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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


FEBRUARY IN ROME by EDMUND WILLIAM GOSSE

First Line: WHEN ROMAN FIELDS ARE RED WITH CYCLAMEN
Last Line: TROUBLE HER SOUL TILL ROME BE NO MORE ROME.
Subject(s): ROME, ITALY;

WHEN Roman fields are red with cyclamen,
And in the palace gardens you may find,
Under great leaves and sheltering briony-bind,
Clusters of cream-white violets, oh then
The ruined city of immortal men
Must smile, a little to her fate resigned,
And through her corridors the slow warm wind
Gush harmonies beyond a mortal ken.
Such soft favonian airs upon a flute,
Such shadowy censers burning live perfume,
Shall lead the mystic city to her tomb;
Nor flowerless springs, nor autumns without fruit,
Nor summer mornings when the winds are mute,
Trouble her soul till Rome be no more Rome.



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