“But since the pledge sufficed thy mood,
“Retain it! plenitude be theirs
“Who looked above!”
At this answer “sharp despairs shot through” him, at the thought of what he had missed; but on reflection he finds comfort in the prospect of the possibilities of Art. Again the inexorable voice is heard, pronouncing loss unspeakable. Even if he could be a Michelangelo (Buonarroti), it would be only the initial earthly stage of his development that was possible for him. (The whole passage is magnificent; but perhaps the exquisitely wrought-out illustration of the lizard in its narrow rock-chamber will be most enjoyed.)
XXVI.
* * * * *
“If such his soul’s capacities,
“Even while he trod the earth,—think, now,
“What pomp in Buonarroti’s brow,
“With its new palace-brain where dwells