gle stanza, the crowning lesson of the
life of Paracelsus, and indeed of every human life: for the sculptured
figures to which it refers have supplied the poet with an example of the
"glory" which may "arise" from "defect," the power from limitation. It
needs, he says, the obstructing prism to set free the rainbow hues of
the sunbeam. Only dumbness can give to love the full eloquence of the
eyes; only deafness can impress love's yearnings on the movements of
neck and face.

"THE STATUE AND THE BUST" is a warning against infirmity of purpose. Its
lesson is embodied in a picturesque story, in which fact and fiction are
combined.

In the piazza of the SS. Annunziata at Florence is an equestrian statue
of the Grand Duke Ferdinand the First, representing him as riding away
from the church, and with his head turned in the direction of the once
Riccardi Palace, which occupies a corner of the square. Tradition
asserts that he loved a lady whom her husband's jealousy kept a prisoner
there, and whom he could only see at her window; and that he avenged his
love by placing himself in effigy where his glance could always dwell
upon her.

In Mr. Browning's expanded version, the love is returned, and the lovers
determine to fly together. But each day brings fresh motives for
postponing the flight, and each day they exchange glances with each
other--he passing by on his horse, she looking down from her window--and
comfort themselves with the thought of the morrow. And as the days slip
by, their love grows cooler, and they learn to be content with
expectation. They realize at last that the love has been a dream, and
that they have spent their youth in dreaming it; and in order that the
dream may continue, and the memory of their lost youth be preserved,
they cause, he his statue to be cast, she her bust to be moulded, and
each placed in the attitude in which they have daily looked upon each
other. They feel the irony of the proceeding, though they find
satisfaction in it. Their image will do all that the reality has done.

Mr. Browning blames these lovers for not carrying out their intention,
whether or not it could be pronounced a good one. "Man should carry his
best energies into the game of life, whether the stake he is playing
for be good or bad--a reality or a sham. As a test of energy, the one
has no value above the other."

He leaves the "bust" in the region of fancy, by stating that it no
longer exists. But he tells us t