Journal of Italian Translation - Brooklyn College - Academic Home ...

Tusiani/Alfieri 215
Where countless blooms, imperishably fair,
Raise a slow dam against the dashing waves.
III
There, where he’s turning his majestic glance,
Assembled to his right,
I see some noble souls in session—few
But truly worthy of a kindly fate,
Such as have vanished since.
Scipio, whose sword so much Africa slew;
And you, who also threw
Numberless slaves to Styx, there where you fought
In the Thessalian Straits for liberty;
You, who infected with much blood the sea
At Salamis; you, too, who Cimbria smote;
And you, who, in order not
To yield to servile shame,
Surrendered life in Utica; O Great
Spirits, engraved in everlasting fame,
What human grief can bend you with its weight?
IV
Oh, there, in tears, a once most queenly woman
Is kneeling in your view,
Unburdening her grievous bitterness.
Each of your faces shows a crimson hue—
A fire superhuman .. .
“Yes, the same sacred wrath, O Goddess—yes
Rekindles all of us,
Which once you gave with lavishness untold.
If, by your deathless deity possessed,
We used our valor best
In gaining freedom for our fatherland,
Seized by an ancient band
Of thieves well used to raid:
What you once gave us, back to you we give.
The greatest of all gifts we ever made
We make again; but let your Champion live!”
V
So spoke they. Liberty accepted then
From one the bloodied sword,
And from another the enduring shield.
With tears of happiness another lord
Offered his life again;