Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/913

 ROBERT BROWNING

ii Was the site once of a city great and gay,

(So they say) Of our country's very capital, its prince

Ages since Held his court in, gathered councils, wielding far

Peace or war.

in Now the country does not even boast a tree,

As you see, To distinguish slopes of verdure, certain rills

From the hills Intersect and give a name to, (else they run

Into one)

IV

Where the domed and daring palace shot its spires

Up like fires O'er the hundred-gated circuit of a wall

Bounding all, Made of marble, men might march on nor be prest,

Twelve abreast.

v

And such plenty and perfection, see, of grass

Never was^ Such a carpet as, this summer-time, overspreads

And embeds Every vestige of the city, guessed alone,

Stock or stone

VI

Where a multitude of men breathed joy and woe Long ago;

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