STORY OF RIMINI.

CANTO III.

CANTO III.

THE FATAL PASSION.

Now why must I disturb a dream of bliss,
And bring cold sorrow 'twixt the wedded kiss?
How mar the face of beauty, and disclose

The weeping days that with the morning rose,
And bring the bitter disappointment in,—
The holy cheat, the virtue-binding sin,-
The shock, that told this lovely, trusting heart,
That she had given, beyond all power to part,
Her hope, belief, love, passion, to one brother,
Possession (oh, the misery!) to another!

Some likeness was there 'twixt the two,-an air

At times, a cheek, a colour of the hair,

A tone, when speaking of indifferent things;
Nor, by the scale of common measurings,
Would you say more perhaps, than that the one
Was more robust, the other finelier spun;

That of the two, Giovanni was the graver,

Paulo the livelier, and the more in favour.

Some tastes there were indeed, that would prefer Giovanni's countenance as the martialler;

And 'twas a soldier's truly, if an eye

Ardent and cool at once, drawn-back and high,

An eagle's nose and a determined lip,
Were the best marks of manly soldiership.

Paulo's was fashioned in a different mould,

And surely the more fine: for though 'twas bold, When boldness was required, and could put on

A glowing frown as if an angel shone,

Yet there was nothing in it one might call

A stamp exclusive or professional,—

No courtier's face, and yet its smile was ready,—
No scholar's, yet its look was deep and steady,-

No soldier's, for its power was all of mind,

Too true for violence, and too refined.

The very nose, lightly yet firmly wrought,

Shewed taste; the forehead a clear-spirited thought;

Wisdom looked sweet and inward from his eye;
And round his mouth was sensibility:-

It was a face, in short, seemed made to shew
How far the genuine flesh and blood could go ;-
A morning glass of unaffected nature,-

Something, that baffled looks of loftier feature,—
The visage of a glorious human creature.

If

any points there were, at which they came
Nearer together, 'twas in knightly fame,
And all accomplishments that art may know,-
Hunting, and princely hawking, and the bow,
The rush together in the bright-eyed list,
Fore-thoughted chess, the riddle rarely missed,