Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Rome, the Campagna | | The Campagna Seen from St. John Lateran | | Aubrey Thomas de Vere (1814–1902) |
| | | WAS it the trampling of triumphant hosts | |
| That levelled thus yon plain, sea-like and hoary; | |
| Armies from Rome sent forth to distant coasts, | |
| Or back returning clad with spoils of glory? | |
| Around it loom cape, ridge, and promontory: | 5 |
| Above it sunset shadows fleet like ghosts, | |
| Fast-borne o’er keep and tomb, whose ancient boasts, | |
| By Time confuted, name have none in story. | |
| Fit seat for Rome! for here is ample space, | |
| Which greatness chiefly needs,—severed alone | 10 |
| By yonder aqueducts, with queenly grace | |
| That sweep in curves concentric ever on | |
| (Bridging a world subjected as a chart), | |
| To that great city, head of earth, and heart. | | | | |
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