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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SUNIUM, by NICHOLAS MICHELL First Line: High o'er the billows sunium glances now Last Line: Which glory owns and gods protect no more. Subject(s): Sounion (cape), Greece; Colonna; Sunium | |||
HIGH o'er the billows Sunium glances now, An airy temple gleaming on its brow. Fair mount! the first, the last to greet the eyes Of those who sail beneath blue Attic skies, How many a banished Greek, in ancient days, Hath viewed yon rocks with sadly wistful gaze! There Simon looked in silence: o'er these seas Heaved many a sigh the wronged Themistocles; And he whom gold ne'er tempted, fear ne'er moved, Exiled by foes he saved, by friends he loved, Prayed for the land fast fading from his view, Gazed, while his veteran soul all weakness grew, Called on the gods, -- ah! not to curse, but bless, Till blinding tears relieved his heart's distress. What though no more on Sunium's sacred steep Altars shall blaze, and light the midnight deep, Or hymns resound at morning's opening smile, Answered by songs from neighboring cape and isle, While clouds of incense floating through the calm, Sweeten the sea, and fill all heaven with balm; Those snow-white columns ages still shall brave, Charm seamen's eyes, and gleam across the wave, Dead Art's sweet spirit watching on that shore Which Glory owns and gods protect no more. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE BEING ALL ONE by ROBERT FROST TO THE ROCK THAT WILL BE A CORNERSTONE OF THE HOUSE by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE SNOW-SHOWER by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE OLD MAN OF VERONA by CLAUDIAN THE FIRST LESSON by EMILY DICKINSON |
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