Poems By Richard Chenevix Trench: New ed |
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THE ETRURIAN KING. |
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61
THE ETRURIAN KING.
One only eye beheld him in his pride,
The old Etrurian monarch,—as he died,
The old Etrurian monarch,—as he died,
And as they laid him on his bier of stone,
Shield, spear, and arrows laying at his side;
Shield, spear, and arrows laying at his side;
In golden armour, with his crown of gold,
One only eye the kingly warrior spied:
One only eye the kingly warrior spied:
Nor that eye long—for in the common air
The wondrous pageant might not long abide,
The wondrous pageant might not long abide,
Which had in sealëd sepulchre the wrongs
Of time for thirty centuries defied.
Of time for thirty centuries defied.
That eye beheld it melt and disappear,
As down an hour-glass the last sand-drops glide.
As down an hour-glass the last sand-drops glide.
A few short moments,—and a shrunken heap
Of common dust survived, of all that pride:
Of common dust survived, of all that pride:
And so that gorgeous vision will remain
For evermore to other eye denied:
For evermore to other eye denied:
And he who saw must oftentimes believe
That him his waking senses had belied;
That him his waking senses had belied;
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Since what if all the pageants of this earth
Melt soon away, and may not long abide,
Melt soon away, and may not long abide,
Yet when did ever doom so swift before
Even to the glories of the world betide?
Even to the glories of the world betide?
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