It is called "Instructions to an Emissary", sent down into Italy to
excite a revolution, and give Austria a pretext for interference,
and the supposed speaker is an Austrian minister. It is done with
excellent sarcasm, and it is useful as light upon a state of things
which, whether it existed wholly in fact or partly in the suspicion of
the Italians, is equally interesting and curious. The poem was written
in 1847, when the Italians were everywhere aspiring to a national
independence and self-government, and their rulers were conceding
privileges while secretly leaguing with Austria to continue the old
order of an Italy divided among many small tyrants. The reader will
readily believe that my English is not as good as the Italian.
INSTRUCTIONS TO AN EMISSARY.
You will go into Italy; you have here
Your passport and your letters of exchange;
You travel as a count, it would appear,
Going for pleasure and a little change;
Once there, you play the rodomont, the queer
Crack-brain good fellow, idle gamester, strange
Spendthrift and madcap. Give yourself full swing;
People are taken with that kind of thing.
When you behold--and it will happen so--
The birds flock down about the net, be wary;
Talk from a warm and open heart, and show
Yourself with everybody bold and merry.
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