This is in connection with my initial query. The XML does not recognize the CSS span class.
<l rend="indent"> <span class="face_dropcap_ ">C</span><hi rend="initial_roman">E</hi>stoit alors que le prefent des <span class=".face_cap">D</span>ieux</l>
CSS style:
.face_dropcap_ {
font-size: 3em;
font-family: Palatino,serif;
font-weight: normal;
line-height: 100%;
float: left;
margin-right: 5px;
text-align: center;
font-style: normal;
}
/*face_cap style is for the capital letters that are non-italic in the body of the poem*/
.face_cap_{font-size: 3em;
font-family: Palatino,serif;
font-weight: normal;
line-height: 100%;
float: left;
margin-right: 5px;
text-align: center;
font-style: normal;}