Lord Byron – Childe Harold Canto 4 part 4
Childe acknowledges “Yet Italy!…. Mother of Arts! as once of arms; thy hand was then our guardian, and is still our guide; parent of our Religion!”. It is here “Along the banks where smiling Arno sweeps was modern Luxury of Commerce born, and buried Learning rose, redeem’d to a new morn.”. He takes in “The air around with beauty; we inhale the ambrosial aspect…” so that he is “Dazzled and drunk with beauty, till the heart reels with its fulness;…”. However he finds “Ungrateful Florence! Dante sleeps afar…. His life , his fame, his grave, though rifled -not thine own.”.
