Venice exult! and o’er thy moonlight seas Swell with gay strains each Adriatic breeze! What though long fled those years of martial fame That shed romantic lustre o’er thy name; Though to the winds thy streamers idly play, And the wild waves another Queen obey; Though quench’d the spirit of thine ancient race, And power and freedom scarce have left a trace; Yet still shall Art her splendours round thee cast, And gild the wreck of years for ever past. Again thy fanes may boast a Titian’s dyes, Whose clear soft brilliance emulates thy skies, And scenes that glow in colouring’s richest bloom With life’s warm flush Palladian halls illume. From thy rich dome again th’ unrivall’d steed Starts to existence, rushes into speed, Still for Lysippus claims the wreath of fame, Panting with ardour, vivified with flame. Proud Racers of the Sun! to fancy’s thought Burning with spirit, from his essence caught, No mortal birth ye seem--but form’d to bear Heaven’s car of triumph through the realms of air; To range uncurb’d the pathless fields of space, The winds your rivals in the glorious race; Traverse empyreal spheres with buoyant feet, Free as the zephyr, as the shot-star fleet; And waft through worlds unknown the vital ray, The flame that wakes creations into day. Creatures of fire and ether! wing’d with light, To track the regions of the Infinite! From purer elements whose life was drawn, Sprung from the sunbeam, offspring of the dawn What years, on years in silence gliding by, Have spared those forms of perfect symmetry! Moulded by Art to dignify alone Her own bright deity’s resplendent throne, Since first her skill their fiery grace bestow’d Meet for such lofty fate, such high abode, How many a race, whose tales of glory seem An echo’s voice--the music of a dream, Whose records feebly from oblivion save A few bright traces of the wise and brave; How many a state, whose pillar’d strength sublime Defied the storms of war, the waves of time, Towering o’er earth majestic and alone, Fortress of power--has flourish’d and is gone! And they, from clime to clime by conquest borne, Each fleeting triumph destined to adorn, They, that of powers and kingdoms lost and won Have seen the noontide and the setting sun, Consummate still in every grace remain, As o’er _their_ heads had ages roll’d in vain! Ages, victorious in their ceaseless flight O’er countless monuments of earthly might! While she, from fair Byzantium’s lost domain, Who bore those treasures to her ocean-reign. ’Midst the blue deep, who rear’d her island throne, And called th’ infinitude of waves her own; Venice the proud, the Regent of the sea, Welcomes in chains the trophies of the Free!