Rome never bred but rulers; Rome, whose womb
Gave to the earth this Europe which is ours!
Her progress was the progress of the world,
Which fell with her, and now disjected lies
Prone in the dust, a prey to savage strife.
“To build it up again! I dreamed to raise
An empire on the ruins of the old,
Whose seat should be the Rhine. I was a voice
Crying within the wilderness. Alas!
The vision is for the appointed time.