ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC – Poetry, by William Wordsworth

ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE VENETIAN REPUBLIC > Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee; and was the safeguard of the west: the worth of Venice did not fall below her birth, Venice, the eldest Child of Liberty. She was a maiden City, bright and free; no guile seduced, no force could violate; and, when she took unto herself a Mate, she must espouse the everlasting Sea. And what if she had seen those glories fade, those titles vanish, and that strength decay; yet shall some tribute of regret be paid, when her long life hath reached its final day: men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade of that which once was great is passed away. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Collected-William-Wordsworth-Poetry-Library/dp/1853264016