In "Requiescat" quite a different note is reached. The poem was written after the death of a beloved sister; the sentiment rings true and the very simplicity of the language conveys an atmosphere of real grief that would have been entirely marred by the intrusion of any decorative or highly-coloured phrase. The choice of Saxon words alone could produce the desired effect, and the author has realised this and made use almost exclusively of that material. Nor was he ill-advised to let himself be influenced so far as the metre is concerned by Hood's incomparable "Bridge of Sighs," and it was not in the metre alone that he availed himself of that priceless gem of English verse-- "All her bright golden hair Tarnished with rust, She that was young and fair Fallen to dust." is obviously inspired by "Take her up tenderly, Lift her with care; Fashioned so slenderly, Young, and so fair!" But, on the other hand, Hood himself might well have envied the exquisite sentiment contained in-- "Speak gently, she can hear The daisies grow." The lines were written at Avignon, surely the place of all others, with its memories and its mediæval atmosphere, to inspire a poem, the dignity and beauty of which are largely due to the simplicity of its wording. During this period of travel we are struck by two things. Firstly, how deeply impressed the young poet was by the mysteries of the Catholic Faith and how his indignation flamed up at the new Italian _régime_; secondly, how apparent the influence of Rossetti is in the sonnets he then wrote. His sympathies were all with the occupant of St Peter's chair. "But when I knew that far away at Rome In evil bonds a second Peter lay, I wept to see the land so very fair." and again "Look southward where Rome's desecrated town Lies mourning for her God-anointed King! Look heavenward! Shall God allow this thing Not but some flame-girt Raphael shall come down, And smite the Spoiler with the sword of pain." In "San Miniato" the influence of Rome upon the young man's mind finds expression in words which might have been written by a son of the Latin Church. "O crowned by God with thorns and pain! Mother of Christ! O mystic wife! My heart is weary of this life And over sad to sing again," he writes, and ends with the invocation-- "O crowned by God with love and flame! O crowned by Christ the Holy One! O listen ere the scorching sun Show to the world my sin and shame." Nor can it be wondered at that the devotion to the Madonna which forms so essential a feature of the Catholic Faith should impress his young and ardent spirit as it does nearly every artist to whom the poetic beauty of this side of It naturally appeals.