Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ON ROME AS IT IS NOW, by IANUS VITALIS First Line: Thou, who to look for rome, to rome art come Last Line: And rivers, which are still in motion, stay. Alternate Author Name(s): Vitalis, Janus Subject(s): Roman Empire; Rome, Italy | ||||||||
THOU, who to look for Rome, to Rome art come, And in the midst of Rome find'st nought of Rome; Behold her heaps of walls, her structures rent, Her theatres overwhelm'd, of vast extent; Those now are Rome. See how those ruins frown, And speak the threats yet of so brave a town. By Rome, as once the world, is Rome o'ercome, Lest ought on earth should not be quell'd by Rome: Now conqu'ring Rome doth conquer'd Rome inter; And she the vanquish'd is and vanquisher. To show us where she stood there rests alone Tiber; yet that too hastens to be gone. Learn hence what fortune can. Towns glide away; And rivers, which are still in motion, stay. | 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 |
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