THEBES! who shall weep aright for thee, No more the valiant and the free? Thou cradle-land of many a god, Stoop'st thou beneath a tyrant's rod? She, -- from whose fields together rose The sworded bands of spell-born foes, Whose walls to rear, Amphion's tones Led, as in dance, the charmed stones; For whom so oft eternal Jove Hath left his radiant seats above: To whom in former years was given To shrine her favorites in heaven; Who, haply, gods will yet create, -- She bows beneath the cankering weight Of iron bondage and disgrace. How are ye fallen, Cadmean race! Shall a proud outcast vilely spurn Your freedom's rights, ye dragon-born? Shall be usurp your country's throne, A sordid exile from his own? Whose crimes affront the land and main, Shall he Herculean Thebes profane? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WHAT AILS THIS HEART O'MINE? by SUSANNA BLAMIRE THE WHITE CASCADE by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES THE HOMES OF ENGLAND by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS MOUNTAIN LAUREL by ALFRED NOYES SONNET: 116 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE SONNETS OF MANHOOD: 50. MY LOVE by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) URANIA; THE WOMAN IN THE MOON: DEDICATION TO LADY PENELOPE DYNHAM by WILLIAM BASSE |