 | The Battle-Day and Other Poems |  |
And when Florence had fallen and bowed the knee
To the golden pride of the Medici,
Then princes and bishops and cardinals tore
From her temples and trophies their coveted store;
And hung on the wall
Of their selfish hall,
What was meant for the eyes and the hearts of all.
Thus passed the picture from hand to hand,
Till it wandered away to a cloudy land,
And I found it lost in the barren gloom
Of a country gentleman's dining-room.
To the golden pride of the Medici,
Then princes and bishops and cardinals tore
From her temples and trophies their coveted store;
And hung on the wall
Of their selfish hall,
What was meant for the eyes and the hearts of all.
Thus passed the picture from hand to hand,
Till it wandered away to a cloudy land,
And I found it lost in the barren gloom
Of a country gentleman's dining-room.
| The Battle-Day and Other Poems | |