Written At Rome

Alone in Rome. Why, Rome is lonely too;--     Besides, you need not be alone; the soul     Shall have society of its own rank.     Be great, be true, and all the Scipios,     The Catos, the wise patriots of Rome,     Shall flock to you and tarry by your side,     And comfort you with their high company.     Virtue alone is sweet society,     It keeps the key to all heroic hearts,     And opens you a welcome in them all.     You must be like them if you desire them,     Scorn trifles and embrace a better aim     Than wine or sleep or praise;     Hunt knowledge as the lover wooes a maid,     And ever in the strife of your own thoughts     Obey the nobler impulse; that is Rome:     That shall command a senate to your side;     For there is no might in the universe     That can contend with love. It reigns forever.     Wait then, sad friend, wait in majestic peace     The hour of heaven. Generously trust     Thy fortune's web to the beneficent hand     That until now has put his world in fee     To thee. He watches for thee still. His love     Broods over thee, and as God lives in heaven,     However long thou walkest solitary,     The hour of heaven shall come, the man appear.