XV.

Was Rome thy parent? Didst thou catch from _her_ The fire that lives in thine undaunted eye? --That city of the throne and sepulchre Hath given proud lessons how to reign and die! Heir of the Cæsars! did that lineage high, Which, as a triumph to the grave, hath pass’d With its long march of spectred imagery,[208] Th’ heroic mantle o’er thy spirit cast? Thou! of an eagle-race the noblest and the last!