And the woman which thou sawest... — Read, And the woman whom thou sawest is (not “that,” but) the great city, which has a kingdom over the kings of the earth. With these words the angel’s explanation of “the mystery of the woman” (see Revelation 17:7) ends. The harlot is a city; the Babylon of the past lives again in Rome; the woman is Rome, the goddess of lands and peoples.”
“She who was named Eternal, and arrayed
Her warriors but to conquer — she Who veiled
Earth with her haughty shadow and displayed
Until the o’er canopied horizon failed
Her rushing wings — Oh! she who was Almighty hailed.”