The Browning Cyclopaedia Part 33

The singer leaves the tent, goes to his home through the night, but not alone: clouds of witnesses hover around him, angels have come to listen to his prophecy, and the air is full of yearning spirits; the earth has awakened; h.e.l.l has heard the echoes of his song,--her crews are loosed with alarm at the danger which impends; the stars in their courses beat with emotion; all creation palpitates with excitement; but the Hand which impelled him "quenched it with quiet," and earth in rapture sank to rest.

But the world was the better for the blessed news, "felt the new law"; the flowers rejoiced, the heart of the cedars and the sap of the vines responded to the thrill of joy the brooks murmured, "E'en so, it is so!"

(What are known as the Messianic Psalms, or those in which David sings of the Christ, who was to come, are the following: Psalm ii., xxi., xxii., xlv., lxxii., and cx.)--In Longus's romance of _Daphnis and Chloe_ there occur two pa.s.sages which may have furnished Browning with the suggestion of this series of tunes. The first is found on pp. 303-4 (I quote from Smith's translation, in the Bohn edition): "He ran through all variations of pastoral melody; he played the tune which the oxen obey, and which attracts the goats,--that in which the sheep delight. The notes for the sheep were sweet, those for the oxen deep, those for the goats were shrill. In short, his single pipe could express the tones of every pipe which is played upon. Those present lay listening in silent delight; when Dryas rose up, and desired Philetas to strike up the Baccha.n.a.lian tune, Philetas obeyed; and Dryas began the vintage-dance in which he represented the plucking of the grapes, the carrying of the baskets, the treading of the cl.u.s.ters, and the drinking of the new-made wine.... Upon losing sight of her, Daphnis, seizing the large pipe of Philetas, breathed into it a mournful strain as of one who loves; then a lovesick strain as of one who pleads; lastly, a recalling strain, as of one who seeks her whom he has lost." The other is from pp. 332-4: "Daphnis disposed the company in a semicircle; then standing under the shade of a beech-tree, he took his pipe from his scrip, and breathed into it very gently. The goats stood still, merely lifting up their heads. Next he played the pasture tune, upon which they all put down their heads and began to graze. Now he produced some notes soft and sweet in tone: at once his herd lay down.

After this he piped in a sharp key, and they ran off to the wood, as if a wolf were in sight." Again, may not the impulse to write this poetry have been derived from Heber's _Spirit of Hebrew Poetry_? On p. 197, vol. ii., of the translation, there is a kind of challenge to poets in general: "Take David in the presence of Saul. More than one poet has availed himself of the beauty of this situation; but no one to my knowledge has yet stolen the harp of David, and produced a poem, such even as Dryden's ode in the composition of Handel, where Timotheus plays before Alexander.

If Browning did accept the challenge, it was only to refute the observation by his success."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

NOTES.--The Bible story of David playing before Saul is found in 1 Samuel xvi. 14-23. Stanza i., _Abner_: the son of Ner, captain of Saul's host (1 Samuel xxvi. 5). Stanza vi., _jerboa_: a small jumping rodent animal, called also the jumping hare. Stanza viii., _Male-Sapphires_: the asterias or star-stone, a semi-transparent sapphire. Stanza xiv., _Hebron_: the most southern of the three cities of refuge west of Jordan; _Kidron_: a brook in Jerusalem.

=Science in Browning.= The following are some references to scientific matters in the poet's works appended to my essay on "Browning as a Scientific Poet" in _Browning's Message to his Time_. The list of references makes no pretension to be an exhaustive one--it could be considerably amplified by a careful reperusal of the works--but it will suffice for the purpose:--

_Anatomy._--Poems, v., p. 152; vi., p. 158. Fifine, p. 68.

_Astronomy._--Prince H. S., p. 96. Sordello, pp. 187, 188.

_Botany._--Poems, i., p. 194; v., pp. 193, 208, 228, 312. Fifine, p.

