The Fall of Rome
The Fall of Rome - meaning Summary
Civilization Unraveling in Vignettes
Auden presents a series of stark, ironic vignettes showing a civilization in decline. Everyday details—pummelled piers, mutinying marines, bureaucratic indifference, prostitution and tax raids—stand for moral and institutional collapse. The poem contrasts urban decay with remote, indifferent nature: vast herds of reindeer moving silently beyond the ruins. The tone is observant and unsentimental, suggesting collapse is diffuse, banal, and accompanied by ordinary human behaviors rather than epic catastrophe.
Read Complete AnalysesThe piers are pummelled by the waves; In a lonely field the rain Lashes an abandoned train; Outlaws fill the mountain caves. Fantastic grow the evening gowns; Agents of the Fisc pursue Absconding tax-defaulters through The sewers of provincial towns. Private rites of magic send The temple prostitutes to sleep; All the literati keep An imaginary friend. Cerebrotonic Cato may Extol the Ancient Disciplines, But the muscle-bound Marines Mutiny for food and pay. Caesar's double-bed is warm As an unimportant clerk Writes I DO NOT LIKE MY WORK On a pink official form. Unendowed with wealth or pity, Little birds with scarlet legs, Sitting on their speckled eggs, Eye each flu-infected city. Altogether elsewhere, vast Herds of reindeer move across Miles and miles of golden moss, Silently and very fast.
(for Cyril Connolly)
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