The Salamander
I fell a-crying, while he, soothing me with his caresses, said, “My dear child, I don’t give you that blow for any fault you have committed, but that you may remember that the little lizard which you see in the fire is a salamander.” — Memoirs of Benvenuto Cellini
THE boy Cellini saw a thing,
A salamander in the fire,
Bright flame the path, the covering,
Where it moved scatheless and entire.
A salamander in the fire,
Bright flame the path, the covering,
Where it moved scatheless and entire.
A child will possibly forget
What he may ponder hard and well,
His mind by every sight beset,
Visible and invisible.
What he may ponder hard and well,
His mind by every sight beset,
Visible and invisible.
Even a lizard, spotted gold —
If by tomorrow there be none,
Tomorrow, when the hearth is cold
(O listen, my forgetful one) —
If by tomorrow there be none,
Tomorrow, when the hearth is cold
(O listen, my forgetful one) —
Even a miracle is less
And less the heart’s concern. For fear
Of time and its own waywardness,
Cellini’s father boxed his ear,
And less the heart’s concern. For fear
Of time and its own waywardness,
Cellini’s father boxed his ear,
To deepen memory, inspire
The lesson. So he taught his son
The salamander and the fire.
(Be careful, my impetuous one!
The lesson. So he taught his son
The salamander and the fire.
(Be careful, my impetuous one!
Such precedent is good to learn,
When redbirds in the holly tree,
This flaming canna, quick to burn,
Look so miraculous to me.)
When redbirds in the holly tree,
This flaming canna, quick to burn,
Look so miraculous to me.)