14. Sordello, p. 20.

_Chemistry._--Poems, iii., pp. 219, 220; iv., p. 238; v., pp. 155, 156. Prince H. S., pp. 44, 91. Red Cotton, p. 196. Croisic, pp. 90, 92. Fifine, pp. 65, 97, 130. Ferishtah, pp. 39, 40, 45, 76. Pippa P., p. 250. Sordello, p. 194. Ring and Book, i., p. 2.

_Electricity._--Poems, vi., pp. 183, 203. Red Cotton, p. 196. Fifine, p. 115.

_Evolution._--Poems, i., p. 188. Prince H. S., p. 68. Fifine, p. 162.

La Saisiaz, p. 57.

_Light._--Poems, iii., p. 170. Jocoseria, p. 124. Fifine, pp. 65, 29.

Numpholeptos, p. 101. Ring and Book, i., p. 71; iii., p. 170; iv., pp.

57, 79.

_Materia Medica and Therapeutics._--Pietro of Abano, p. 84. Prince H.

S., p. 77. Paracelsus, p. 111.

_Medicine._--Poems, iv., p. 273; v., p. 220. Dramatic Idyls, ii., preface. Red Cotton, p. 199. Ferishtah, pp. 27, 55, 56. Ring and Book, iv., p. 12.

_Pharmacy._--Poems, iii., p. 96; v., p. 220.

_Physiology._--Poems, v., p. 191. Sordello, p. 195. Tray.

_Scientific Matters in General._--Poems, v., pp. 128, 302; vi., p.

203. Dramatic Idyls, ii., p. 68. Fifine, pp. 51, 86. La Saisiaz, pp.

69, 82. Ferishtah, p. 131. Sordello, pp. 25, 203. Ring and Book, iv., pp. 61, 77, 180.

The references are to the six-volume edition of the poems, and to the original separate editions of the larger works.

=Sebald.= The man in _Pippa Pa.s.ses_ who murdered Ottima's husband.

=Serenade at the Villa, A.= (_Men and Women_, 1855; _Lyrics_, 1863; _Dramatic Lyrics_, 1868.) A lover serenades his lady on a sultry summer night; and the burden of his song is that, as he watches through the dark night at her villa, so he vows to watch through life over her path, and shield her from danger and serve her in secret devotion, as he sings to her now while she sleeps. The lady dreamed of music, but slept on, though "the earth turned in her sleep in pain," Earth has heard many serenades and many vows made only to be broken. The iron gate which ground its teeth to let the serenader pa.s.s seemed to be disputing the lover's protestations; and one fears that if his mistress was like the earth, and "turned in her sleep" too, she would derive little satisfaction from his music.

=Setebos.= (_Caliban and Setebos._) The G.o.d of the Patagonians, whom Caliban worships because his mother did so. Caliban thinks he lives in the moon, and has made mankind for his amus.e.m.e.nt.

=Shah 'Abbas.= (_Ferishtah's Fancies, III._) Shah 'Abbas, surnamed the Great, was one of the most celebrated of the sovereigns of Persia. He came to the throne at the age of eighteen, in the year 1585. He defeated the predatory Uzbeks, who occupied Khora.s.san, after a long and severe struggle, in a great battle near Herat (1597), and drove them out of his dominions. He was successful in the wars he waged against the Turks, and thereby greatly extended his dominions. He defeated the united armies of the Turks and Tartars in 1618. Baghdad was taken in 1623. When he died, in 1628, his dominions reached from the Tigris to the Indus. The circ.u.mstances narrated in Mr. Browning's poem are not historical. The subject of the poem is Belief. "It is beautiful, but is it true?"

Ferishtah has now achieved dervishhood, and a pupil asks, "Was this life lived, was this death died, not dreamed?" It was answered, "Many attested it for fact." A cup-bearer left on record a story of the death of the brave Shah 'Abbas of simple fear at discovering a spider in his wine. The cup-bearer was eye-witness of the fact. The Dervish says we must distinguish between the n.o.ble act of belief, and mere easy acquiescence.

