On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic
Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee; And was the safeguard of the west: the worth Of Venice did not fall below her birth, Venice, the eldest Child of Liberty. She was a maiden City, bright and free; No guile seduced, no force could violate; And, when she took unto herself a Mate, She must espouse the everlasting Sea. And what if she had seen those glories fade, Those titles vanish, and that strength decay; Yet shall some tribute of regret be paid When her long life hath reached its final day: Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade Of that which once was great is passed away.
On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic - form Summary
A Sonnet Mourning Venice
This poem is a compact sonnet that channels public grief through a tightly controlled form. Wordsworth compresses a political elegy into the sonnet’s concentrated space, using its volta-like turn to move from prideful history to elegiac regret. The octave establishes Venice’s former liberty and grandeur; the sestet delivers a universal human response to decline. The sonnet’s economy and measured tone lend dignity to mourning a fallen republic.
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