III

And saw ten thousand eyes of Florentines

      Flash back the triumph of the Lombard north,—

Saw fifty banners, freighted with the signs

      And exultations of the awakened earth,

Float on above the multitude in lines,

      Straight to the Pitti. So, the vision went.

And so, between those populous rough hands

      Raised in the sun, Duke Leopold outleant,

And took the patriot's oath, which henceforth stands

      Among the oaths of perjurers, eminent

To catch the lightnings ripened for these lands.