Vast ruins in the midst were spread,
Pillars and pediments sublime,
Where the gray mass had form’d a bed,
And clothed the crumbling spoils of time.
There was I fix’d, I know not how,
Condemn’d for untold years to stay:
Yet years were not; - one dreadful Now
Endured no change of night or day;
The same mild evening’s sleeping ray
Shone softly solemn and serene,