Classic Poem

I

The Emperor Frederick was encamped at Como,
And, lo, a messenger, with reins abandoned,
Rode into Milan by the Porta Nuova.
" People of Milan," so he called in passing,
" Bring me with speed to the Consul Gherardo."
They brought him to the Consul in the market;
The messenger bent from his saddle, whispered
A few brief words, and swiftly galloped onward.
Then the Consul Gherardo gave a signal,
" To Parliament" the trumpets shrilly sounded.

II

To Parliament the trumpets shrilly sounded;
For not yet had the stately palace risen
On massive pillars, nor was there a tribune,
Nor tower, nor on the summit of the tower
The bell. Amid the blackened ruins, covered
With flowering thorn-trees, there amid the lowly
Wooden houses in the narrow market,
Beneath the May sun, held the men of Milan
Their Parliament. From doorways and from windows
Stood watching them the women and the children.

III

" Ye gentlemen of Milan," saith the Consul,
" The springtime with its flowers brings the Germans
As oft before. In their own dens the gluttons
Keep Easter, then descend upon the valley.
Through the Engadine two excommunicated
Archbishops have led down the hostile forces.
The fair-haired Empress brought unto her husband
A loyal heart and therewith a fresh army.
Como hath left the league and joined the stronger."
" Let Como be destroyed," the people shouted.

IV

" Ye gentlemen of Milan," saith the Consul,
" The Emperor, having formed his host in Milan,
Leads on his troops to join those that the Marquis
Of Montferrato and Pavia send him.
What will ye do, ye men of Milan? Will ye
From the new dyke wait idly in your armour,
Or send envoys to Caesar, or in battle
With lance and sword defy the Barbarossa?"
" With lance and sword!" the whole assembly thundered;
" With lance and sword, the Barbarossa, in battle!"

V

And now stepped forward Albert of Giussano:
By a full shoulder's heighThe towered over
The folk that stood assembled round the consul.
In his vast strength his figure like a tower
Uprose amid the Parliament. His helmet
Hung in his hand, his chestnut hair was floating
About his mighty neck and ample shoulders.
The sun shone full upon his comely features
And glinted in his hair and eyes reflected.
His voice was as the thunder in the Maytime.

VI

" Burghers of Milan, brothers, ye my people,
Remember ye," saith Albert of Giussano,
" The first of March, that day whereon to Lodi
Rode our wan Consuls, and to him, with naked
Swords in their hands, swore fealty and obedience?
Upon the fourth of March we rode three hundred,
And humbly kissed his feet, and laid before him
Our beautiful, our six-and-thirty standards.
Master Guitelmo offered him the keys of
Famished Milan. And it naught availed us."

VII

" Remember ye," saith Albert of Giussano,
" The sixth of March? He would have all before him,
All at his feet — the soldiers, people, standards.
So forth from the three gates the burghers issued:
Came the Carroccio decked for war; thereafter
Great multitudes of people, each man holding
A cross within his hand. From the Carroccio
The trumpets blared for the last time before him;
Towards him from the mast of the Carroccio
The city's standard drooped: he touched its fringes."

VIII

" Remember ye," saith Albert of Giussano,
" How, clothed in weeds of penitence and sackcloth,
Cords knotted round our necks, our feet unshodden,
Our hair with ashes sprinkled, in the mire
We knelt and grovelled, and, our arms outstretching,
Besought him to have mercy? All around him —
Yea, every knight and gentleman around him —
Wept at the sight. He stood, erect and silent,
Beside the imperial shield, and gazed upon us
With hard dry, eyes that glittered like a diamond."

IX

" Remember ye," saith Albert of Giussano,
" Unto our shame returning on the morrow,
How from the street we spied the Empress gazing
Upon us from a lattice? T'wards the lattice
We lifted up our crosses, crying to her:
" O Empress, fair-haired, beautiful, O faithful,
O merciful, have mercy on our women! "
She drew back from the casement. BuThe bade us
Raze wall and gates of both engirdling ramparts
That so his host might pass arrayed for battle."

X

" Remember ye," saith Albert of Giussano,
" Nine days we waited, and they all departed,
The lord archbishop, all the counts and vassals?
Upon the tenth day came the Ban: " Forth with ye,
O wretches, forth, with women, sons, belongings!
The Emperor doth but eight days' grace allow ye. "
And we ran shrieking unto St. Ambrogio,
Embracing there the sepulchres and altars.
Out from the church with women and with children,
Out from the church like scurvy dogs, they chased us."

XI

" Remember ye," saith Albert of Giussano,
" That sad Palm-Sunday? Alas, for Jesus' Passion,
It was the Passion of our Milan also.
For from the Church of the four Saints we witnessed
The thrice a hundred towers of our encircling
Walls crash down one by one; last, through the ruins,
Amid thick clouds of dust, appeared our houses,
Shattered and shivered and annihilated:
They looked like rows of skeletons in a graveyard.
Beneath, the bones were burning of our dead ones.

XII

Thus having spoken, Albert of Giussano
Stood silent, and his eyes with both hands hiding
He wept: yes, in the midst of the assembly
He wept and sobbed, as a child weeps. Then slowly
Throughout the whole assembly passed a murmur,
That swelled into a storm like wild beasts roaring.
The women from the doorways and the windows,
Pale and dishevelled, with their arms extended
And staring eyes, shrieked out to the assembly;
" Death unto him, death to the Barbarossa!"

XIII

" And now behold!" saith Albert of Giussano,
" Behold, I weep no more. Our day is coming,
O men of Milan. Victory must attend us.
Behold, I dry my eyes, and at thee gazing,
Fair Sun of God, I make my vow. To-morrow
By eventide our dead in Purgatory
Shall have sweet news of us. Behold, I swear it,
Be I myself the messenger." But the people
Cried: " Better imperial messengers." And smiling
The sun went down behind the Resegone.