Twenty soldiers testify to the death of a comrade; yet he comes home safe and sound after the wars. He had two sons. One who heard that his father was living rejoiced; the other preferred the evidence of the twenty men who saw him die. Ten years later home comes Ishak. The townsmen bid the man of ready faith go and welcome his father, and the unbelieving one to hide his head. The father would praise the loving heart in preference to the sceptical head. "Is G.o.d less wise?" asks Ferishtah. The lyric teaches that the true light of life is love. The dark ways of life and the mysteries of the human heart will prove stones of stumbling and rocks of offence where love is not the guide. With love and truth our obstacles disappear.

=Shakespeare.= The poem which Mr. Browning wrote for the _Shakespearean Show-Book_, 1884, commenced with the word "_Shakespeare!_" See NAMES, THE.

=Shop.= (_Pacchiarotto, with other Poems_, 1876.) "As even in science all roads," it has been said, "lead to the mouth," so is it with Art and Letters. The poet deplores the life of a tradesman who knows no other use of life but to enable him to drive a roaring business, his "meat and drink but money c.h.i.n.k,"--and so, because flesh must be fed, spirit is chained to the counter. The poet would have the tradesman brighten his daily life with art and song, as men do who let their good angels sometimes converse with them, in lands where poets and painters think more of art than money.

The danger and wickedness of compelling the soul to be the eternal slave of sordid desires and petty anxieties is pointed out in this poem, and by "shop" we are not only to think of tradesmen, but of all the large cla.s.s of those who are, like the man in the _Pilgrim's Progress_, too busy with the muck-rake to look at the heavens above them, and losing their higher selves in their absorption in earthly employments.

=Sibrandus Schafnaburgensis.= (See GARDEN FANCIES.) The name of some old scholar, who has written a book, which is read by a profane fellow in a garden, who throws it into a decaying tree, there to be in company with congenial fungi.

="Sighed Rawdon Brown."= (See RAWDON BROWN.)

=Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister.= [_Dramatic Lyrics_, in _Bells and Pomegranates, III._, 1842, under the t.i.tle of "Camp and Cloister--I. Camp (French), II. Cloister (Spanish)."] There is, of course, no historical basis for the subject-matter of this poem; but there is no reason why such things should not occur in a convent or monastery. Human nature, we find, is pretty much the same, under whatever conditions we examine it; and petty malice, ill-nature, and evil pa.s.sions, find their congenial soil alike in the cloister and the world. Some of the most unpleasant failings of our nature are no doubt directly fostered by cloister life, just as religious people of every cla.s.s are often censorious, uncharitable in their judgments, pharisaical and severe. Unless monks and nuns are regularly and entirely employed in useful labour, these evil weeds are certain to spring up in the untilled soil of the human heart. Work is the only remedy for pettiness of spirit, and active employment the only atmosphere for the n.o.bler products of the soul. It must never be forgotten, however, that thousands of the most beautiful characters which have blessed the world have been formed in the cloister; such are being formed now, and will continue to be so formed, in direct proportion to the useful work in which its inmates are employed.--To inferior and evil natures the lofty and n.o.ble soul is generally an object of hatred and jealousy. In this poem we have a coa.r.s.e-minded Spanish monk, boiling over with abhorrence of a good, gentle brother, who loves his flowers, trims his bushes and waters his rose trees with tender solicitude for the welfare of his plants, the only things in the monastery he can love. The simple talk of the hated friar at meal-time and recreation disgusts him; he knows in his heart that the good brother is a saint, though he tries in his malice to rake up some remembrance of a wandering look at odd times, and is not so ritualistically exact as he is himself. He spites him by damaging his plants all he can in a sly and ingenious way. He would like him to lose his chances of salvation if he could, so he will endeavour to pervert his orthodoxy and trip him up on his way to heaven; he will slip in amongst his greengages a wicked French novel; or he will even go so far as to ask Satan's aid,--when, as he meditates all this evil doing, the vesper bell rings and the wicked old fellow goes to his prayers.

