To one more tale she would consent;

If it should fail, her heart was rent.

A Capuchin, at break of day,

Unto the castle bent his way,

And marvell'd that she would not share

A moment to his tale and prayer;

For he had linger'd in that hall,
Impatient for his mistress' call,
And now ascended to the bower,
To bid time wing another hour;
Back from his shaven head he flung

The cowl which round his features hung;

The face disclosed was wan and worn,

As if to tell his heart was torn,

And even his accents might have proved

That solitude was all he loved;

They echo'd in a voice of wail,

As he address'd him to his tale.

THE

FRIAR'S TALE.

Lasciate ogni speranza voi che 'ntrate.

DANTE.

THE

FRIAR'S TALE.

I.

THY name hath still a guilty sound,
Ferrata, and thy chains have wound
The manly limb-the fetter'd heart,
Embraced mysteriously by art;
And if I sit upon thy brow,

I even can smile o'er nature's face;

I smile-but sadly marvel how

This heart of hope retains a trace.

* Grotta Ferrata, is situated about two miles from Frascati, and twelve from Palestrina. Tradition tells us what the peasantry devoutly believe, — that it derives its name from an ancient grotto closed with an iron grating, which formerly preserved the miraculous image of the Virgin. I offer no opinion upon the authenticity of this report, save what is embodied in this tale, in which I have rather assigned to the name a feudal origin.

For I recline upon a tomb,

Where captives mourn'd too brief a gloom;

Though fair the scene- though brightly blest,

My soul doth wander from its rest,

To mingle with the dead below,
For joys of earth I dare not know;

I cannot see-I must not bless,

Of that fair world, the loveliness;
For man hath made a cheerless waste
To me of all that earth hath graced.

I watch the Tiber's silver tide;

But I have air around-beside,

I watch and weep where others wept;

I weep for them who vigils kept,

A few dark days before they slept ;
I even can look to ocean's shore
Unchain'd-unbound the billows roar;
And they may chafe, and joy to see
That Heaven smiles on them consciously.

But those who watch a dungeon's ray

Must ne'er recall the light of day ;