Commentary Magazine


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Colosseum

- Abstract

The full moon on the Colosseum
Lights up the legends, shedding shadows
On the exhausted center, on the arches
Where the centuries played heartless games:
Earthquake, prince, barbarian
Brought down the tufa and the travertine,
Ate the arcades and raped the iron
—And willed this gaping splendor to the
    moon!



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