The painting long in that sweet mansion drew
Regards its living semblance little knew.
“Meanwhile Theodric, who had years before
Learnt England’s tongue, and loved her classic lore,
A glad enthusiast now explored the land,
Where Nature, Freedom, Art, smile hand in hand:
Her women fair; her men robust for toil;
Her vigorous souls, high-cultured as her soil;
Her towns, where civic independence flings
The gauntlet down to senates, courts, and kings;