In the neighborhood of Kew Bridge, between six and seven o'clock, the river was no solitude. Several persons were sauntering on the towing-path, and here and there a boat was plying. Deronda had been rowing fast to get over this spot, when, becoming aware of a great barge advancing toward him, he guided his boat aside, and rested on his oar within a couple of yards of the river-brink. He was all the while unconsciously continuing the low-toned chant which had haunted his throat all the way up the river--the gondolier's song in the _Otello_, where Rossini has worthily set to music the immortal words of Dante,
"Nessun maggior dolore Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Nella miseria":
[Footnote: Dante's words are best rendered by our own poet in the lines at the head of the chapter.]

Near Kew Bridge, between six and seven o'clock, the river was no solitude. People were sauntering on the towing-path, and here and there a boat was plying. Deronda had been rowing fast, when, becoming aware of an approaching barge, he guided his boat aside, and paused near the river-bank. He was unconsciously continuing the low-toned chant which he had been singing all the way up the river - the gondolier's song in Rossini's "Otello":-
"Nessun maggior dolore
Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria."
"There is no greater sorrow
