Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Rome, Ruins of | | The Baths of Caracalla | | John Dyer (1700?–1758) |
| | (From Ruins of Rome)
EASTWARD hence, | |
| Nigh where the Cestian pyramid divides | |
| The mouldering wall, behold yon fabric huge, | |
| Whose dust the solemn antiquarian turns, | |
| And thence, in broken sculptures cast abroad | 5 |
| Like sibyl’s leaves, collects the builder’s name | |
| Rejoiced, and the green medals frequent found | |
| Doom Caracalla to perpetual fame: | |
| The stately pines, that spread their branches wide | |
| In the dun ruins of its ample halls, | 10 |
| Appear but tufts; as may whate’er is high | |
| Sink in comparison, minute and vile. | | | | |
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