Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
William Wordsworth. 17701850522. On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic, 1802
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. | |
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. | |
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 | |
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 is pass’d away. |