Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.

Florence

San Miniato

By John Sterling (1806–1844)

WHILE slow on Miniato’s height I roam,

And backward look to Brunelleschi’s dome,

’T is strange to think that here on many a day

Old Michael Angelo has paced his way:

And watching Florence, in his bosom found

A nobler world than that which lies around.

To him, perhaps, the ghost of Dante came

At sunset, with his pride of mournful fame.

By me the twain, the bard and sculptor stand,

With strong lip gazing and uplifted hand:

The great, the sad, fighters in ages past,

With their full peace fill e’en the weak at last.