A ROMAN master stands on Grecian ground, And to the concourse of the Isthmian games He, by his herald's voice, aloud proclaims "The liberty of Greece"; the words rebound Until all voices in one voice are drowned; Glad acclamation by which air was rent! And birds, high flying in the element, Dropped to the earth, astonished at the sound! A melancholy echo of that noise Doth sometimes hang on musing Fancy's ear; Ah! that a conqueror's words should be so dear; Ah! that a boon should shed such rapturous joys! A gift of that which is not to be given By all the blended powers of earth and heaven. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SEA-LIMITS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE BUOY-BELL by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER IN EXAMINATION by RUPERT BROOKE COMBINATIONS by CATHERINE CATE COBLENTZ A BECK IN WINTER by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE THRESHOLD by GLADYS CROMWELL A LITTLE TE DEUM OF THE COMMONPLACE; A FRAGMENT by WILLIAM ARTHUR DUNKERLEY |