 | The Judgment of Prometheus |  |
1
OLD LANDS AND NEW.
I.
The sea-sand who shall number,
Or tell the wasted store
Of fallen leaves that cumber
The wintry forest floor?
Or tell the wasted store
Of fallen leaves that cumber
The wintry forest floor?
So dense, so all unthought for,
Drop down in lane and den
From wretched life they wrought for
The dying throngs of men.
Drop down in lane and den
From wretched life they wrought for
The dying throngs of men.
Down drop they bruised and breathless,
Forget at last to feel:
Above the dead men deathless
Fate drives her iron wheel.
Forget at last to feel:
Above the dead men deathless
Fate drives her iron wheel.
18
No ray for these arisen
Had pledged a glimpse of day;
To break their sunless prison
This was the only way.
Had pledged a glimpse of day;
To break their sunless prison
This was the only way.
II.
Blow strong, blow sweet, O Ocean wind,
As o'er the Ocean waves we flee!
Sweep forth the old life from our mind,
Inspire the life to be!
As o'er the Ocean waves we flee!
Sweep forth the old life from our mind,
Inspire the life to be!
There Nature shares her godlike moods,
Stars in a clearer heaven are there;
The glory of the flaming woods,
The glory of the air.
Stars in a clearer heaven are there;
The glory of the flaming woods,
The glory of the air.
19
The elder lands that seemed so wide,
Now all too straitly, sorely pen,
Too close for kindness, side by side,
The jostling lives of men.
Now all too straitly, sorely pen,
Too close for kindness, side by side,
The jostling lives of men.
Behind us, lo, the landward light,
Choked by the mist, forlorn and grey,
Has paled and past, forsaking quite
The portals of the day.
Choked by the mist, forlorn and grey,
Has paled and past, forsaking quite
The portals of the day.
But yonder, lo, the fervid skies
Flood with their fire the western brine;
'Tis there our spirits' sun shall rise,
Some unknown day divine.
Flood with their fire the western brine;
'Tis there our spirits' sun shall rise,
Some unknown day divine.
| The Judgment of Prometheus | |