And there a city with a massive crest
Of turrets, overlooked that rock-bound sheet.
The rivers round it, in broad girdles pressed;
Bridges there were, and groves, and gardens meet;
And in the bay lay moored an idle fleet.
Unto that city did all people flow:
In the deep plain we saw their circular camps,
Like islands of an archipelago;
And as we looked, a belt of fiery lamps
Was wound around the crowning citadel;