"Teneri sdegni, e placide e tranquille
Repulse, cari vezzi, e liete paci,
Sorrisi, parolette, e dolci stille
Di pianto, e sospir tronchi, e molli baci:
Fuse tai cose tutte, e poscia unille,
Ed al foco temprò di lente faci;
E ne formò quel sì mirabil cinto,
Di ch' ella aveva il bel fianco succincto.'
"These ingredients have been tried, they have been tasted, they are the fruits of a lover's paradise; yet, here they are nothing but an empty catalogue; and if they have a charm, it lies in the melting genius of the language: compare them with the following lines from the Vision of Arthur, in Spenser.
"Caresses sweet, and lovely blandishment,
She to me made, and bade me love her dear,
For dearly sure her love to me was bent,
As when meet time approached, should appear;
But whether dreams delude, or true it were,
Was never heart so ravished with delight.
"When I awoke and found her place devoid,
And nought but pressed grass, where she had lyen,
I sorrowed as much as erst I joyed,
And washed all the place with watery eyn;
From that day forth I cast in careful mind,
To seek her out——
"Thus, as he spoke, his visage waxed pale.
Here is soul, action, passion.
"Adieu,
"Henry Fuseli."