 | Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature |  |
115
ENCELADUS.
O vengeful, cruel, and remorseless gods,That would have smitten me to nothingness
Had you the power, I bless your impotence!
You cannot curb my free immortal thought
That curses and defies you evermore;—
You may not, and you cannot, slay my soul!
Crush me with tortures mighty as yourselves;
Mountain on mountain pile upon my breast;
Afflict me, in omnipotence of rage,
Until my flesh creep, and my marrowy bones
Are desiccate with fire, and my huge pain
Goads me to struggles that appal the world,
And shake to dust the towns and villages
At Etna's base—lo! I defy you still!
You cannot even drive me to despair!
116
Shall melt away as if it were a dream.
But I, Enceladus, shall still survive,
Immortal as yourselves! Great though ye be,
The God of gods is mightier than you—
And when your hour has passed, my hour shall come.
| Studies from the Antique and Sketches from Nature | |