Page:Modern poets and poetry of Spain.djvu/95

Rh And so much more that model imitates

A nation now, so much more to be gain'd,

Is seen it but to approach the lofty heights

Of splendour, wealth, fame, power, that Rome attain'd.

From the benignant lands that richly gleam

Beneath the Tiber's fertilizing stream,

You next will pass, where borne as he arose,

Through colder realms the mighty Danube flows.

Girded in pleasant borders 'tis for you

The Austrian Vienna there to view;

To admire the monarch, warlike, good and wise,

With the magnanimous Prussian king who vies

An army brave and numerous to sway;

Chosen and hardy, forward to obey,

Whom as companions honour'd he rewards,

And not as slaves abased a lord regards.

There agriculture flourish you will see;

Public instruction is promoted free;

The arts extended rapidly and wide;

And these among, in culture and esteem,

That with which Orpheus tamed the furious pride

Of forest beasts, and cross'd the Lethe's stream:

There all the tales of wonderful effect,

Of music's art divine, with which are deck'd

The ancient Greek and Latin histories,

No longer will seem fables in your eyes,