Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“ A partisan of Rome, and consequently
Intolerant of all the new opinions.
JULIA.
I should not like the Duke. These silent men,
Who only look and listen, are like wells
That have no water in them, deep and empty.
How could the daughter of a king of France
Wed such a duke?
MICHAEL ANGELO.
The men that women marry
And why they marry them, will always be
A marvel and a mystery to the world.
VITTORIA.
And then the Duchess,--how shall I describe her,
Or tell the merits of that happy nature,
Which pleases most when least it thinks of pleasing? ”

“ Charles d'Espeville of Geneva, whom the Duchess
Doth much delight to talk with and to read,
For he hath written a book of Institutes
The Duchess greatly praises, though some call it
The Koran of the heretics.
JULIA.
And what poets
Were there to sing you madrigals, and praise
Olympia's eyes and Cherubina's tresses?
VITTORIA.
No; for great Ariosto is no more.
The voice that filled those halls with melody
Has long been hushed in death. ”

“ Who play their bag-pipes in the streets of Rome
At the Epiphany, will bear it soon,
And will deserve it better than some poets.
VITTORIA.
What bee hath stung you?
MICHAEL ANGELO.
One that makes no honey;
One that comes buzzing in through every window,
And stabs men with his sting. ”