But thou, Fernando, thou whose deeds both past
And recent, deeds which to a loftier aim
Oblige thee to aspire, such splendour cast,
Consider where thou art! for if the name
Which thou, the great and glorified of Fame,
Hast gained among the nations, find its date,
Thy virtue somewhat must relax, and blame
Be thine; and not to brave the storms of fate
With a serene resolve consists not with the Great.
Not thus the shaft, shot by some fatal star
In its due course, should pierce the noble soul;
Ev'n if the heavens should in the dreadful jar
Of maddening elements together roll,
And fall in fragments like a shrivelled scroll,
It should be crushed rather than entertain
Dejection; crags conduct to the high goal
Of immortality, and he whom pain
Leads to decline the' ascent, can ne'er the crown attain.
Call it not stern: for nature's due relief,
To human weakness freely I concede
The natural tears of overflowing grief,
But the excess which would delight to feed
On its own vitals, and indulged proceed
To all eternity, I must assail;
And Time at least, who lessens in his speed
All mortal things beside, if reason fail,
Should o'er thy grief at length be suffered to prevail.
Hector was not for ever so lamented
By his sad mother, or his more sad sire,
But when the fierce Achilles had relented
To his submissive tears, at his desire
Yielding the corse, and when funereal fire
Those dear devoted relics had possessed,
The shrieks they silenced of the Phrygian choir,
Their own acute soliloquies suppressed,
Stifled the rising groan, and soothed their sighs to rest.
Venus, in this point human, what did she
Not feel, perceiving forest, field, and flower,
Flushed with her darling's blood! but taught to see
That clouding her bright eyes with shower on shower
Of tears, might harm herself, but had no power
To purchase her beloved boy's return
From ruthless Proserpine's Cimmerian bower,
She dried her eyes, subdued her vain concern,
And with calm hand entwined her myrtles round his urn.
And soon with light and graceful steps once more
Idalia's verdurous paradise she pressed,
Her usual ornaments and garlands wore,
And round her clasped her beauty-breathing cest;
The winds in wanton flights her locks caressed,
And with fresh joy her looks and rosy bloom
All ocean, earth, and sky divinely blessed:
So look I forward to see thee resume
Wisely thy firmness past, and banish fruitless gloom.
Let thy desire to reach the skies, where care,
And death, and sorrow lose their dues, suffice
Without fresh instance; thou wilt notice there
How little Death has hurt the memories
Of his illustrious victims; cast thine eyes
Whither Faith calls thee, where the ransomed soul
Rests purified by fire, not otherwise
Than was Alcides, to its heavenly goal
When his purged spirit flew from Oeta's topmost knowl.
Thus he for whom such thousand tears are shed,
Who by a difficult and arduous way
Was from his mortal stains refined, is fled
To realms of glory, whence in broad survey
He sees blind mortals in the dark, astray,
And pitying, musing on these pangs of ours,
Joys to have spread his wings abroad, where day,
Day without night, leads on immortal hours,
And Bliss his sapphire crown wreathes round with amaranth flowers.
He Heaven's pure crystalline walks hand in hand
With his brave grandsire and his sire renowned,
The image of their virtues; to the band
Of angels, pleased they point each radiant wound;
This high reward his heroism has found,
The only vengeance granted in the skies
To earthly foes; the ocean flowing round
This globe of ours—the globe itself he eyes,
And learns its petty toys and trifles to despise.
He there beholds the mystic glass which shows
The past, the present, and the future joined;
He sees the period when thy life shall close;
He sees the place to thee in heaven assigned;
Thrice happy soul, freed from the affections blind
With which on earth so fruitlessly we yearn!
Who liv'st in peace and blessedness enshrined,
And shalt live long as, lit at love's bright urn,
With fire of joy divine celestial spirits burn.