And shall I never that far town behold,
Crested with sparkling columns, fiery towers,
Praxitelean masonry?—behold
Venice, the mart of nations, ere I die?
By Heaven! her common merchants princes were
Unto two continents; her traffickers
The honourable of the earth! she stood
A crownèd city, and the fawning sea
Licked her white feet; and the eternal sun
Kissed with departing beam her brow of snow!