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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WRITTEN AT ROME by RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: ALONE IN ROME. WHY, ROME IS LONELY TOO
Last Line: THE HOUR OF HEAVEN
Subject(s): ROME, ITALY;

Alone in Rome! Why Rome is lonely too,
Virtue alone is sweet society.
It keeps the key to all heroic hearts,
And opens you a welcome when you dare.
You must be like them, if you challenge them,
Scorn trifles, & embrace a better aim
Than wine, or sleep, or praise,
Hunt knowledge, as the lover woos a maid,
And ever, in the strife of your own tho'ts,
Obey the nobler impulse. That is Rome.
That shall command a senate to your side
For there is no force in the universe
That can contend with love.
Wait then, sad friend, wait in majestic peace
The hour of Heaven



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