From a notebook: 30 June 1997

FLORENCE.

Of all the fairest cities of the Earth
None is so fair as FLORENCE. Tis' a gem
Of the purest ray; and what light broke forth,
When it emerged from darkness! Search within,
Without; all is enchantment! 'Tis the past
Contending with the Present; and in turn
Each has the mastery...

~Samuel Rogers, Italy, A Poem, 1830