Venice, whose name did once adorn the world,
Thou mightst have been all that thou ever wert,
In form and feature and material strength,
Up from the sea, which is thy pedestal,
Unto thy Campanile’s golden top,
And yet have never won the precious crown,
To be the loved of human hearts, to be
The wise man’s treasure now and evermore.
The ingenious boldness, the creative will,
Which from some weak uncertain plots of sand,