Lyric Poem · Nature
The Coliseum
1Type of the antique Rome! Rich reliquary
2Of lofty contemplation left to Time
3By buried centuries of pomp and power!
4At length — at length — after so many days
5Of weary pilgrimage and burning thirst,
6(Thirst for the springs of lore that in thee lie,)
7I kneel, an altered and an humble man,
8Amid thy shadows, and so drink within
9My very soul thy grandeur, gloom, and glory!
10Vastness! and Age! and Memories of Eld!
11Silence! and Desolation! and dim Night!
12I feel ye now — I feel ye in your strength —
13O spells more sure than e'er Judæan king
14Taught in the gardens of Gethsemane!
15O charms more potent than the rapt Chaldee
16Ever drew down from out the quiet stars!
17Here, where a hero fell, a column falls!
18Here, where the mimic eagle glared in gold,
19A midnight vigil holds the swarthy bat!
20Here, where the dames of Rome their gilded hair
21Waved to the wind, now wave the reed and thistle!
22Here, where on golden throne the monarch lolled,
23Glides, spectre-like, unto his marble home,
24Lit by the wan light of the horned moon,
25The swift and silent lizard of the stones!
26But stay! these walls — these ivy-clad arcades —
27These mouldering plinths — these sad and blackened shafts —
28These vague entablatures — this crumbling frieze —
29These shattered cornices — this wreck — this ruin —
30These stones — alas! these gray stones — are they all —
31All of the famed, and the colossal left
32By the corrosive Hours to Fate and me?
33"Not all" — the Echoes answer me — "not all!
34Prophetic sounds and loud, arise forever
35From us, and from all Ruin, unto the wise,
36As melody from Memnon to the Sun.
37We rule the hearts of mightiest men — we rule
38With a despotic sway all giant minds.
39We are not impotent — we pallid stones.
40Not all our power is gone — not all our fame —
41Not all the magic of our high renown —
42Not all the wonder that encircles us —
43Not all the mysteries that in us lie —
44Not all the memories that hang upon
45And cling around about us as a garment,
46Clothing us in a robe of more than glory."
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“The Coliseum” by Edgar Allan Poe — quilloak.com/poems/the-coliseum
Quick facts
- Poem
- The Coliseum
- Poet
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Length
- 46 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Love, Sad
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 46 lines · 5 stanzas of 7–14 lines
- Line length
- Mostly 10-syllable lines (pentameter length).
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Edgar Allan Poe1809–1849
- Source record
- PoetryDBThe Coliseum by edgar-allan-poe, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 904099e301b5ac6b…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.