THE Roman road runs by the wall And Roman shards and remnants lie Under the turf where dry leaves fall On leaves long dry. Bracelet and bowl, and naked bones, In Resurrection's sad amaze Staring amid long-buried stones, Take the sun's gaze. And here, with talk of times forgot, The times forgot come back renewed; Rise Roman shapes above the plot Their bones endued. I shut my lids and straightway hear A Roman voice—it is my host's; I look, and from his eyes there peer A Roman ghost's; In his hand clasp a Roman hand, In his verse hear the ancient tone Heard once in accents harsh or bland By ears now stone. Time spins back, and a wave of the past Streams through each idle sense's portal; And while long little minutes last I touch the immortal. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A STORM IN THE DISTANCE (AMONG THE GEORGIAN HILLS) by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE THOMAS MACDONAGH by FRANCIS LEDWIDGE SHE IS FAR FROM THE LAND by THOMAS MOORE TO W. HOHENZOLLERN: A PLEA by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS A STIRRUP-CUP by DOUGLAS AINSLIE THE JEW'S GIFT; A.D. 1200 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH OUT OF THE HILLS by IRENE ARCHER THE FLOWERING FAGGOTS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET OBSERVATIONS IN THE ART OF ENGLISH POESY: 24. ELEGIAC VERSE: THE SEVENTH EPIGRAM by THOMAS CAMPION |