Page:Divine Comedy (Longfellow 1867) v1.djvu/105

Rh These words were of my Leader; whence I prayed him

That he would give me largess of the food,

For which he had given me largess of desire.

"In the mid-sea there sits a wasted land,"

Said he thereafterward, "whose name is Crete,

Under whose king the world of old was chaste.

There is a mountain there, that once was glad

With waters and with leaves, which was called Ida;

Now 't is deserted, as a thing worn out.

Rhea once chose it for the faithful cradle

Of her own son; and to conceal him better,

Whene'er he cried, she there had clamors made.

A grand old man stands in the mount erect,

Who holds his shoulders turned tow'rds Damietta,

And looks at Rome as if it were his mirror.

His head is fashioned of refined gold,

And of pure silver are the arms and breast;

Then he is brass as far down as the fork.

From that point downward all is chosen iron,

Save that the right foot is of kiln-baked clay,

And more he stands on that than on the other.

Each part, except the gold, is by a fissure

Asunder cleft, that dripping is with tears,

Which gathered together perforate that cavern.