 | Through the Gateway |  |
22
THE GODS OF GLADNESS.
When was the last day of garland-wearing,
Of dancing feet and of incense-bearing
In temples under the sky,
Or ever the years grew dark with tears,
Or Earth put childhood by?
Of dancing feet and of incense-bearing
In temples under the sky,
Or ever the years grew dark with tears,
Or Earth put childhood by?
Where and when were the last hands lifted
To Aphrodite the golden-gifted,
To bright Apollo and Pan,
Lovers of earth and makers of mirth
For the happy childhood of Man?
To Aphrodite the golden-gifted,
To bright Apollo and Pan,
Lovers of earth and makers of mirth
For the happy childhood of Man?
How shall we bring back gods departed
To a world so wise and weary-hearted?
Tho' we build the temple again,
It is no god there, but a statue fair,
Or an image stark and vain.
To a world so wise and weary-hearted?
Tho' we build the temple again,
It is no god there, but a statue fair,
Or an image stark and vain.
Gone for ever the gods of gladness.
To-day in the likeness of death and sadness
Men image the most divine;
For a thousand years they have hallowed tears,
And banished mirth from the shrine.
To-day in the likeness of death and sadness
Men image the most divine;
For a thousand years they have hallowed tears,
And banished mirth from the shrine.
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