APOLOGETIC original: "APOLOGETIQVE." In this context, it refers to a formal justification or a poetic defense, though the tone is deeply critical of the subject matter.

Strength is no longer strength, and the arm of a Hercules

Hercules was the Roman name for the Greek hero Heracles, famous for his supernatural physical strength. Since a dwarf wielding a pistol makes a Samson retreat Samson is the biblical figure known for his immense strength; the poet contrasts ancient physical power with the modern, impersonal power of firearms. A Caesar is no longer anything, nor Hannibal of Carthage, Refers to Julius Caesar, Hannibal Barca, and Scipio Africanus, three of the greatest military commanders of antiquity. For a simple lackey opens for them the passage In Greek mythology, Acheron is the "river of woe" in the underworld; the poet suggests that a common servant can now kill a great general from a distance. It is said that ungrateful man, with an execrable hand, A reference to the Latin proverb Homo homini lupus, suggesting that human beings are naturally predatory toward one another. But if ever that was found to be true,

But what! it is the sin and the sinister action

The "thunderbolt" is a metaphor for the cannon or the explosion of gunpowder. And this Berthold was the instrument and minister Berthold Schwarz, or "Berthold the Black," the legendary German monk and alchemist mentioned on the previous page. Who should have nevertheless rather abandoned his powder,

Than to imitate on earth a shattering lightning bolt,

The poet accuses the inventor of hubris—trying to mimic the divine thunder of the king of the gods. He believed that at his death, the daughters of Memory The "daughters of Memory" are the Muses, the goddesses of inspiration, literature, and the arts. But they have written upon his black tomb

EPITAPH

Here lies Berthold the Black, the most abominable

B