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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


GREAT LOCATITIES. ROME by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER

First Line: KEEN WAS THE VISION WHICH AMBITION LENT
Last Line: FROM PIO'S GRIEF, AND ANTONELLI'S GUILE!
Subject(s): ROME, ITALY;

Keen was the vision which Ambition lent
To Rome's great captains, when the vacant realm
Was waiting for a chief to seize the helm,
And their stern martial looks were southward bent
From Gaul or Britain, like a wizard's gaze
Constraining some weak victim to his harm,
While yet the nations had no countercharm
Against a despot's eye, in those fierce days;
The city of their greed seemed well-nigh theirs,
Half in their grasp, full clearly bodied forth;
My Rome should softly float into the north
At my fond wish, convoyed by gentle airs -
Rapt into Freedom's land a little while
From Pio's grief, and Antonelli's guile!



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