That villain churl whose office ‘twas to bring My food, I bade taste first; but meanwhile thought: “Not here I find my foe Durante’s sting!” Yet erst my mind unto high God I brought Beseeching Him to pardon all my sin, And spoke a Miserere sorrow-fraught. Then when I gained some respite from that din Of troubles, and had given my soul to God, Contented better realms and state to win, I saw along the path which saints have trod, From heaven descending, glad, with glorious palm, An angel: clear he cried, “Upon earth’s sod Live longer thou! Through Him who heard thy psalm, Those foes shall perish, each and all, in strife, While thou remainest happy, free, and calm, Blessed by our Sire in heaven on earth for life!” Note 1. Cellini’s Capitolo in Praise of the Prison is clearly made up of pieces written, as escribed above, in the dungeon of S. Angelo, and of passages which he afterwards composed to bring these pieces into a coherent whole. He has not displayed much literary skill in the redaction, and I have been at pains to preserve the roughness of the original. Note 2. The Italian is 'acqua morta;' probably a slang phrase for urine. Note 3. 'Un nostro parente.' He says above that he wrote the Capitolo on the leaves of his Bible. Note 4. 'Un nostro parente.' He says above that he wrote the Capitolo on the leaves of his Bible. Note 5. Gabriel holds the lily in Italian paintings when he salutes the Virgin Mary with 'Ave Virgo!' Note 6. That is, he finds everywhere in Italy the arms of the Farnesi. Note 7. Allusion to his prevision of the castellan’s death. Note 8. Allusion to his prevision of Pier Luigi Farnese’s murder. Note 9. Allusion to the angel who visited him in prison. Note 10. Allusion to his vision of the sun in the dungeon. Note 11. An invective against Pier Luigi Farnese. Note 12. Allusion to the prophetic words he flung at the officers who took him to Foiano’s dungeon. End of Part One Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini Part II I