Glimpses of Antiquity Being a collection of metrical sketches, in the form of ballads, lyrics, &c., with main reference to mediaeval times or classical subjects. By George F. Preston [i.e. J. B. L. Warren] |
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THE SONG OF ALCIDES. |
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 | Glimpses of Antiquity |  |
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THE SONG OF ALCIDES.
I will sing the peerless Hero,
Sprung from sad Alcmena's pain,
Godlike o'er whose ample shoulders
Flows Nemea's lion-mane.
Sprung from sad Alcmena's pain,
Godlike o'er whose ample shoulders
Flows Nemea's lion-mane.
Great Alcides! lordly victor
Over death supreme and shame;
Safe escaped to restful nectar,
From the venom'd mantle's flame.
Over death supreme and shame;
Safe escaped to restful nectar,
From the venom'd mantle's flame.
Æta's summits mist-enshrouded
Loom between the sunrise pale;
Now the eye of heaven is clouded,
Peals an everlasting wail.
Loom between the sunrise pale;
Now the eye of heaven is clouded,
Peals an everlasting wail.
But the Demigod has vanished,
Heavenward past on thunder-swell;
Whom long banished, silver-chaliced
Hebe waits 'mid asphodel.
Heavenward past on thunder-swell;
Whom long banished, silver-chaliced
Hebe waits 'mid asphodel.
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Fairer than Hesperian wonder,
Heavenly fruitage, amber streams:
Virgin skies unseared by thunder,
Flooded with ambrosial gleams.
Heavenly fruitage, amber streams:
Virgin skies unseared by thunder,
Flooded with ambrosial gleams.
Holy virtue, hard and painful,
When we faint beneath thy load;
In thy sequel grandly gainful,
Crowned with Heaven thine upward road!
When we faint beneath thy load;
In thy sequel grandly gainful,
Crowned with Heaven thine upward road!
Snake-like vices to deceive us
Lurk our very cradles nigh:
Wrestle with them—and they leave us!
Crush them!—and the Typhons die!
Lurk our very cradles nigh:
Wrestle with them—and they leave us!
Crush them!—and the Typhons die!
| Glimpses of Antiquity | |