Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79. | | | | Verona | | The Congress of Verona | | Lord Byron (1788–1824) |
| | (From The Age of Bronze)
THRICE blest Verona! since the holy three | |
| With their imperial presence shine on thee; | |
| Honored by them, thy treacherous site forgets | |
| The vaunted tomb of all the Capulets; | |
| Thy Scaligers—for what was Dog the Great, | 5 |
| Can Grande (which I venture to translate,) | |
| To these sublimer pugs? Thy poet too, | |
| Catullus, whose old laurels yield to new; | |
| Thine amphitheatre, where Romans sate; | |
| And Dante’s exile sheltered by thy gate; | 10 |
| Thy good old man, whose world was all within | |
| Thy wall, nor knew the country held him in: | |
| Would that the royal guests it girds about | |
| Were so far like, as never to get out! | |
| Ay, shout! inscribe! rear monuments of shame, | 15 |
| To tell Oppression that the world is tame; | |
| Crowd to the theatre with loyal rage, | |
| The comedy is not upon the stage; | |
| The show is rich in ribandry and stars, | |
| Then gaze upon it through thy dungeon bars; | 20 |
| Clap thy permitted palms, kind Italy, | |
| For thus much still thy fettered hands are free! | | | | |
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