Mario

By Francis Saltus Saltus (1849–1889)

Mario was a celebrated tenor singer who died Dec. 11, 1883. He sang with Grisi for twenty-five years and married her on the dissolution of her previous marriage.

ART reigned incarnate in thy lofty soul,

Tuning that voice which was Rubini’s peer,

And whose delicious accents, firm and clear,

Could hold each changing passion in control.

But thou wast greatest in some thrilling role

That shook the heart or drew the rebel tear;

And memories of thee, forever dear,

Will live and linger now from pole to pole.

Death cannot ravage thy eternal fame,

Nor can it snatch the laurel from thy brow;

The ermine of thy life is free of stain,

And, for all time, thy ever-glorious name,

Shrined in the future, as ’tis honored now,

Will pure, supreme, and beautiful remain.

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