| Samuel Waddington, comp. The Sonnets of Europe. 1888. | | | | The Human Comedy | | By Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639) |
| | Translated by John Addington Symonds
NATURE, by God directed, formed in space | |
| The universal comedy we see; | |
| Wherein each star, each man, each entity, | |
| Each living creature, hath its part and place; | |
| And when the play is over, it shall be | 5 |
| That God will judge with justice and with grace.— | |
| Aping this art divine, the human race | |
| Plans for itself on earth a comedy: | |
| It makes kings, priests, slaves, heroes for the eyes | |
| Of vulgar folk; and gives them masks to play | 10 |
| Their several parts—not wisely, as we see; | |
| For impious men too oft we canonise, | |
| And kill the saints; while spurious lords array | |
| Their hosts against the real nobility. | | | | |
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