Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Italy: Vols. XI–XIII. 1876–79.

Venice

To Venice

By Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864)

DISHONORED thou hast been, but not debased,

O Venice! he hastes onward who will bring

The girdle that enclosed thy virgin waist,

And will restore to thee thy bridal ring.

Venice! on earth are reptiles who lift high

The crested head, both venomous and strong

Are they; and many by their fangs shall die,

But one calm watcher crushes them erelong.

So fare who ever twists in tortuous ways,

Strewn with smooth promises and broken vows,

Who values drunken shouts, not sober praise,

And spurns the scanty pittance Truth allows.