Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Vesuvius, the Mountain | | Vesuvius | | Martial (c. 40–c. 104 A.D.) |
| | Translated by Joseph Addison
VESUVIO, covered with the fruitful vine, | |
| Here flourished once, and ran with floods of wine, | |
| Here Bacchus oft to the cool shades retired, | |
| And his own native Nisa less admired; | |
| Oft to the mountain’s airy tops advanced, | 5 |
| The frisking Satyrs on the summits danced; | |
| Alcides here, here Venus graced the shore, | |
| Nor loved her favorite Lacedæmon more. | |
| Now piles of ashes, spreading all around, | |
| In undistinguished heaps deform the ground, | 10 |
| The gods themselves the ruined seats bemoan, | |
| And blame the mischiefs that themselves have done. | | | | |
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