NOTES.--Verse ii., "_Salve tibi_": a salutation, "Hail to thee!" Verse v., _Cross-wise_: the use of the sign of the cross is traceable to the earliest Christian times; "_The Trinity ill.u.s.trate_": when the sign of the cross is made it is usual to add internally "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." A Catholic remembers the Trinity in numberless ways; _Arian_: "One who adheres to the doctrines of Arius, a presbyter of the Church in the fourth century, who held Christ to be a created being, inferior to G.o.d the Father in nature and dignity, though the first and n.o.blest of created beings." (_Mosheim._) Verse vii., "_The great text in the Galatians_" I take to be the tenth verse of the third chapter: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, 'Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.'" "It is written,"--that is to say, in the book of Deuteronomy, xxviii., 15 to 68, wherein are set forth at length the curses for disobedience. Those arithmetically-minded commentators on this poem who have been disappointed in finding only some "seventeen works of the flesh" in Galatians v. 19-21 will find an abundant opportunity for their discrimination in the chapter of Deuteronomy to which I refer. The question to settle is "the twenty-nine distinct d.a.m.nations." St. James says in his epistle (ii. 10), that "he who offends against the law in one point is guilty of all." If, therefore, the envious monk could induce his brother to trust to his works instead of to his faith, he would fall under the condemnation of the law, as explained by St. Paul in his epistle. _Manichee_: "A follower of Manes, a Persian, who tried to combine the Oriental philosophy with Christianity; and maintained that there are two supreme principles: the first of which, _light_, was held to be the author of all good; the second, _darkness_, the author of all evil" (_Webster's Dict._). Verse viii., _Belial_: an evil spirit; "_Plena gratia Ave, Virgo!_": probably intended to represent "the angelical salutation," which is "Ave Maria, gratia plena"--"Hail, Mary, full of grace!"

=Solomon and Balkis.= (_Jocoseria_, 1883.) The Queen of Sheba sits on Solomon's ivory throne, and talks of deep mysteries and things sublime; she proves the king with hard problems, which he solves ere she has finished her questions. He humiliates the Queen by making her difficulties appear so childish that there is no spirit in her; but she musters up strength enough for just one more hard question: "Who are those," she asks, "who of all mankind should be admitted to the palace of the wisest monarch on application?" Solomon says the wise are the equals of the king; those who are kingly in craft should be his friends. He in turn asks the Queen, "Who are those whom she would admit on similar terms?" "The good,"

replies the Queen; and as she speaks she contrives to jostle the king's right hand, so that the ring which he wore was turned from inside now to outside. The ring bore the "truth-compelling Name" of Jehovah; then the King was obliged to confess that those only would be considered wise who came to offer him the incense of their flattery.--"You cat, you!" he adds; and then, turning the Name towards her, makes her also tell the truth.

Promptly she is compelled to answer that by the good she means young men, strong, tall, and proper: these she enlists always as her servants. Then sighed the King: the soul that aspires to soar, yet ever crawls, can discern the great, yet always chooses the small; there is earth's rest, as well as heaven's rest; above, the soul may fly; here, she must plod heavily on earth. Solomon proposes to resume their discourse; but the Queen tells him that she came to see Solomon the wise man; not to commune with mind, but body--and, if she does not make too bold, would rather have a kiss!

NOTES.--_Conster_: Old English for construe. "_spheieron do_": (Greek), his home: the idea of Balkis talking Greek to Solomon is to show what a prig she was. _Solomon's Seal_, as Solomon's ring is commonly called, was celebrated for its potency over demons and genii. It is probably of Hindu origin, and bore the double triangle sign of the Kabalists. (See _Isis Unveiled_ (Blavatsky), vol i., pp. 135-6.) "_You cat, you!_" Solomon descending to this is exquisitely funny. _Habitat_: a suitable dwelling-place. _Hyssop_ (1 Kings iv. 33): a plant which grows in crevices of walls. Dr. J. Forbes Royle considers it to be the caper (_Capparis spinosa_), the _asuf_ of the Arabs. According to the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, vol. xxiv., p. 738, the land of Sheba is Yemen, in Arabia.

