Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Rome | | Campo Marzio | | John Dyer (1700?–1758) |
| | (From Ruins of Rome)
BEHOLD by Tiber’s flood, where modern Rome | |
| Couches beneath the ruins: there of old | |
| With arms and trophies gleamed the field of Mars: | |
| There to their daily sports the noble youth | |
| Rushed emulous; to fling the pointed lance; | 5 |
| To vault the steed; or with the kindling wheel | |
| In dusty whirlwinds sweep the trembling goal; | |
| Or, wrestling, cope with adverse swelling breasts, | |
| Strong, grappling arms, closed heads, and distant feet; | |
| Or clash the lifted gauntlets: there they formed | 10 |
| Their ardent virtues: lo, the bossy piles, | |
| The proud triumphal arches; all their wars, | |
| Their conquests, honors, in the sculptures live. | | | | |
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