ROME, symbol of all change, oh, change not here! Thou, ever avid of beauty, who shall say Thou hast forsworn it in a vain display And blare of discord, as though eager ear Listening for nightingale heard chanticleer? Oh, leave these sunny stairs, that float and stray From fountain blithe and flowers' rich array To beckoning bells and chanting nuns anear. Of all the dead that loved them, hear that voice Whose sorrow and last silence once they knew, Whose spirit guards them with his flaming theme, The immortal joy of beauty. Oh, rejoice, And stay thy hand: that future ages, too, By them may mount to heaven, like Jacob in his dream. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ONLY OF THEE AND ME by LOUIS UNTERMEYER MY MISTRESS'S BOOTS by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON INCIDENT AT BRUGES by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH THE LUTE OBEYS by THOMAS WYATT BETWEEN WAND AND WELT by MARGARET AHO THE YOUNG BROTHER by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |