1. Once did She hold the gorgeous east in fee;

2. And was the safeguard of the west; the worth

3. Of Venice did not fall below her birth,

4. Venice, the eldest child of Liberty

5. She was a maiden City, bright and free;

6. No guile seduced, no force could violate

7. And, when she took unto herself a Mate,

8. She must espouse the everlasting Sea.

9. And what if she had seen those glories fade,

10. Those titles vanish, and that strength decay;

11. Yet shall some tribute of regret be paid

12. When her long life hath reached its final day;

13. Men are we, and must grieve when even the Shade

14. Of that which once was great is passed away.

15. William Wordsworth, 1807

Fading Glories

When the Republic fell in 1797, it was a mere relic of its medieval past. No longer commanding maritime dominance, the wealthiest among the winged Lion’s former rulers relied on rural manufacture, landed income, tourism , and inherited wealth. Venice’s inferiority to the major European players on the chessboard — the Hapsburgs and the Bourbons — had relegated the government to a provincial power with little military muster.