Ferdinand II. entered Malebolge May 22nd, 1859
Go down to hell. This end is good to see;
The breath is lightened and the sense at ease
Beacuse thou art not; sense nor breath there is
In what thy body was, whose soul shall be
Chief nerve of hell's pained heart eternally.
Thou are abolished from the midst of these
That are what thou wast: Pius from his knees
Blows off the dust that flecked them, bowed for thee.
Yea, now the long-tongued slack-lipped litanies
Fail, and the priest has no more prayer to sell --
Now the last jesuit found about thee is
The beast that made the fouler flesh his cell --
Time lays his finger on thee, saying, "Cease;
Here is no room for thee; go down to hell."
Other Poems from Dirae
Punch Caricatures and other related material
- Free Italy?
- The Lion of St. Mark
- The Risorgimento or Unification of Italy (1815-1871): An Introduction
References
The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne, 6 volumes, London: Chatto & Windus, 1904. II, 293. [Scanned by George P. Landow]