Of soul with cure of body, mend her mind
Together with her thin arms and sunk eyes
That want fresh air outside the convent-wall,
Say in a friendly house,—and which so fit
As a certain villa in the Pauline way,
That happens to hold Pietro and his wife,
The natural guardians? “Oh, and shift the care
“You shift the cost, too; Pietro pays in turn, (1510)
“And lightens Guido of a load! And then,
“Villa or convent, two names for one thing,
“Always the sojourn means imprisonment,
“Domum pro carcere—nowise we relax,
“Nothing abate: how answers Paolo?”
What would you answer? All so smooth and fair,
Even Paul’s astuteness sniffed no harm i’ the world.
He authorised the transfer, saw it made,
And, two months after, reaped the fruit of the same, (1520)
Having to sit down, rack his brain and find
What phrase should serve him best to notify
Our Guido that by happy providence
A son and heir, a babe was born to him
I’ the villa,—go tell sympathising friends!
Yes, such had been Pompilia’s privilege:
She, when she fled, was one month gone with child,
Known to herself or unknown, either way
Availing to explain (say men of art)
The strange and passionate precipitance (1530)
Of maiden startled into motherhood
Which changes body and soul by nature’s law.
So when the she-dove breeds, strange yearnings come
For the unknown shelter by undreamed-of shores,
And there is born a blood-pulse in her heart
To fight if needs be, though with flap of wing,
For the wool-flock or the fur- tuft, though a hawk
Contest the prize,—wherefore, she knows not yet.
Anyhow, thus to Guido came the news.
“I shall have quitted Rome ere you arrive (1540)
“To take the one step left,”—wrote Paolo.
Then did the winch o’ the winepress of all hate,
Vanity, disappointment, grudge, and greed,
Take the last turn that screws out pure revenge
With a bright bubble at the brim beside—
By an heir’s birth he was assured at once
O’ the main prize, all the money in dispute:
Pompilia’s dowry might revert to her
Or stay with him as law’s caprice should point,—
But now—now—what was Pietro’s shall be hers, (1550)
What was hers shall remain her own,—if hers,
Why then,—oh, not her husband’s but—her heir’s!
That heir being his too, all grew his at last
By this road or by that road, since they join.
Before, why, push he Pietro out o’ the world,—
The current of the money stopped, you see,
Pompilia being proved no Pietro’s child:
Or let it be Pompilia’s life he quenched,
Again the current of the money stopped,—
Guido debarred his rights as husband soon, (1560)
So the new process threatened;—now, the chance,
Now, the resplendent minute! Clear the earth,
Cleanse the house, let the three but disappear
A child remains, depositary of all,
That Guido may enjoy his own again!
Repair all losses by a master-stroke,
Wipe out the past, all done and left undone,
Swell the good present to best evermore,
Die into new life, which let blood baptise!
And why there was one step to take at Rome,
And why he should not meet with Paolo there,
He saw—the ins and outs to the heart of hell—
And took the straight line thither swift and sure.
He rushed to Vittiano, found four sons o’ the soil,
Brutes of his breeding, with one spark i’ the clod
That served for a soul, the looking up to him
Or aught called Franceschini as life, death,
Heaven, hell,—lord paramount, assembled these,
Harangued, equipped, instructed, pressed each clod (1580)
With his will’s imprint; then took horse, plied spur,
And so arrived, all five of them, at Rome
On Christmas-Eve, and forthwith found themselves
Installed i’ the vacancy and solitude
Left them by Paolo, the considerate man
Who, good as his word, disappeared at once
As if to leave the stage free. A whole week
Did Guido spend in study of his part,
Then played it fearless of a failure. One,
Struck the year’s clock whereof the hours are days, (1590)
And off was rung o’ the little wheels the chime
“Goodwill on earth and peace to man:” but, two,
Proceeded the same bell and, evening come,
The dreadful five felt finger-wise their way
Across the town by blind cuts and black turns
To the little lone suburban villa; knocked—
“Who may be outside?” called a well-known voice.
“A friend of Caponsacchi’s bringing friends
“A letter.”
Ay, and a test conclusive, I return. (1600)
What? Had that name brought touch of guilt or taste
Of fear with it, aught to dash the present joy
With memory of the sorrow just at end,—
She, happy in her parents’ arms at length
With the new blessing of the two weeks’ babe,—
How had that name’s announcement moved the wife?
Or, as the other slanders circulate,
Were Caponsacchi no rare visitant
On nights and days whither safe harbour lured,
What bait had been i’ the name to ope the door? (1610)
The promise of a letter? Stealthy guests
Have secret watchwords, private entrances:
The man’s own self might have been found inside
And all the scheme made frustrate by a word.
No: but since Guido knew, none knew so well,
The man had never since returned to Rome
Nor seen the wife’s face
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