Journey to the Holy Land from Naples
Canto I Departure from Naples
1
On Muse, faint from romantic paint and fear,
Draw near and help! For I'll need you anon,
You sentimental thing; hot August's here,
And then, on horseback and by boat, I'm gone
On my long voyage via Puglia and Otranto,
Corfu... you'll rear more in my second Canto.
2
In the meantime, my first one will review
From whence I've set out, then what for, and why.
The Devil tempted Christ, and now me too.
Upon the world's great tower he set me high,
Sad with life's squalor, showed me rock and sand,
And whispered, "On this mountain great kings
stand".
3
But if my memory was less a fetter,
Without crazed dreams of rescure or escape,
The Naples would have suited me much better:
Out of my window, on the right-hand cape,
I saw the capital's grim and grey-walled prison,
And hot Vesuvius, on the left arisen.
4
The blue sea lay all calm, without palaver,
Between the crater and the institution,