The ancient name of the people of Yemen was Saba (Sheba). "The Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon may have come with a caravan trading to Gaza, to see the great king whose ships plied on the Red Sea. The Biblical picture of the Sabaean kingdom is confirmed and supplemented by the a.s.syrian inscriptions. Tiglath Pileser II. (733 B.C.) tells us that Teima, Saba, and Haipa (== Ephah, Gen. xxv. 4 and Isa. lx. 6) paid him tribute of gold, silver, and much incense. Similarly Sargon (715 B.C.), in his _Annals_, mentions the tribute of Shamsi, queen of Arabia, and of Itamara of the land of Saba, gold and fragrant spices, horses and camels." The following is the Talmudic legend concerning the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. "It is said that Solomon ruled the whole world, and this verse is quoted as proof of the a.s.sertion: 'And Solomon was ruling over all the kingdoms, which brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life' (1 Kings iv. 21). All the kingdoms congratulated Solomon as the worthy successor of his father, David, whose fame was great among the nations; all save one, the kingdom of Sheba, the capital of which was called Kitore. To this kingdom Solomon sent a letter: 'From me, King Solomon, peace to thee and to thy government. Let it be known to thee that the Almighty G.o.d has made me to reign over the whole world, the kingdoms of the north, the south, the east, the west. Lo, they have come to me with their congratulations, all save thee alone. Come thou also, I pray thee, and submit to my authority, and much honour shall be done thee; but if thou refusest, behold, I shall by force compel thy acknowledgment.--To thee, Queen Sheba, is addressed this letter in peace from me, King Solomon, the son of David.' Now, when Queen Sheba received this letter, she sent in haste for her elders and councillors, to ask their advice as to the nature of her reply. They spoke but lightly of the message and the one who sent it; but the Queen did not regard their words. She sent a vessel, carrying many presents of different metals, minerals, and precious stones, to Solomon. It was after a voyage of two years' time that these presents arrived at Jerusalem; and in a letter intrusted to the captain, the Queen said 'After thou hast received the message, then I myself will come to thee.' And in two years after this time Queen Sheba arrived at Jerusalem. When Solomon heard that the Queen was coming, he sent Benayahu, the son of Jehoyadah, the general of his army, to meet her. When the Queen saw him she thought he was the King, and she alighted from her carriage.

Then Benayahu asked, 'Why alightest thou from thy carriage?' And she answered, 'Art thou not his majesty, the King?' No, replied Benayahu, 'I am but one of his officers.' Then the Queen turned back and said to her ladies in attendance, 'If this is but one of the officers, and he is so n.o.ble and imposing in appearance, how great must be his superior, the King!' And Benayahu, the son of Jehoyadah, conducted Queen Sheba to the palace of the King. Solomon prepared to receive his visitor in an apartment laid and lined with gla.s.s; and the Queen at first was so deceived by the appearance that she imagined the King to be sitting in water. And when the Queen had tested Solomon's wisdom[5] and witnessed his magnificence, she said: 'I believed not what I heard; but now I have come, and my eyes have seen it all, behold, the half has not been told to me.

Happy are thy servants who stand before thee continually to listen to thy words of wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy G.o.d, who hath placed thee on a throne to rule righteously and in justice.' When other kingdoms heard the words of the Queen of Sheba, they feared Solomon exceedingly, and he became greater than all the other kings of the earth in wisdom and in wealth. Solomon was born in the year 2912 A.M., and reigned over Israel forty years. Four hundred and thirty-three years elapsed between the date of Solomon's reign and that of the Temple's destruction." (From Polano's translation of selections from the Talmud.)

