Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GIBBON, by WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES


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GIBBON, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Thou too, whilst pondering history's vast plan
Last Line: Than those of hapless, injured switzerland!
Subject(s): Gibbon, Edward (1737-1794); History; Lausanne, Switzerland; Historians


THOU too, whilst pondering History's vast plan,
Didst sit by the clear waters of Lausanne,
(What time Imperial Rome rose to thy view,
And thy bold hand her mighty image drew);
Thou too, methinks, as the sad wrecks extend,
Dost seem in sorrow o'er the scene to bend.
With steady eye and penetrating mind
Thou hast surveyed the toil of human kind;
Hast marked Ambition's march and fiery car,
And thousands shouting in the fields of war.
But direr woes might ne'er a sigh demand,
Than those of hapless, injured Switzerland!





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