poetry thus--

"Perstrepuit _modulis_ Gallia tota meis."
(All France rang with my songs.)

We might compare the _versus_ of the Middle Ages with the stiff
sculptures on a Romanesque font, lifelessly reminiscent of decadent
classical art; while the _moduli_, in their freshness, elasticity, and
vigour of invention, resemble the floral scrolls, foliated cusps, and
grotesque basreliefs of Gothic or Lombard architecture.




V.


Even in the half-light of what used to be called emphatically the Dark
Ages, there pierce gleams which may be reflections from the past
evening of paganism, or may intimate the earliest dawn of modern
times. One of these is a song, partly popular, partly scholastic,
addressed to a beautiful boy.[1] It begins thus--

"O admirabile veneris idolum"--

and continues in this strain, upon the same rhythm, blending
reminiscences of classical mythology and medieval metaphysic, and
winding up with a reference to the Horatian _Vitas hinnuleo me similis
Chloe_. This poem was composed in the seventh century, probably at
Verona, for mention is made in it of the river Adige. The metre can