=Sonnet=:[6]--

"Eyes, calm beside thee, (Lady could'st thou know!) May turn away thick with fast-gathering tears: I glance not where all gaze: thrilling and low Their pa.s.sionate praises reach thee--my cheek wears Alone no wonder when thou pa.s.sest by; Thy tremulous lids bent and suffused reply To the irrepressible homage which doth glow On every lip but mine: if in thine ears Their accents linger--and thou dost recall Me as I stood, still, guarded, very pale, Beside each votarist whose lighted brow Wore worship like an aureole, 'O'er them all My beauty,' thou wilt murmur, 'did prevail Save that one only:'--Lady could'st thou know!

_August 17th, 1834_ Z."

=Sordello.= [THE MAN.] Sordello was a troubadour, and we have to thank Dante for having made, in his _Purgatorio_, such frequent reference to him as will preserve his name from oblivion as long as the _Divina Commedia_ is known to the world. Sordello is referred to in the _Purgatorio_ eight times: viz., in Canto vi. 75; vii. 2, 52; viii. 38, 43, 62, 93; ix. 53 (Cary's translation). In the sixth Canto we are introduced to Sordello thus:--

"But lo! a spirit there Stands solitary, and toward us looks; It will instruct us in the speediest way."

We soon approach'd it. O thou Lombard spirit!

How didst thou stand, in high abstracted mood, Scarce moving with slow dignity thine eyes.

It spoke not aught, but let us onward pa.s.s, Eying us as a lion on his watch.

But Vergil, with entreaty mild, advanced, Requesting it to show the best ascent.

It answer to his question none return'd; But of our country and our kind of life Demanded--When my courteous guide began, 'Mantua,' the shadow, in itself absorb'd, Rose towards us from the place in which it stood, And cried, 'Mantuan! I am thy countryman, Sordello.' Each the other then embraced."

Cary's note is valuable: "The history of Sordello's life is wrapt in the obscurity of romance. That he distinguished himself by his skill in Provencal poetry is certain; and many feats of military prowess have been attributed to him. It is probable that he was born towards the end of the twelfth, and died about the middle of the succeeding century. Tiraboschi, who terms him the most ill.u.s.trious of all the Provencal poets of his age, has taken much pains to sift all the notices he could collect relating to him; and has particularly exposed the fabulous narrative which Platina has introduced on this subject in his history of Mantua. Honourable mention of his name is made by our poet in the treatise _De Vulg. Eloq._, lib. i.

cap. 15, where it is said that, remarkable as he was for eloquence, he deserted the vernacular language of his own country, not only in his poems, but in every other kind of writing. Tiraboschi had at first concluded him to be the same writer whom Dante elsewhere (_De Vulg.

Eloq._, lib. ii. c. 13) calls Gottus Mantua.n.u.s, but afterwards gave up that opinion to the authority of the Conte d'Arco and the Abate Bettinelli. By Bastero, in his _Crusca Provenzale_, (ediz. Roma., 1724, p.

