TEN years ago I deemed that if once more I trod on Grecian soil, 'twould be to find The presence of a great informing mind That should the glorious past somewise restore; And now I cry, with disappointment sore, "Is it for this that Greece has striven and pined, -- These her rich vales with scarce a labouring hind, These silent havens on this faded shore?" Still patience -- patience with the toils of Time; The air of freedom is not always health, Yet vain without it every hope sublime: Better a nation's growth, however slow, That is its own, than any strength or wealth Conferred or cultured by a friend or foe. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MISS KILMANSEGG AND HER PRECIOUS LEG: HER BIRTH by THOMAS HOOD VENICE; SONNET by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW STONEWALL JACKSON; MORTALLY WOUNDED AT CHANCELLORSVILLE by HERMAN MELVILLE THE GRAVE OF LOVE by THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE WORKHOUSE by GEORGE ROBERT SIMS EDWIN MORRIS; OR, THE LAKE by ALFRED TENNYSON SHE IS SO PRETTY by PIERRE JEAN DE BERANGER SONNETS FOR NEW YORK CITY: 2. A POLITICAL 'BOSS' by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH |