I traced the Circus whose gray stones incline br Where Rome and dim Etruria interjoin, br Till came a child who showed an ancient coin br That bore the image of a Constantine. br br She lightly passed; nor did she once opine br How, better than all books, she had raised for me br In swift perspective Europe's history br Through the vast years of Caesar's sceptred line. br br For in my distant plot of English loam br 'Twas but to delve, and straightway there to find br Coins of like impress. As with one half blind br Whom common simples cure, her act flashed home br In that mute moment to my opened mind br The power, the pride, the reach of perished Rome.