Rome, Rome! thou art no more As thou hast been!
On thy seven hills of yore Thou satst a queen.
Thou hadst thy triumphs then Purpling the street;Leaders and sceptred men Bowed at thy feet.
They that thy mautle wore, As gods were seen-Rome, Rome! thou art no moreAs thou hast been!
Rome! thine imperial brow Never shall rise:
What hast thou left thee now? -
Thou hast thy skies!
Blue, deeply blue, they are, Gloriously bright!
Veiling thy wastes afar With coloured light.
Thou hast the sunset"s glow, Rome, for thy dower,Flushing tall cypress-bough, Temple and tower!
And all sweet sounds are thine, Lovely to hear;While night o"er tomb and shrine Rests darkly clear.
Many a solemn hymn, By starlight sung,
Sweeps through the arches dim.
Thy wrecks among.
Many a flute"s low swell
On thy soft air
Lingers, and loves to dwell With summer there.
Thou hast the South"s rich gift Of sudden song,A charmed fountain, swift, Joyous, and strong.
Thou hast fair forms that move With queenly tread;Thou hast proud fanes above Thy mighty dead.
Yet wears thy Tiber"s shore A mournful mien; -Rome, Rome! thou art no more As thou hast been!
-FELICIA HEMANS
WORDS
charmed, bewitched. dower, portion. fanes, temples. flushing, suffusing. imperial, sovereign. lingers, loiters.
mantle, garment. mien, aspect. shrine, altar. solemn, religious.
triumphs, exultations.
veiling, covering.
NOTES
① On thy seven hills of yore.-Rome was built on seven hills, and is therefore called by poets "The seven-hilled city."At the time of its greatest glory, the walls of Rome were nearly twenty miles in circumference.-Of yore means formerly; in time long past.
② Purpling the street.-Purple was the royal colour of the ancients, especially the famousand costly Tyrian purple. In imperial Rome it was the emblem of sovereign power, and would consequently predominate in a Roman triumph, when "leaders and sceptred men" were led in procession behind the chariot of the conqueror.
