The graves, wherein our mighty men Still green it waves! as when the hearth And fearless was the banquet's mirth, And guests, with shining myrtle crown'd, Sent the wreath'd lyre and wine-cup round. Still green! as when on holy ground Forget ye not what garlands bound Though earth may shroud Harmodius now, We still have sword and myrtle bough! ELYSIUM. "In the Elysium of the ancients, we find none but heroes and persons who had either been fortunate or distinguished on earth; the children, and apparently the slaves and lower classes, that is to say, Poverty, Misfortune, and Innocence, were banished to the infernal Regions." Chateaubriand, Genie du Christianisme. Fair wert thou in the dreams Of elder time, thou land of glorious flowers And summer winds and low-toned silvery streams, Dim with the shadows of thy laurel bowers, Where, as they pass'd, bright hours Fair wert thou, with the light Of glory, fading fast And ever, through thy shades, To summer's breezy sigh, And the transparent sky With dreams and yearnings vain, And who, with silent tread, And listen to the swell They of the sword, whose praise, And in all regions found Their echoes 'midst the mountains!—and become In man's deep heart as voices of his home! They of the daring thought! Daring and powerful, yet to dust allied— Whose flight through stars, and seas, and depths, had sought The soul's far birthplace—but without a guide! Sages and seers, who died, And left the world their high mysterious dreams, Born 'midst the olive woods, by Grecian streams. But the most loved are they Of whom fame speaks not with her clarion voice, In regal halls !—the shades o'erhang their way, The vale, with its deep fountains, is their choice, And gentle hearts rejoice And these—of whose abode, A dim and vacant place In some sweet home;—thou hadst no wreaths for these, Thou sunny land! with all thy deathless trees! The peasant at his door Might sink to die when vintage feasts were spread, And songs on every wind! From thy bright shore No lovelier vision floated round his head— Thou wert for nobler dead! He heard the bounding steps which round him fell* And sigh'd to bid the festal sun farewell! The slave, whose very tears Were a forbidden luxury, and whose breast Kept the mute woes and burning thoughts of years, As embers in a burial-urn compress'd; He might not be thy guest! Calm, on its leaf-strewn bier, E'en so to pass away, Thou hadst no home, green land! For the fair creature from her bosom gone, With life's fresh flowers just opening in its hand, And all the lovely thoughts and dreams unknown Which, in its clear eye, shone Like spring's first wakening! but that light was past— Where went the dewdrop swept before the blast? Not where thy soft winds play'd, Not where thy waters lay in glassy sleep! Fade with thy bowers, thou Land of Visions, fade! From thee no voice came o'er the gloomy deep, And bade man cease to weep! |