Classic Poem

Mother of Dante and Raffaelle — I TALY ,
Poets will ever love thy skies of calm,
And voice of music, and warm breath of balm,
And glorious forms of grace and majesty! —
Old Chaucer loved thee for Boccaccio's stories —
Spenser for Tasso's; and Milton trod
Thy viny fields — Milton, minstrel of God, —
And loved idolatrously thy olden glories.
As poets have loved thee, do thou love them —
And chiefly one who wanders now thy land;
Be as the fondest lover unto him;
And shield him from the savage bandit's hand,
As mother would her son; and play the part
That's Roman to a Roman — soul and heart.