I cannot comprehend, nor give in thee Bounds to the infinite and human names. Father of the world, that which thou here revealest Perchance is but a thought of thine; or this Movable veil that covers here below All thy creation is eternal illusion That hides God from us. Where to rest itself The mind hath not. It palpitates uncertain In infinite darkness, and denies more wisely Than it affirms. O God omnipotent! I know not what thou art, or, if I know, How can I utter thee? The tongue has not Words for thee, and it falters with my thought That wrongs thee by its effort. Soon I go Out of the last doubt unto the first truth. What did I say? The intellect is soothed To faith in Christ, and therein it reposes As in the bosom of a tender mother Her son. Arnaldo, that which thou art seeking With sterile torment, thy great teacher sought Long time in vain, and at the cross's foot His weary reason cast itself at last. Follow his great example, and with tears Wash out thy sins. We leave Arnaldo in his prison, and it is supposed that he is put to death during the combat that follows between the Germans and Romans immediately after the coronation of Frederick. As the forces stand opposed to each other, two beautiful choruses are introduced--one of Romans and one of Germans. And, just before the onset, Adelasia appears and confesses that she has betrayed Arnaldo, and that he is now in the power of the papacy. At the same time the clergy are heard chanting Frederick's coronation hymn, and then the battle begins. The Romans are beaten by the number and discipline of their enemies, and their leaders are driven out. The Germans appear before Frederic and Adrian with two hundred prisoners, and ask mercy for them. Adrian delivers them to his prefect, and it is implied that they are put to death. Then turning to Frederick, Adrian says: Art thou content? for I have given to thee More than the crown. My words have consecrated Thy power. So let the Church and Empire be Now at last reconciled. The mystery That holds three persons in one substance, nor Confounds them, may it make us here on earth To reign forever, image of itself, In unity which is like to that of God. V So ends the tragedy, and so was accomplished the union which rested so heavily ever after upon the hearts and hopes, not only of Italians, but of all Christian men. So was confirmed that temporal power of the popes, whose destruction will be known in history as infinitely the greatest event of our greatly eventful time, and will free from the doubt and dread of many one of the most powerful agencies for good in the world; namely, the Catholic Church.