Venice: sic transit gloria mundi

I have just returned from my first visit to Venice, so this poem is a bit obvious, but nonetheless irresistible.  It is William Wordsworth's On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic, and was written about Napoleon's military conquest of Venice in 1797 and the republic's formal abolition the following year.  But now it seems to stand as well - perhaps even more so - for the physical decay of Venice, its long loving struggle with the sea, which one feels, it must surely lose one day.

         

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 reach'd its final day:
Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade
Of that which once was great is pass'd away.

Comments

[glo]

1- Very nice and appropriate poem. I have just re-read Shelley's Ozymandias here: http://booksdofurnisharoom.typepad.com/books_do_furnish_a_room/2008/02/ozymandias.html
Both poems have indeniably something in common; the structure, the past tense and a certain tone and pace as well, I think.

2- If you are searching a novel about the Napoleonic wars in North Italy, read 'The Charterhouse of Parma' (original title: La chartreuse de Parme) by Stendhal who took himself part of the military campaign.

3- You have probably already heard or read on the MOSE project which has been adopted to help save Venice from major flooding during the high tides. Of course, it is a controversial matter and nobody knows for sure if it will be really useful or not.
The relevant pages on the City of Venice website were not translated in English yet, so I found this article which gives a summary of the whole issue:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17855145
By the way, we all know that the level of the seas and oceans are rising all over the planet and Venice is not the only endangered city.

4- I love informations about 'the Lion on the Sea' (to quote GK Chesterton) but I also enjoy hearing more about... the cat on the blog!