On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic by William Wordsworth poem text

On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic

                                                              William Wordsworth

Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee;                      (A)
And was the safeguard of the west: the worth                 (B)
Of Venice did not fall below her birth,                              (B)
Venice, the eldest Child of Liberty.                                    (A)
She was a maiden City, bright and free;                           (A)
No guile seduced, no force could violate;                         (C)
And, when she took unto herself a Mate,                         (C)
She must espouse the everlasting Sea.                             (A)
And what if she had seen those glories fade,                  (D)
Those titles vanish, and that strength decay;                  (E)
Yet shall some tribute of regret be paid                            (D)
When her long life hath reached its final day:                 (E)
Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade       (D)
Of that which once was great is passed away.                  (E)

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