Note 121 — CABINET OF BIOGRAPHY. (continued 7)
Reading edition
As a specimen of Quevedo's poetry, Quintana quotes a sonnet, which Wiffen has translated, and which has the merit of force and truth.
"THE RUINS OF ROME. "Pilgrim, thou look'st in Rome for Rome divine, And ev'n in Rome no Rome can find! her crowd Of mural wonders is a corse, whose shroud And fitting tomb is the lone Aventine. She lies where reigned the kingly Palatine, And Time's worn medals more of ruin show From her ten thousand fights than even the blow Struck at the crown of her imperial line, Tiber alone remains, whose rushing tide Waters the town, now sepulchred in stone, And weeps its funeral with fraternal tears: O Rome! in thy wild beauty, power, and pride, The durable is fled; and what alone Is fugitive, abides the ravening years!"