Wordsworth: the supposed king of the English Romantic Poets. Yes, he wrote this, and one thinks of the republics and empires that followed Venice into the footnotes of history.

Modern Venice, from my other blog.

On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic, 1802

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 reach’d its final day:
Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade
Of that which once was great is pass’d away.

William Wordsworth.