IN A WINTER CITY. 181
" Si tu mi lasci, lasciar non ti voglio,
Se m' abbandoni, ti vo segnitare
Se p.issi il mare, U. mar passare io voglio,
Se giri il mondo, il mondo vo' girare," ftc.
The words were very simple, but the melody
was passionate and beautiful; his voice, so low
at ffrst, rose louder, with aU the yearning tender¬
ness in it with which the song is laden ; and
the soft sounds echoed through the sUent
room, as they had echoed ten thousand times
in moonUt nights of midsummer, over the
land where Eomeo and StradeUa and Ariosto
loved.
His voice sank softly into silence; and Lady
Hilda did not move.
There was a mist that was almost like tears
in her proud eyes ; she gazed into the fire, with
her cheek leaning on her hand; she did not
speak to him; there was no sound but the
faUing of some burning wood upon the hearth.
" The simplest contadina in the land wordd
understand that," he said as he rose ;" and you,
great lady though you are, cannot ? Madame,
there are things, after all, that you have
missed.'*
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