They that thy mantle wore,

As gods were seenRome, Rome! thou art no more

As thou hast been!

Rome! thine imperial brow

Never shall rise :

What hast thou left thee now ?

Thou hast thy skies !

Blue, deeply blue, they are,

Gloriously bright! Veiling thy wastes afar

With colour'd light.

Thou hast the sunset's glow,

Rome, for thy dower, Flushing tall cypress-bough,

Temple and tower!

And all sweet sounds are thine,

Lovely to hear, While night, o'er tomb and shrine,

Rests darkly clear.

Many a solemn hymn,

By starlight sung,
Sweeps thro’ the arches dim,

Thy wrecks among.

Many a flute's low swell,

On thy soft air

Lingers, and loves to dwell

With summer there.

Thou hast the South's rich gift

Of sudden song,

A charmed fountain, swift,

Joyous, and strong.

Thou hast fair forms that move

With queenly tread;
Thou hast proud fanes above

Thy mighty dead.

Yet wears thy Tiber's shore

A mournful mien :

Rome, Rome! thou art no more

As thou hast been !

THE DISTANT SHIP.

The sea-bird's wing, o’er ocean's breast

Shoots like a glancing star,
While the red radiance of the west

Spreads kindling fast and far ;
And yet that splendour wins thee not,-

Thy still and thoughtful eye
Dwells but on one dark distant spot

Of all the main and sky.

Look round thee !-o'er the slumbering deep

A solemn glory broods ;
A fire hath touch'd the beacon-steep,

And all the golden woods :

A thousand gorgeous clouds on high

Burn with the amber light ;-
What spell, from that rich pageantry,

Chains down thy gazing sight?

A softening thought of human cares,

A feeling link'd to earth!

Is not yon speck a bark, which bears

The lov'd of many a hearth? Oh! do not Hope, and Grief, and Fear,

Crowd her frail world even now, And manhood's prayer and woman's tear,

Follow her venturous prow?

Bright are the floating clouds above,

The glittering seas below;
But we are bound by cords of love

To kindred weal and wo.