Cracked, blistered, weed-covered, decayed, and damp
Reflecting oft the passing polished prow,
Re-echoing the cry of gondolier!
Here ruddy rust and verdant fungoid growth
Meet in the shattered stone and fissured brick—
Evolving thence rare harmonies in red,
In brown, in yellow, and in green and grey.
A flight of battered, bankrupt marble steps
Of mildewed aspect, fractured, seamed, and scarred—
Worn by the lapping of the countless tides,