_True And False Nobility._

In noi dal senno.

Valour and mind form real nobility, The which bears fruit and shows a fair increase By doughty actions: these and nought but these Confer true patents of gentility. Money is false and light unless it be Bought by a man's own worthy qualities; And blood is such that its corrupt disease And ignorant pretence are foul to see. Honours that ought to yield more true a type, Europe, thou measurest by fortune still, To thy great hurt; and this thy foe perceives: He rates the tree by fruits mature and ripe, Not by mere shadows, roots, and verdant leaves:-- Why then neglect so grave a cause of ill?

XXV.