BY a lone wall a lonelier column rears A gray and grief-worn aspect of old days; 'T is the last remnant of the wreck of years, And looks as with the wild bewildered gaze Of one to stone converted by amaze, Yet still with consciousness; and there it stands Making a marvel that it not decays, When the coeval pride of human hands, Levelled Aventicum, hath strewed her subject lands. And there -- O, sweet and sacred be the name! -- Julia -- the daughter, the devoted -- gave Her youth to heaven; her heart, beneath a claim Nearest to heaven's, broke o'er a father's grave. Justice is sworn 'gainst tears, and hers would crave The life she lived in; but the judge was just, And then she died on him she could not save. Their tomb was simple, and without a bust, And held within their urn one mind, one heart, one dust. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BAD CHILD'S BOOK OF BEASTS: INTRODUCTION by HILAIRE BELLOC CONTRA MORTEM: THE VILLAGE by HAYDEN CARRUTH DOCTOR OF BILLIARDS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE REFORMER by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER RHAPSODY OF THE DEAF MAN by EDOUARD JOACHIM CORBIERE |