XVIII

 
These great heaps of stone, these walls you see,
Were once enclosures of the open field:
And these brave palaces that to Time must yield,
Were shepherd’s huts in some past century.

Then shepherds took the badge of royalty,
And the stout labourer the sword did wield:
The Consuls’ power was annually revealed,
Till six month terms won greater majesty,

Which, made perpetual, accrued such power
That the Imperial Eagle seized the hour:
But Heaven, opposing such aggrandisement,

Handed that power to Peter’s successor,
Who, called a shepherd, fated to reign there,
Shows that all returns to its commencement.