WHITHER shall I flee for refuge? whither shall I look for aid? Flight or exile, which is safer? tower and town are both betrayed; Whom shall I implore for succour? our old altars are no more, Broken, crushed they lie, and splintered, and the flames above them roar. And our walls all blackened stand -- O my father! fatherland! O thou haughty house of Priam -- temple with the gates surrounded I have seen thee -- all thy splendour, all thy eastern pomp unbounded -- All thy roofs and painted ceilings, all the treasures they contain, I have seen them -- seen them blazing -- I have seen old Priam slain, Foully murdered, and the altar of the Highest bears the stain. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GETHSEMANE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON BEAUTY THAT IS NEVER OLD by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON ON VIOLET'S WAFERS, SENT ME WHEN I WAS ILL by SIDNEY LANIER ON A TUFT OF GRASS by EMMA LAZARUS HOUSE WITH THE MARBLE STEPS by AMY LOWELL THE FRUIT GARDEN PATH by AMY LOWELL IN THE GARDEN AT THE DAWN HOUR by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |