MEMORIALS OF A TOUR IN ITALY, 1837
XVII. AT THE EREMITE OR UPPER CONVENT OF CAMALDOLI
MEMORIALS OF A TOUR IN ITALY, 1837
WHAT aim had they, the Pair of Monks, in size Enormous, dragged, while side by side they sate, By panting steers up to this convent gate? How, with empurpled cheeks and pampered eyes, Dare they confront the lean austerities Of Brethren who, here fixed, on Jesu wait In sackcloth, and God’s anger deprecate Through all that humbles flesh and mortifies? Strange contrast!–verily the world of dreams, Where mingle, as for mockery combined, 10 Things in their very essences at strife, Shows not a sight incongruous as the extremes That everywhere, before the thoughtful mind, Meet on the solid ground of waking life.