Her head fell off at the first blow,
The first blow wielded by his sword;
So does just Heaven its anger show
Against the wife who wrongs her lord.
Venetian songs will serve as a guide to the character, but scarcely to the opinions, of the Venetians. The long struggle with Austria has left no other trace than a handful of rough verses dating from the Siege—mere strings of Evvivas to the dictator and the army. It may be argued that the fact is not exceptional, that like the Fratelli d'ltalia of Goffredo Mameli, the war-songs of the Italian movement were all composed for the people and not by them. Still there have been genuine folk-poets who have discoursed after their fashion of Italia libera. The Tuscan peasants sang as they stored the olives of 1859—
L'amore l'ho in Piamonte,
Bandiera tricolor!
There is not in Venetian songs an allusion to the national cause so naïvely, so caressingly expressive as this. It cannot be that the Venetian popolano did not care; whenever his love of country was put to the test, it was found in no way wanting. Was it that to his positive turn of mind there appeared to be an absence of connection between politics and poetry? Looking back to the songs of an earlier period, we find the same habit of ignoring public events. A rhyme, answering the purpose of our "Ride a cock horse," contains the sole reference to the wars of Venice with the Porte—
Andemo a la guera