 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
77
AT COMO CATHEDRAL
PLINY'S STATUE
Here sits in marble, with his scroll in hand,
The student-lover of the Larian lake,
Whom Trajan trusted for his wisdom's sake;
Who, going governor to the Asian land,
Waited his Lord's imperial command,
What steps to stay that heresy he should take,
Which, in the name of Christ, had dared forsake
The temple courts, and all Jove's altars banned.
The student-lover of the Larian lake,
Whom Trajan trusted for his wisdom's sake;
Who, going governor to the Asian land,
Waited his Lord's imperial command,
What steps to stay that heresy he should take,
Which, in the name of Christ, had dared forsake
The temple courts, and all Jove's altars banned.
He saw Vesuvius' ashes blur the sky
And bury Herculaneum; dreamed not Rome
Would sink in fiercer fires; nor ever knew
That ‘harmless superstition, doomed to die
A natural death,’ would to his honouring come,
With sweet forgiveness for the hand that slew.
And bury Herculaneum; dreamed not Rome
Would sink in fiercer fires; nor ever knew
That ‘harmless superstition, doomed to die
A natural death,’ would to his honouring come,
With sweet forgiveness for the hand that slew.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |