[[v]]

[[n]]

Type of the antique Rome! Rich reliquary

Of lofty contemplation left to Time

By buried centuries of pomp and power!

At length — at length — after so many days

5

[[n]]

Of weary pilgrimage and burning thirst,

[[v]]

(Thirst for the springs of lore that in thee lie,)

I kneel, an altered and an humble man,

[[v]]

Amid thy shadows, and so drink within

[[n]]

My very soul thy grandeur, gloom, and glory!

 

10

Vastness! and Age! and Memories of Eld!

[[v]]

Silence! and Desolation! and dim Night!

I feel ye now — I feel ye in your strength —

[[n]]

O spells more sure than e’er Judæan king

Taught in the gardens of Gethsemane!

15

[[n]]

O charms more potent than the rapt Chaldee

Ever drew down from out the quiet stars! [page 76:]

 

[[n]]

Here, where a hero fell, a column falls!

Here, where the mimic eagle glared in gold,

A midnight vigil holds the swarthy bat!

20

[[v]]

Here, where the dames of Rome their gilded hair

[[v]]

[[n]]

Waved to the wind, now wave the reed and thistle!

Here, where on golden throne the monarch lolled,

Glides, spectre-like, unto his marble home,

[[n]]

Lit by the wan light of the hornéd moon,

25

The swift and silent lizard of the stones!

 

[[v]]

[[n]]

But stay! these walls — these ivy-clad arcades —

These mouldering plinths — these sad and blackened shafts —

[[v]]

These vague entablatures — this crumbling frieze —

These shattered cornices — this wreck — this ruin —

30

[[n]]

These stones — alas! these gray stones — are they all —

[[v]]

[[n]]

All of the famed, and the colossal left

By the corrosive Hours to Fate and me?

 

“Not all” — the Echoes answer me — “not all!

[[n]]

Prophetic sounds and loud, arise forever

35

[[v]]

From us, and from all Ruin, unto the wise,

[[v]]

[[n]]

As melody from Memnon to the Sun.

We rule the hearts of mightiest men — we rule

With a despotic sway all giant minds.

[[v]]

We are not impotent — we pallid stones.

40

Not all our power is gone — not all our fame —

Not all the magic of our high renown —

Not all the wonder that encircles us —

Not all the mysteries that in us lie —

Not all the memories that hang upon

45

[[v]]

And cling around about us as a garment,

[[v]]

[[n]]

Clothing us in a robe of more than glory.”

(1833)