A
gentleman's son might enter the Church, the army, or the navy, but he
must not become a merchant.
[12.] My proper cares, my own, my personal cares.
[13.] Gelid, cold.
[14.] To winnow, to fan.
[15.] Sensual bliss is all the nation knows. This has never been true
of the Italians. At the end of the fifteenth century Italy was the
center of European civilization; at the close of the sixteenth she was
exhausted and helpless; in 1748, by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, she
was divided among various European powers; after a long struggle the
greater part of the country was united under Victor Emmanuel, who was
proclaimed king in 1861. Italy has now, besides elementary and higher
schools, twenty-one universities.
[16.] For wealth was theirs. Venice, Genoa, and Florence were cities
of great wealth during the latter part of the Middle Ages.
[17.] The palace learnt to rise. Beside palaces, there are in Italy
many noted buildings which the poet must have seen. Among these are
St. Peter's in Rome, the cathedral in Milan, and St. Mark's in Venice.
[18.] Again the long-fallen column, etc. When architecture began to
flourish anew in Italy, early in the Middle Ages, many of the columns
used were taken from the ruins of buildings erected during the days of
the Roman Empire.
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