshrined in two Latin
elegies (the first of which appears also in an Italian version) and in
a stately Inscription (p. 242). They formed the contents of a small
but elegant volume issued by the Vatican press, and were reviewed
in the Voee della Verita by Professor Farabulini, from whose critique
the following details are taken. The Pope wrote them "in the name
of one of the most highly esteemed members of his court, the Com-
mendatore Giulio Sterbini, and dedicated them to the memory of a
dear sister of his named Barbara, who, on entering the Eoman con-
vent of the Visitation Order, received the name of Gertrude. No
320
NOTES
sooner had Monsignore Pecci, on his return from the Belgian Apos-
tolic Nunciatura, been made aware of the excellent dispositions of
the young Sister, than he perceived the saintly possibilities of such
a soul, and began, after the example of St. Francis de Sales and St-
Jane Frances de Chantal, to fashion it by wise counsel into an obe"
dient instrument of the holy Will of God. . . . Happy this angelic
soul to have such a panegyrist ! She will still live in his verse as an
example for those who shall come after her. Happy, too, her brother
Giulio, his family and his descendants, to find such venerable hands
busied in the erection of so lasting a memorial ! "
The Professor considers the inscription worthy of Morcelli— l ' e
Morcelliana." And of the Latin elegiacs he says that they are
"graceful poetry, rich with beautiful imagery and loving affection."
He thinks the Italian hendecasyllabics both faithful to the thought
of the original and elegant from the standpoint of vernacular poetry.
Erratum corrige: Page 145, title should be "In Upper Gar-
ptwefo," instead of " In Upper Perugia."
321
Leo, XIII, pope BQX
Poems, charades, inscriptions 1091
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