Preface

I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blazeWith forms of Saints and holy men who died,Here martyred and hereafter glorified;And the great Rose upon its leaves displaysChrist’s Triumph, and the angelic roundelays,With splendor upon splendor multiplied;And Beatrice again at Dante’s sideNo more rebukes, but smiles her words of praise.And then the organ sounds, and unseen choirsSing the old Latin hymns of peace and loveAnd benedictions of the Holy Ghost;And the melodious bells among the spiresO’er all the housetops and through heaven aboveProclaim the elevation of the Host!

O star of morning and of liberty!O bringer of the light, whose splendor shinesAbove the darkness of the Apennines,Forerunner of the day that is to be!The voices of the city and the sea,The voices of the mountains and the pines,Repeat thy song, till the familiar linesAre footpaths for the thought of Italy!Thy fame is blown abroad from all the heights,Through all the nations, and a sound is heard,As of a mighty wind, and men devout,Strangers of Rome, and the new proselytes,In their own language hear thy wondrous word,And many are amazed and many doubt.