English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| 403. On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic |
| | | William Wordsworth (1770–1850) |
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| ONCE did She hold the gorgeous East in fee | |
| And was the safeguard of the West; the worth | |
| Of Venice did not fall below her birth, | |
| Venice, the eldest child of liberty. | |
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| She was a maiden city, bright and free; | 5 |
| No guile seduced, no force could violate; | |
| And when she took unto herself a mate, | |
| She must espouse the everlasting Sea. | |
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| And what if she had seen those glories fade, | |
| Those titles vanish, and that strength decay,— | 10 |
| Yet shall some tribute of regret be paid | |
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| When her long life hath reach’d its final day: | |
| Men are we, and must grieve when even the shade | |
| Of that which once was great has pass’d away. | |
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