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 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
XI. THE APPIAN WAY.
Awe-struck I gazed upon that rock-paved way,The Appian Road; marmorean witness still
To Rome's resistless stride and fateful Will,
Which mocked at limits, opening out for aye
Divergent paths to one imperial sway—
The Nations verily their parts fulfil;
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Therefore Rome triumphed till the appointed day.
Then from the Catacombs, like waves up-burst
The Host of God, and scaled as in an hour
O'er all the earth the mountain seats of Power.
Gladly in that baptismal flood immersed
The old Empire died to live. Once more on high
It sits; now clothed with immortality.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |