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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A MELOLOGUE UPON NATIONAL MUSIC: GREEK AIR by THOMAS MOORE

First Line: LIST! 'TIS A GRECIAN MAID THAT SINGS
Last Line: AND EVERY HEART WAS FREEDOM'S ALTAR.
Subject(s): MUSIC & MUSICIANS; NATIONAL SONG - GREECE; GREEK NATIONAL ANTHEM;

LIST! 'tis a Grecian maid that sings,
While from Ilissus' silvery springs
She draws the cool lymph in her graceful urn;
And by her side, in music's charm dissolving,
Some patriot youth, the glorious past revolving,
Dreams of bright days that never can return;
When Athens nursed her olive bough
With hands, by tyrant power unchain'd,
And braided for the Muse's brow
A wreath, by tyrant touch unstain'd.
When heroes trod each classic field,
Where coward feet now faintly falter;
When every arm was Freedom's shield,
And every heart was Freedom's altar.



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