The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron
General
The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron
English poetry
when a man came, mounted on a white horse, having behind him a dead
body, the head and arms of which hung on one side, and the feet on the
other side of the horse; the two persons on foot supporting the body, to
prevent its falling. They thus proceeded towards that part where the
filth of the city is usually discharged into the river, and turning the
horse, with his tail towards the water, the two persons took the dead
body by the arms and feet, and with all their strength flung it into the
river. The person on horseback then asked if they had thrown it in; to
which they replied, _Signor, si_ (yes, Sir). He then looked towards the
river, and seeing a mantle floating on the stream, he enquired what it
was that appeared black, to which they answered, it was a mantle; and
one of them threw stones upon it, in consequence of which it sunk. The
attendants of the pontiff then enquired from Giorgio, why he had not
revealed this to the governor of the city; to which he replied, that he
had seen in his time a hundred dead bodies thrown into the river at the
same place, without any inquiry being made respecting them; and that he
had not, therefore, considered it as a matter of any importance. The
fishermen and seamen were then collected, and ordered to search the
river, where, on the following evening, they found the body of the duke,
with his habit entire, and thirty ducats in his purse. He was pierced
with nine wounds, one of which was in his throat, the others in his
head, body, and limbs. No sooner was the pontiff informed of the death
of his son, and that he had been thrown, like filth, into the river,
than, giving way to his grief, he shut himself up in a chamber, and wept
bitterly. The Cardinal of Segovia, and other attendants on the pope,
went to the door, and after many hours spent in persuasions and
exhortations, prevailed upon him to admit them. From the evening of
Wednesday till the following Saturday the pope took no food; nor did he
sleep from Thursday morning till the same hour on the ensuing day. At
length, however, giving way to the entreaties of his attendants, he
began to restrain his sorrow, and to consider the injury which his own
health might sustain by the further indulgence of his grief.'"--Roscoe's
_Life and Pontificate of Leo Tenth_, 1805, i. 265. [See, too, for the
original in _Burchard Diar_, in Gordon's _Life of Alex. VI., Append._,
"De Cæde Ducis Gandiæ," _Append._ No. xlviii., _ib._, pp. 90, 91.]
[lb] {370} _A mighty pebble_----.--[MS.]
[lc] _That not unarmed in combat fair he fell_.--[MS. erased.]
[ld] {371} ----_some phantom wound_.--[MS.]
HEBREW MELODIES
INTRODUCTION TO _HEBREW MELODIES_
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