Sonnet XXVIII: On Italy

That Lady who to Caesar came in state
Upon the Rubicon, what time she feared
Ruin from those strange races who appeared
Erewhile to build her empire strong and great,
Now stays with limbs dispersed and lacerate,
A bondslave, shorn of all her pomp revered:
Nor seems it now that Dinah's shame can gird
Simeon or Levi to avenge her fate.
If then Jerusalem doth not repair
To Nazareth or Athens, where did reign
Wisdom of God or man in days of yore,
None shall arise her honours to restore:
For Herods are all strangers; when they swear
To save the Saviour's seed, their oath is vain.