O wretched scorn! from which alone I sing, Thou weariest and saddenest my soul! O butterfly that joyest on thy wing, Pausing from bloom to bloom, without a goal-- And thou, that singing of love for evermore, Fond nightingale! from wood to wood dost go, My life is as a never-ending war Of doubts, when likened to the peace ye know, And wears what seems a smile and is a throe! There is another famous poem of Giusti's in quite a different mood. It is called “Instructions to an Emissary”, sent down into Italy to excite a revolution, and give Austria a pretext for interference, and the supposed speaker is an Austrian minister. It is done with excellent sarcasm, and it is useful as light upon a state of things which, whether it existed wholly in fact or partly in the suspicion of the Italians, is equally interesting and curious. The poem was written in 1847, when the Italians were everywhere aspiring to a national independence and self-government, and their rulers were conceding privileges while secretly leaguing with Austria to continue the old order of an Italy divided among many small tyrants. The reader will readily believe that my English is not as good as the Italian. INSTRUCTIONS TO AN EMISSARY. You will go into Italy; you have here Your passport and your letters of exchange; You travel as a count, it would appear, Going for pleasure and a little change; Once there, you play the rodomont, the queer Crack-brain good fellow, idle gamester, strange Spendthrift and madcap. Give yourself full swing; People are taken with that kind of thing. When you behold--and it will happen so-- The birds flock down about the net, be wary; Talk from a warm and open heart, and show Yourself with everybody bold and merry. The North's a dungeon, say, a waste of snow, The very house and home of January, Compared with that fair garden of the earth, Beautiful, free, and full of life and mirth. And throwing in your discourse this word _free_, Just to fill up, and as by accident, Look round among your listeners, and see If it has had at all the effect you meant; Beat a retreat if it fails, carelessly Talking of this and that; but in the event Some one is taken with it, never fear, Push boldly forward, for the road is clear. Be bold and shrewd; and do not be too quick, As some are, and plunge headlong on your prey When, if the snare shall happen not to stick, Your uproar frightens all the rest away; To take your hare by carriage is the trick; Make a wide circle, do not mind delay; Experiment and work in silence; scheme With that wise prudence that shall folly seem. The minister bids the emissary, “Turn me into a jest; say I'm sleepy and begin to dote; invent what lies you will, I give you _carte-bianche_.”