Vigna Di Papa Giulio
JULIUS.Tell me, why is it ye are discontent,You, Cardinals Salviati and Marcello,With Michael Angelo? What has he done,Or left undone, that ye are set against him?When one Pope dies, another is soon made;And I can make a dozen Cardinals,But cannot make one Michael Angelo.
Your Holiness, we are not set against him;We but deplore his incapacity.He is too old.
JULIUS.You, Cardinal Salviati,Are an old man. Are you incapable?'T is the old ox that draws the straightest furrow.
Your Holiness remembers he was chargedWith the repairs upon St. Mary's bridge;Made cofferdams, and heaped up load on loadOf timber and travertine; and yet for yearsThe bridge remained unfinished, till we gave itTo Baccio Bigio.
JULIUS.Always Baccio Bigio!Is there no other architect on earth?Was it not he that sometime had in chargeThe harbor of Ancona.
Ay, the same.
JULIUS.Then let me tell you that your Baccio BigioDid greater damage in a single dayTo that fair harbor than the sea had doneOr would do in ten years. And him you thinkTo put in place of Michael Angelo,In building the Basilica of St. Peter!The ass that thinks himself a stag discoversHis error when he comes to leap the ditch.
He does not build; he but demolishesThe labors of Bramante and San Gallo.
JULIUS.Only to build more grandly.
But time passes:Year after year goes by, and yet the workIs not completed. Michael AngeloIs a great sculptor, but no architect.His plans are faulty.
JULIUS.I have seen his model,And have approved it. But here comes the artist.Beware of him. He may make Persians of you,To carry burdens on your backs forever.
Words in this poem
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- deplore v. t.
- To feel or to express deep and poignant grief for; to bewail; to lament; to mourn; to sorrow over. [L. deplorare; de- + plorare to cry out, wail, lament; prob. akin to pluere to rain, and to E. flow: cf. F. déplorer. Cf. Flow.]
- sometime adv.
- At a past time indefinitely referred to; once; formerly.
- grandly adv.
- In a grand manner.
- sculptor n.
- One who sculptures; one whose occupation is to carve statues, or works of sculpture. [L. sculptor, fr. sculpere, sculptum, to carve; cf. scalpere to cut, carve, scratch, and Gr. sculpteur.]
- artist n.
- One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan. [F. artiste, LL. artista, fr. L. ars. See Art, n., and cf. Artiste.]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- backs n.
- Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vigna Di Papa Giulio is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Vigna Di Papa Giulio, in Michael Angelo: A Fragment (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-michael-angelo/vigna-di-papa-giulio.html, id L19260.
Form and metre
Vigna Di Papa Giulio is 50 lines in 11 stanzas.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| JULIUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Tell me, why is it ye are discontent, | 10 | ·······˘˘/ |
| You, Cardinals Salviati and Marcello, | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| With Michael Angelo? What has he done, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Or left undone, that ye are set against him? | 11 | ··˘/······· |
| When one Pope dies, another is soon made; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And I can make a dozen Cardinals, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| But cannot make one Michael Angelo. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Your Holiness, we are not set against him; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| We but deplore his incapacity. | 10 | ··˘/·˘˘/˘˘ |
| He is too old. | 4 | ···· |
| JULIUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| You, Cardinal Salviati, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Are an old man. Are you incapable? | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| 'T is the old ox that draws the straightest furrow. | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| Your Holiness remembers he was charged | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘··· |
| With the repairs upon St. Mary's bridge; | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Made cofferdams, and heaped up load on load | 10 | ·········· |
| Of timber and travertine; and yet for years | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘···· |
| The bridge remained unfinished, till we gave it | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘···· |
| To Baccio Bigio. | 5 | ····· |
| JULIUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Always Baccio Bigio! | 6 | /····· |
| Is there no other architect on earth? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Was it not he that sometime had in charge | 10 | ·····/···· |
| The harbor of Ancona. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Ay, the same. | 3 | ··· |
| JULIUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Then let me tell you that your Baccio Bigio | 11 | ··········· |
| Did greater damage in a single day | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| To that fair harbor than the sea had done | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or would do in ten years. And him you think | 10 | ·········· |
| To put in place of Michael Angelo, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| In building the Basilica of St. Peter! | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| The ass that thinks himself a stag discovers | 11 | ····˘/··˘/˘ |
| His error when he comes to leap the ditch. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| He does not build; he but demolishes | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| The labors of Bramante and San Gallo. | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| JULIUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Only to build more grandly. | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| But time passes: | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Year after year goes by, and yet the work | 10 | ·········· |
| Is not completed. Michael Angelo | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Is a great sculptor, but no architect. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His plans are faulty. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| JULIUS. | 2 | /˘ |
| I have seen his model, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And have approved it. But here comes the artist. | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Beware of him. He may make Persians of you, | 11 | ˘/·····/˘·· |
| To carry burdens on your backs forever. | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.