Ruins of Rome

The first in a series of posts resulting from our recent trip to Italy:

These are a few shots taken on Palatine Hill and the Forum, except for the picture of the Tiber taken from Trastevere, and the last shot of a donation box at the church of Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte near Piazza Farnese in Rome.

The poem, translated from French by half-insane Ezra Pound, was displayed on a plaque at the side of a busy street and I thought it would fit with the pictures:

Ruins of Rome
by Joachim du Bellay (1522-1560)

O thou new comer who seek'st Rome in Rome
And find'st in Rome no thing thou canst call Roman

Arches worn old and palaces made common,

Rome's name alone within these walls keeps home.

Behold how pride and ruin can befall

One who hath set the whole world 'neath her laws,

All-conquering, now conquered, because

She is Time's prey and Time consumeth all.

Rome that art Rome's one sole last monument,

Rome that alone hast conquered Rome the town,

Tiber alone, transient and seaward bent,

Remains of Rome.

O world, thou unconstant mime!

That which stands firm in thee Time batters down,

And that which fleeteth doth outrun swift time.