350
PETER BELL THE THIRD
xiv
'Bocca bacciata non perde ventura,
Anzi rinnuova come fa la luna:—
So thought Boccaccio, whose sweet words might cure a 330
Male prude, like you, from what you now endure, a
Low-tide in soul, like a stagnant laguna.'
'Bocca bacciata non perde ventura,
Anzi rinnuova come fa la luna:—
So thought Boccaccio, whose sweet words might cure a 330
Male prude, like you, from what you now endure, a
Low-tide in soul, like a stagnant laguna.'
xv
Then Peter rubbed his eyes severe.
And smoothed his spacious forehead down
With his broad palm;—'twixt love and fear, 335
He looked, as he no doubt felt, queer,
And in his dream sate down.
Then Peter rubbed his eyes severe.
And smoothed his spacious forehead down
With his broad palm;—'twixt love and fear, 335
He looked, as he no doubt felt, queer,
And in his dream sate down.
xvi
The Devil was no uncommon creature;
A leaden-witted thief—just huddled 339
Out of the dross and scum of nature;
A toad-like lump of limb and feature,
With mind, and heart, and fancy muddled.
The Devil was no uncommon creature;
A leaden-witted thief—just huddled 339
Out of the dross and scum of nature;
A toad-like lump of limb and feature,
With mind, and heart, and fancy muddled.
xvii
He was that heavy, dull, cold thing.
The spirit of evil well may be:
A drone too base to have a sting;
Who gluts, and grimes his lazy wing,
And calls lust, luxury. 347
He was that heavy, dull, cold thing.
The spirit of evil well may be:
A drone too base to have a sting;
Who gluts, and grimes his lazy wing,
And calls lust, luxury. 347
xviii
Now he was quite the kind of wight
Round whom collect, at a fixed aera,
Venison, turtle, hock, and claret,—
Good cheer—and those who come to share it— 351
And best East Indian madeira!
Now he was quite the kind of wight
Round whom collect, at a fixed aera,
Venison, turtle, hock, and claret,—
Good cheer—and those who come to share it— 351
And best East Indian madeira!
xix
It was his fancy to invite
Men of science, wit, and learning,
Who came to lend each other light;
He proudly thought that his gold's might 356
Had set those spirits burning.
It was his fancy to invite
Men of science, wit, and learning,
Who came to lend each other light;
He proudly thought that his gold's might 356
Had set those spirits burning.
xx
And men of learning, science, wit,
Considered him as you and I
Think of some rotten tree, and sit
Lounging and dining under it, 361
Exposed to the wide sky.
And men of learning, science, wit,
Considered him as you and I
Think of some rotten tree, and sit
Lounging and dining under it, 361
Exposed to the wide sky.
xxi
And all the while, with loose fat smile,
The willing wretch sat winking there, 364
Believing 'twas his power that made
That jovial scene—and that all paid
Homage to his unnoticed chair.
And all the while, with loose fat smile,
The willing wretch sat winking there, 364
Believing 'twas his power that made
That jovial scene—and that all paid
Homage to his unnoticed chair.
xxii
Though to be sure this place was Hell;
He was the Devil—and all they—
What though the claret circled well,
And wit, like ocean, rose and fell?—
Were damned eternally. 372
Though to be sure this place was Hell;
He was the Devil—and all they—
What though the claret circled well,
And wit, like ocean, rose and fell?—
Were damned eternally. 372
PART THE FIFTH
GRACE
GRACE
i
Among the guests who often stayed
Till the Devil's petits-soupers,
A man there came, fair as a maid, 375
And Peter noted what he said,
Standing behind his master's chair.
Among the guests who often stayed
Till the Devil's petits-soupers,
A man there came, fair as a maid, 375
And Peter noted what he said,
Standing behind his master's chair.
ii
He was a mighty poet—and
A subtle-souled psychologist;
All things he seemed to understand,
Of old or new—of sea or land— 381
But his own mind—which was a mist.
He was a mighty poet—and
A subtle-souled psychologist;
All things he seemed to understand,
Of old or new—of sea or land— 381
But his own mind—which was a mist.
iii
This was a man who might have turned
Hell into Heaven—and so in gladness
A Heaven unto himself have earned;
But he in shadows undiscerned 386
Trusted.—and damned himself to madness.
This was a man who might have turned
Hell into Heaven—and so in gladness
A Heaven unto himself have earned;
But he in shadows undiscerned 386
Trusted.—and damned himself to madness.
