And now the ship coasted a lofty point Of rocky Ithaca. And, twixt two hills A garth there was, well-tilled, Laertes’ field, The ancient king’s: therein an orchard rich Where pear-trees stood, and apples, row on row, That once Laertes gave to his dear son Who thro’ the vineyard followed, begging this And that, among the slim new-planted trees. Here now, ten apple-trees and thirteen pears Stood white with blossom in a close-set clump, And in the shade of one—the fairest—stood An old man, turning towards the boundless sea Where roared the sudden squall—with up-raised hand Lessening the light above his wearied eyes— Strained his weak gaze after the flying ship. This was his father: but Odysseus’ heart, Floating profound in sleep, beheld him not. VII. And as the winds the black ship bore afar Sudden the hero started from his sleep, Swiftly unclosed his eyes, to see—perchance— Smoke rise from his long-dreamed-of Ithaca— Faithful Eumæus standing in the pen— His white-haired father in the well-tilled field, His father dear, who, on the mattock propped, Stood gazing, gazing at the lessening ship— His goodly son, who, leaning on his spear, Stood gazing, gazing at the lessening ship— And, leaping round his lord, with waving tail, Argus his dog—Yea, and perchance his house, His dear sweet home, wherein his faithful wife Already laboured in the chattering loom. He gazed again—a shapeless blot of black He saw across the purpling waste of sea— Cloud was’t or land?—It faded into air E’en as Odysseus’ heart emerged from sleep. Giovanni Pascoli’s sincerity of thought, truth of feeling, breadth of sympathy, temperateness and restraint, mark him out as a poet in the full sense of the word; and place him, artistically and morally, on a higher plane than the decadents who represent Italy to the foreign public. THE MAKING OF RELIGION (COME SI FORMA LA RELIGIONE) ANDREW LANG. _Longmans Green and Co._[20] AVVERSARIO implacabile della dotta critica tedesca e degli scienziati che si rifiutino ad indagini che possano eventualmente distruggere teorie favorite, è il signor Andrew Lang. Un anno fa, egli presentò al pubblico inglese una traduzione del libro in cui il Comparetti, esaminando il poema cosiddetto epico dei Finni e le Rune delle quali il Lönnrot lo costrusse, trova parole acerbe per i Tedeschi che idearono la teoria dei _Kleine Lieder_ per i poemi omerici, e che la sostennero con grande apparato scientifico basato sul nulla, per mezzo di deduzioni da ipotesi non provate, e, per la mancanza di criterii obiettivi, non dimostrabili. In un libro recente egli dà l’assalto alla teoria vigente sulle origini e sullo sviluppo della religione.