Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Venice | | Venice | | August von Platen-Hallermünde (1796–1835) |
| | Translated by Thomas Davidson
THERE seems a long, eternal Oh! to dwell | |
| In the still air that softly breathes around, | |
| Wafted from yonder halls, where once the sound | |
| Of jest and revelry was wont to swell. | |
| She dared the ages, yet Venetia fell; | 5 |
| The wheel of Fortune hath no backward bound: | |
| Her haven is desolate; few ships are found | |
| At the Slavonian Quay, once known so well. | |
| How didst thou once, Venetia, gorgeously | |
| Flaunt, like a haughty queen in gold array, | 10 |
| As Paolo Veronese painted thee! | |
| A poet on thy Giant Stair to-day | |
| Lingers beside each wondrous balcony, | |
| His tribute of a fruitless tear to pay. | | | | |
|
|
