Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.
The Statue of St. Carlo Borromeo
By Sir Aubrey de Vere (1788–1846)T
To stand thus honored where we first saw day;
True puissance this,—the hand of lawful sway
In love alone to lift, that hand whereon,
Dove-like, Eternal Peace hath fixed her throne,
And whence her blessing wings o’er earth its way;
True rule to God belongs. Who share it? They
Through whom God’s gifts on humankind are strewn.
Bless thus thy natal place, great Priest, forever!
And thou, Arona, by thy placid bay,
Second thy sleepless shepherd’s mute endeavor.
The choice is thine, if that high Grace, like showers
Of sunbeams rained on all thy hearths and bowers,
Shall feed thy growth or quicken thy decay!