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[imaginarylove]

I like many of the poems above, but feel the need for something more lyrical, more musical; something with some craft. So....

COMPOSED UPON WESTMINSTER BRIDGE, SEPT. 3, 1802

..........EARTH has not anything to show more fair:
..........Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
..........A sight so touching in its majesty:
..........This City now doth, like a garment, wear
..........The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
..........Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
..........Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
..........All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
..........Never did sun more beautifully steep
..........In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill; 10
..........Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
..........The river glideth at his own sweet will:
..........Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
..........And all that mighty heart is lying still!


And here's another favourite by the same author:

ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC

..........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;
..........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 reached its final day:
..........Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade
..........Of that which once was great, is passed away.

You know, I've read that poem dozens of times, and I've only just noticed how the theme of the "maiden" city is developed through "no guile seduced, no force could violate" to "took unto herself a mate."