I
Being so weary then we turned aside
From the straight road and Roman Way that goes
Too straightly upward, on what breathless snows
Its measured lines' austerity descried.
"Captain, too stern this granite road!" we cried,
And "For whose right in militant array
Are led the sons of men this Roman Way?"
But the slow avalanche alone replied.
Therefore we turned aside, and day by day
Men passed us with set faces to the road,
And crying, "The Eternal City!" went their way,
While in the pleasant valley we abode
With all its dewy herbage and the fleet
Running of rivulets with silken feet.