“‘Fair lady, at a glance I knew, Thy urn and felt thy spirit too, And straight the yearning through me sped, To raise thee from the living dead; I felt thy spell upon my brow, And loved thee as I love thee now. Even as I loved unknown before, And so shall love thee evermore, And happiness enough ’twould be If thou would’st ever live with me!’ “Then the spirit replied: “‘A debt indeed to thee I owe, And full reward will I bestow; The roses which thou’st given me With laurel well repaid shall be; Without thy rose I had not risen Again from this my earthly prison, And as it raised me to the skies, So by the laurel thou shalt rise!’ “The youth answered: “‘Every evening at thy shrine Fresh roses, lady, I will twine; But tell me next what ’tis for fate That I must do, or what await?’ “The fairy sang: “‘A mighty mission, youth, indeed Hast thou to fill, and that with speed, Since it depends on thee to save All Florence from a yawning grave, From the worst form of blood and fire, And sword and conflagration dire. Thou dost the Duke Lorenzo know; Straight to that mighty leader go! The Chieftain of the Medici, And tell him what I tell to thee, That he is compassed all about With armed enemies without, Who soon will bold attack begin, Linked to conspiracy within; And bid him ere the two have crossed, To rise in strength or all is lost, Ring loud the storm-bell in alarms, Summon all Florence straight to arms: Lorenzo knows well what to do. Take thou thy sword and battle too! And in the fray I’ll look to thee: Go forth, my friend, to victory.’ “Then the young man went to the Duke Lorenzo, and told him, with words of fire which bore conviction, of the great peril which threatened him. Then there was indeed alarming and arming, and a terrible battle all night long, in which the young man fought bravely, having been made captain of a company which turned the fight. And the Grand Duke, impressed by his genius and his valour, gave him an immense reward. “So he rose in life, and became a _gran signore_, and one of the Council in Florence, and lord of Bellosguardo, and never neglected to twine every day a fresh wreath of roses round the Roman vase, and every evening he was visited by the fairy. And so it went on well with him till he died, and after that the spirit was seen no more. The witches say that the vase is, however, somewhere still in Florence, and that while it exists the city will prosper; but to call the fairy again it must be crowned with roses, and he who does so must pronounce with such faith as the gardener had, the same incantation.” * * * * *