one of "the two most artificial of the Arts" (see his letter
to Murray, April 26, 1817), then first revealed to him at Florence, he
took care that his enthusiasm should not be misunderstood. He had made
bitter fun of the art-talk of collectors, and he was unrepentant, and,
moreover, he was "not careful" to incur a charge of indifference to the
fine arts in general. Among the "crowd" which found their place in his
complex personality, there was "the barbarian," and there was "the
philistine," and there was, too, the humourist who took a subtle
pleasure in proclaiming himself "a plain man," puzzled by subtleties,
and unable to catch the drift of spirits finer than his own.]

[429] {367}

[Greek: O)phthalmou\s e(stia~n]
"Atque oculos pascat uterque suos."
Ovid., _Amor_., lib. ii. [Eleg. 2, line 6].

[Compare, too, Lucretius, lib. i. lines 36-38--

"Atque ita, suspiciens tereti cervice reposta,
Pascit amore avidos, inhians in te, Dea, visus;
Eque tuo pendet resupini spiritus ore;"

and _Measure for Measure_, act ii. sc. 2, line 179--

"And feast upon her eyes."]

[mt] {368} _Glowing and all-diffused_----.--[MS. M. erased.]

[430] [As the immortals, for love's sake, divest themselves of their
godhead, so do mortals, in the ecstasy of passion, recognize in the
object of their love the incarnate presence of deity. Love, like music,
can raise a "mortal to the skies" and "bring an angel down." In this
stanza there is, perhaps, an intentional obscurity in the confusion of
ideas, which are "thrown out" for the reader to shape for himself as he
will or can.]

[mu] ----_and our Fate_----[MS. M.]

[431] {369} ["The church of Santa Croce contains much illustrious
nothing. The tombs of Macchiavelli, Michael Angelo, Galileo Galilei, and
Alfieri make it the Westminster Abbey of Italy" (Letter to Murray, April
26, 1817). Michael Angelo, Alfieri, and Macchiavelli are buried in the
south aisle of the church; Galileo, who was first buried within the
convent, now rests with his favourite pupil, Vincenzo Viviani, in a
vault in the south aisle. Canova's monument to Alfieri was erected at
the expense of his so-called widow, Louise, born von Stolberg, and
(1772-78) consort of Prince Charles Edward.]

[432] [Vittorio Alfieri (1749-1803) is one of numerous real and ideal
personages with whom, as he tells us (_Life_, p. 644), Byron was wont to
be compared. Moore perceives and dwells