Saint Peter’s at Rome

From “Childe Harold,” Canto IV.   VASTNESS which grows, but grows to harmonize,   All musical in its immensities;   Rich marbles, richer painting, shrines where flame   The lamps of gold, and haughty dome which vies   In air with earth’s chief structures, though their frame Sits on the firm-set ground,—and this the cloud must claim.*        *        *        *        *                 Here condense thy soul   To more immediate objects, and control   Thy thoughts until thy mind hath got by heart   Its eloquent proportions, and unroll   In mighty graduations, part by part, The glory which at once upon thee did not dart.