On the Late Massacre in Piedmont

As noted in the Analysis section, the sonnet moves from a more visceral, passionate tone to one of righteous reflection and prophecy. The movement reflects the poem’s prominent theme of vengeance—or, more specifically, the tension between retributive and restorative justice, and the conundrum in striking a balance between the two. At first, the speaker exhorts God to “avenge” (Line 1) the massacre of the Waldensians, the injunction carrying echoes from both Old and New Testaments, where God is an absolutist, or a harsh dispenser of justice. The speaker appeals to this God at the outset because he is carried away by rage. The massacre of innocents has ignited a fire in the speaker, and his utterances bristle with a raw hunger for retribution. Tellingly, the first few lines of the poem echo the Biblical style of imperative, with the speaker now urging God to “Forget not” (Line 5) and “record” (Line 5). The lines burn with power, but their imagery is chilly—old bones strewn over the cold Alps (Lines 1-2)—evoking the horror of the massacre.

However, what complicates the sonnet and gives it its characteristic turn is that the speaker must somehow relinquish his idea of retribution.