In the Roman Amphitheatre, Verona
In "In the Roman Amphitheatre, Verona," Herbert Trench describes two great Italian architects who refused to die with life: a Cesar who built the arena to hold his world's fighters and ships, and Dante, who raised it tenfold higher and found himself the spectacle, a banished man on the sand.
By Herbert Trench · Genre: Lyric poetry, Sonnet, Meditative poetry · 149 words
First lines
Two architects of Italy -- austere / Men who could fashion nothing small -- refused / To die with life, and for their purpose used / This dim and topless Amphitheatre.
Some Cesar trench'd the orb of its ellipse / And call'd on distant provinces to swell / Resonant arches whence his World could scan, / Tier above tier, the fighters and the ships.
But Dante -- having raised, as dreamer can, / Higher tenfold these walls immutable -- / Sole in the night arena, grew aware / He was himself the thing spectacular / Seized by the ever-thirsting gaze of Hell, -- / Here, on the empty sand, a banish'd man.
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Genres
- Lyric poetry — Compact, emotionally charged reflection on fame, ambition and exile, expressed in a single condensed voice with heightened musical phrasing.
- Sonnet — Fourteen lines arranged 4-4-6 with a clear turn at 'But Dante', following the argumentative structure of the sonnet form.
- Meditative poetry — Contemplates the meaning of monumental architecture, the limits of worldly power and the inner life of the poet-figure.
- Historical poetry — Draws on Roman history through Caesar and the Verona amphitheatre, and on the historical circumstances of Dante's exile.
Tags
Roman amphitheatre · Verona · Italy · ancient Rome · Dante Alighieri · exile · banishment · architecture · builders and monuments · immortality · legacy · spectacle
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In the Roman Amphitheatre, Verona is listed on Textopian as a poem by Herbert Trench, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Herbert Trench
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric poetry, Sonnet, Meditative poetry, Historical poetry, Allegorical poetry
- Length: 149 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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