History

Here is the past.
The castle ruin on the pointed hill
sentinel cypresses line the entrance road.

Below, the grassy plain
where Guelph and Ghibelline,
young Dante on his charger,
fought till Firenze won.

And near the castle lies an older past.
Etruscan stones, built on
for a Lombard church,
rebuilt to Romanesque dimensions,
rounded arches, soaring stone nave,

perfect to present eyes.


Lari Smith

Firenze 4/95