With heedless wing thou’st onward swept,
Though hopes were crushed and empires shaken.
Thou with the world thy flight began’st;
Compared with thine, what were the knowledge
Of every sage in every clime,
The learning of the school or college?
Thou’st seen, in all the pomp of power,
Athens, the proudest seat of learning;
And thou couldst tell us if thou wouldst,
How Nero looked when Rome was burning.