Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE WOODEN WALLS OF ATHENS, by DELPHIC ORACLE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE WOODEN WALLS OF ATHENS, by                    
First Line: Vainly doth pallas strive to appease great zeus of olympus
Last Line: Thou shalt destroy one day, in the season of seed-time or harvest.
Subject(s): Athens, Greece; Walls


VAINLY doth Pallas strive to appease great Zeus of Olympus;
Words of entreaty are vain, and cunning counsels of wisdom.
Nathless a rede I will give thee again, of strength adamantine.
All shall be taken and lost that the sacred border of Cecrops
Holds in keeping to-day, and the dales divine of Cithaeron;
Yet shall a wood-built wall by Zeus all-seeing be granted
Unto the Triton born, a stronghold for thee and thy children.
Bide not still in thy place for the host that cometh from landward,
Cometh with horsemen and foot; but rather withdraw at his coming,
Turning thy back to the foe; thou yet shalt meet him in battle.
Salamis, isle divine! 'tis writ that children of women
Thou shalt destroy one day, in the season of seed-time or harvest.





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