The Bridge of Lodi by Thomas Hardy

When of tender mind and bodyI was moved by minstrelsy,And that strain “The Bridge of Lodi”Brought a strange delight to me.

In the battle-breathing jingleOf its forward-footing tuneI could see the armies mingle,And the columns cleft and hewn

On that far-famed spot by LodiWhere Napoleon clove his wayTo his fame, when like a god heBent the nations to his sway.

Hence the tune came capering to meWhile I traced the Rhone and Po;Nor could Milan’s Marvel woo meFrom the spot englamoured so.

And to-day, sunlit and smiling,Here I stand upon the scene,With its saffron walls, dun tiling,And its meads of maiden green,

Even as when the trackway thunderedWith the charge of grenadiers,And the blood of forty hundredSplashed its parapets and piers . . .

Any ancient crone I’d toadyLike a lass in young-eyed prime,Could she tell some tale of LodiAt that moving mighty time.

So, I ask the wives of LodiFor traditions of that day;But alas! not anybodySeems to know of such a fray.

And they heed but transitoryMarketings in cheese and meat,Till I judge that Lodi’s storyIs extinct in Lodi’s street.

Yet while here and there they thrid themIn their zest to sell and buy,Let me sit me down amid themAnd behold those thousands die . . .

—Not a creature cares in LodiHow Napoleon swept each arch,Or where up and downward trod he,Or for his memorial March!

So that wherefore should I be here,Watching Adda lip the lea,When the whole romance to see hereIs the dream I bring with me?

And why sing “The Bridge of Lodi”As I sit thereon and swing,When none shows by smile or nod heGuesses why or what I sing? . . .

Since all Lodi, low and head ones,Seem to pass that story by,It may be the Lodi-bred onesRate it truly, and not I.

Once engrossing Bridge of Lodi,Is thy claim to glory gone?Must I pipe a palinody,Or be silent thereupon?

And if here, from strand to steeple,Be no stone to fame the fight,Must I say the Lodi peopleAre but viewing crime aright?

Nay; I’ll sing “The Bridge of Lodi”⁠—That long-loved, romantic thing,Though none show by smile or nod heGuesses why and what I sing!