Longfellow, The Old Bridge at Florence (a sonnet, on the Ponte Vecchio)

Recorded in February 2022. From “A Book of Sonnets” in The Mask of Pandora, published in 1875.

Transcript:

Taddeo Gaddi built me. I am old,
Five centuries old. I plant my foot of stone
Upon the Arno, as St. Michael's own
Was planted on the dragon. Fold by fold

Beneath me as it struggles. I behold
Its glistening scales. Twice hath it overthrown
My kindred and companions. Me alone
It moveth not, but is by me controlled.

I can remember when the Medici
Were driven from Florence; longer still ago
The final wars of Ghibelline and Guelf.

Florence adorns me with her jewelry;
And when I think that Michael Angelo
Hath leaned on me, I glory in myself.