94), amongst Sordello's MS. poems in the Vatican, are mentioned "Canzoni, Tenzoni, Cobbole," and various "Serventesi," particularly one in the form of a funeral song on the death of Blancas, in which the poet reprehends all the reigning princes in Christendom.--Many of Sordello's poems have been brought to light by the industry of M. Raynouard, in his _Choix des Poesies des Troubadours_ and his _Lexique Roman_." Sismondi, in his _Literature of Europe_, vol i., p. 103, says that the real merit of Sordello as a troubadour "consists in the harmony and sensibility of his verses. He was amongst the first to adopt the ballad form of writing; and in one of these which has been translated by Millot, he beautifully contrasts, in the burthen of his ballad, the gaieties of nature, and the ever-reviving grief of a heart devoted to love. Sordel, or Sordello, was born at Goto, near Mantua, and was for some time attached to the household of the Count of S. Bonifazio, the chief of the Guelf party, in the march of Treviso. He afterwards pa.s.sed into the service of Raymond Berenger, the last count of Provence of the house of Barcelona. Although a Lombard, he had adopted in his compositions the Provencal language, and many of his countrymen imitated him. It was not at that time believed that the Italian was capable of becoming a polished language. The age of Sordello was that of the most brilliant chivalric virtues and the most atrocious crimes. He lived in the midst of heroes and monsters. The imagination of the people was still haunted by the recollection of the ferocious Ezzelino, tyrant of Verona, with whom Sordello is said to have had a contest, and who was probably often mentioned in his verses. The historical monuments of this reign of blood were, however, little known; and the people mingled the name of their favourite poet with every revolution which excited their terror. It was said that he had carried off the wife of the Count of S. Bonifazio, the sovereign of Mantua; that he had married the daughter or sister of Ezzelino; and that he had fought this monster, with glory to himself. He united, according to popular report, the most brilliant military exploits to the most distinguished poetical genius. By the voice of St. Louis himself he had been recognised, at a tourney, as the most valiant and gallant of knights; and at last the sovereignty of Mantua had been bestowed upon this n.o.blest of the poets and warriors of his age. Historians of credit have collected, three centuries after Sordello's death, these brilliant fictions, which are, however, disproved by the testimony of contemporary writers. The reputation of Sordello is owing, very materially, to the admiration which has been expressed for him by Dante; who, when he meets him at the entrance of Purgatory, is so struck with the n.o.ble haughtiness of his aspect, that he compares him to a lion in a state of majestic repose, and represents Virgil as embracing him on hearing his name."--I am indebted to Professor Sonnenschein for the following account of the man Sordello, as well as for the valuable notes on the period, and the persons with whom the poem deals. The notes distinguished by the initial [S.] are also due to Professor Sonnenschein's generous a.s.sistance: "All that is known of the real Sordello is that he was a troubadour of the thirteenth century mentioned by his contemporary Rolandin, who states that he eloped with Cuniza, wife of Count Richard de Saint Bonifazio, and sister of Ezzelino da Romano. Some of his poems still survive, and from them a few more facts relating to the poet may be gleaned; and that is the whole of our real knowledge of him. For some reason, however, the poets and romantic historians have made much more of him. First, Dante met him at the portals of Purgatory among those who had perished by violence without a chance of repenting them of their sins. When he saw Vergil he cried: '_O Montovano io son Sordello, della tua terra_' ('Oh Mantuan, I am Sordello of thy country!') Dante, in his poem says he had the appearance and aspect of a lion; and the same author, in a prose treatise on the vulgar tongue, says Sordello excelled in all kinds of poetry and aided in founding the Italian language by numerous words skilfully borrowed from the dialects of Cremona, Brescia and Verona. A century later Benvenuto d'Imola, in a commentary on the works of Dante, says Sordello was a citizen of Mantua, an ill.u.s.trious and able warrior and a courtier, who lived in the reign of Ezzelin da Romano, whose sister Cuniza fell in love with him and invited him to a rendezvous. Ezzelino, disguised as a servant, discovered them together, but permitted Sordello to escape upon promising not to return.

Yielding, however, again to the entreaties of Cuniza, he was again discovered by her watchful brother, and fled. He was pursued and slain by the emissaries of Ezzelino. Benvenuto, who gives no authority for his statements, also says that Sordello was the author of a book which he admits never to have seen, called _Thesaurus thesaurorum_. About the same time some biographical notices of the troubadours, written in the language of Provence, mention Sordello as having been the son of a poor knight of Mantua. At an early age he composed numerous songs and poems, which gained him admittance to the court of the Count of St. Boniface. He fell in love with the wife of that lord, and eloped with her. The fugitives were received by the lady's brothers, who were at war with St. Boniface. After a time he left the lady there, and pa.s.sed into Provence, where his talents obtained such brilliant recognition that he was soon the owner of a chateau, and made an honourable marriage. Early in the next century Aliprando wrote a fabulous rhyming chronicle of Milan, in which Sordello plays a conspicuous part. In this he is a member of the family of Visconti, born at Goto. He began his literary career in early youth by producing a book called _The Treasure_. Arms proving more attractive, by the time he was twenty-five he was distinguished for his bravery, his address, his n.o.bility, and the grace of his demeanour, although he was small of stature. Accepting many challenges, he was always victorious, and sent the vanquished knights to tell his deeds of valour to the King of France. At the invitation of that prince he was about to cross the Alps, when he yielded to the entreaties of Ezzelino and went to reside with him at Verona. There he long resisted the advances, the prayers, the entreaties of Ezzelino's sister Beatrice. At last he fled to Mantua, but was followed by Beatrice disguised as a man. He finally yielded, and married her. A few days later he left her, and went to France, where he spent several months with the court at Troyes, where his valour, his gallantry and his poetic talents were greatly admired. After being knighted by the King, who gave him three thousand francs and a golden falcon, he returned to Italy. All the towns received him with pomp, as the first warrior of his time. The Mantuans came out to meet him, but he pa.s.sed on to Verona to reclaim his bride. When he returned with her, he was welcomed with eight days of public rejoicing. After that, Ezzelino laid siege to Mantua, but was driven away by Sordello, who afterwards aided the Milanese against him and gave him the wound of which he died.

