When for a buonamano
Cometh, at break of day,
Knock at the terzo piano,
A little voice answers, Chi è?
“I, the facchino, awaiting
The bounty of cara lei.”
She droppeth a paul through the grating,
And silently steals away.
When, with a long low mumble
Of lips that appear to pray,
There cometh a knock-so humble-
The little voice answers, Chi è?
“I, the poor monk.” Just a little
She opens, but nought doth say;
Gives him baiocchi or victual,
And silently steals away.
But when, as the shadows longer
Stretch half athwart the way,
There cometh a knock, much stronger,
The little voice answers, Chi è?
And when I answer, Io!
No bolts nor bars delay;
But, with the wild whisper, Ah Dio!
We kiss, and we steal away.
Alfred Austin (1835 – 1913) was an English journalist and a poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896, after an interval following the death of Tennyson, when the other candidates had either caused controversy or simply refused the honor. It was claimed that he was being rewarded for his support for the Conservative leader Lord Salisbury in the General Election of 1895.