Sported; for o'er the concave the quick lightning
Quivered, but spoke not. In the breathless gloom,
I sought the Coliseum, for I felt
The spirits of a manlier age were forth;
And there against the mossy wall I leaned,
And thought upon my country. Why was I
Idle, and she in chains? The storm now answered.
It broke as heaven's high masonry were crumbling.
The beetled walls nodded and frowned i' the glare;
And the wide vault, in one unpausing peal,