Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IN THE OLD THEATRE, FIESOLE, by THOMAS HARDY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I traced the circus whose gray stones incline Last Line: The power, the pride, the reach of perished rome. Variant Title(s): In The Old Theatre, Fiesole (april 1887) Subject(s): Rome, Italy | ||||||||
I TRACED the Circus whose gray stones incline Where Rome and dim Etruria interjoin, Till came a child who showed an ancient coin That bore the image of a Constantine. She lightly passed; nor did she once opine How, better than all books, she had raised for me In swift perspective Europe's history Through the vast years of Caesar's sceptred line. For in my distant plot of English loam 'Twas but to delve, and straightway there to find Coins of like impress. As with one half blind Whom common simples cure, her act flashed home In that mute moment to my opened mind The power, the pride, the reach of perished Rome. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THOSE GRAVES IN ROME by LARRY LEVIS ROMAN ELEGIES by JOSEPH BRODSKY ROMAN DIARY: 1951 by JOHN CIARDI VIGNETTES OVERSEAS: 7. ROME by SARA TEASDALE ROMANESQUE ARCHES by TOMAS TRANSTROMER AN APARTMENT WITH A VIEW by JOHN CIARDI MANIFEST DESTINY by JORIE GRAHAM RUINES OF ROME by JOACHIM DU BELLAY AND THERE WAS A GREAT CALM' by THOMAS HARDY |
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