White swan of cities, slumbering in thy nest <br />So wonderfully built among the reeds <br />Of the lagoon, that fences thee and feeds, <br />As sayeth thy old historian and thy guest! <br />White water-lily, cradled and caressed <br />By ocean streams, and from the silt and weeds <br />Lifting thy golden filaments and seeds, <br />Thy sun-illumined spires, thy crown and crest! <br />White phantom city, whose untrodden streets <br />Are rivers, and whose pavements are the shifting <br />Shadows of palaces and strips of sky; <br />I wait to see thee vanish like the fleets <br />Seen in mirage, or towers of cloud uplifting <br />In air their unsubstantial masonry.<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/venice-9/
