Classic Poem

After the shimmering paving-stones, of Rome,
How sweet the breath of cool Camaldoli!
The Doric forest makes a rivalry
And barricade of silence round the home
Where mute monks meditate the dusty tome;
Bells of the spirit summon to the knee
The towered towns above the greenery,
And opal peaks o'er-view two oceans' foam.

These paths of peace, these mounts of vision, trod
Lorenzo's sages. Here Ghiberti's sight
Was first anointed with the heavenly gift.
Here was Saint Francis nearest unto God.
Here Angelo was first ordained to might,
And Dante peered into the awful rift.