Fragments Written for Hellas
Fairest of the Destinies,Disarray thy dazzling eyes:Keener far thy lightnings areThan the winged thou bearest,And the smile thou wearestWraps thee as a starIs wrapped in light.
Could Arethuse to her forsaken urnFrom Alpheus and the bitter Doris run,Or could the morning shafts of purest lightAgain into the quivers of the SunBe gathered--could one thought from its wild flightReturn into the temple of the brainWithout a change, without a stain,--Could aught that is, ever againBe what it once has ceased to be,Greece might again be free!
A star has fallen upon the earthMid the benighted nations,A quenchless atom of immortal light,A living spark of Night,A cresset shaken from the constellations.Swifter than the thunder fellTo the heart of Earth, the wellWhere its pulses flow and beat,And unextinct in that cold sourceBurns, and on ... courseGuides the sphere which is its prison,Like an angelic spirit pentIn a form of mortal birth,Till, as a spirit half-arisenShatters its charnel, it has rent,In the rapture of its mirth,The thin and painted garment of the Earth,Ruining its chaos--a fierce breathConsuming all its forms of living death.
Sign in to like, rate and collect poems, and keep track of what you've read.