What became of him afterwards does not appear; but this chronicle, which was a ma.s.s of anachronisms, romances, and fictions, was largely drawn upon by the historic writers of the next century, many of whom have adopted the story of Sordello as therein told, and of the Lady Beatrice who never existed. In the sixteenth century, Nostradamus, in his _Lives of Provencal Poets_, says: Sordello was a Mantuan, who at the age of fifteen years entered the service of Berenger, Count of Provence. His verses were preferred to those of Folquet de Ma.r.s.eille, Perceval Doria, and all the other Genoese and Tuscan poets. He made very beautiful songs, not about love, but on subjects relating to philosophy. He translated into Provencalese a digest of the laws, and wrote a historical treatise on the Kings of Aragon and Provence. Darenou, to whom I am indebted for most of my information, after examining all of these and some later authorities, considers that the only certain facts are those written by Rolandin shortly after Sordello's death. Dante was so nearly contemporaneous that he also may be taken as an authority. Of his Italian poems, and his prose works, nothing is known to have survived; but at least thirty-four of his Provencalese poems still exist. Of these one-half are love songs of the most p.r.o.nounced type, despite the statement of Nostradamus to the contrary. Several have been translated into French, and some are said to be of a high character. In one, the poet boasts of his conquests and his fickleness. Some are in the form of dialogues, in which he discusses such questions as, Whether it be better for a lover to die or continue to exist after the loss of his beloved; or Whether it be right to sacrifice love to honour, or to prefer the glory of knightly combat to love. In a poetic letter to the Count of Provence, he begs that prince not to send him to the Crusades, as he cannot make up his mind to cross the seas, and wishes to delay as long as possible entering into life eternal. In several of his poems he violently attacks Pierre Vidal, the troubadour, whom he seems to have hated bitterly. The whole story is a curious instance of development.

Originally a troubadour, apparently with most of the vices, faults, and virtues of the typical troubadour of the thirteenth century, he gradually became, as the centuries advanced, first a hero of romance, a _preux-chevalier_ and model Italian knight-errant, and finally that which we see Mr. Browning has made of him. In _Sismondi_ I find the following concerning Sordello: "Two men, superior in character to these court parasites, about this time attained great reputations in the Lombard republics, through their Provencalese songs. One of these, Ugo Cattola, devoted his talents to combating the corruption and tyranny of princes; the other, Sordello de Mantua, is enveloped in mysterious obscurity. The writers of the following century speak of him with profound respect, without giving us any details of his life. Those who came later have made him a magnanimous warrior, a valiant defender of his country, and some even a prince of Mantua. The n.o.bility of his birth and his marriage with a sister of Eccelino da Romana, are attested by his contemporaries. His violent death is obscurely indicated by the great Florentine poet; and the only claims to immortality that remain to Sordello to-day are his words and actions mentioned by Dante in the _Purgatorio_." The following is also given in _Sismondi_ as one of the few surviving specimens of Sordello's poetry. It is called:

TENSA DE SORDEL ET DE PEYRE GUILHEM.