The owl, she studied the Pandects,
Canonical law and the Glossa ,
And when she came to Italy,
She asked, " Where lies Canossa? "

The ravens old and weary
Answered with drooping wings,
" 'Tis long since the old Canossa
Passed with perishing things.

" We might haply build a new one,
But gone, with the ancient town,
Are the marble blocks and the freestone,
And the guests with a golden crown. "