Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THERMOPYLAE, by EMMA E. GRIMES


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THERMOPYLAE, by                    
First Line: Behold how greece, the ancient, stood
Last Line: When time's fleet course is run!
Subject(s): Greece; Thermopylae, Battle Of; War; Greeks


Behold how Greece, the Ancient, stood
Confronted by the Persian host!
Unnumbered was the robber brood
That sought to desecrate her coast!
But with her art, philosophy,
And learning, were her people free;
For, through the Pass Thermopylae,
The armies of the enemy
Could come but one by one!

Beyond that tortuous mountain pass
The hordes of Xerxes thronged in vain!
Kept by the brave Leonidas
And his unyielding Spartan train,
Safe was the city of the light,
Confounded the barbarian's might,
The powers of darkness put to flight;
For, through the pass, the sons of night
Must enter one by one!

Could that vast, whelming, human flood
Have swept her shores in one fell wave,
No mortal arm could have withstood
To rescue from Oblivion's grave
The wisdom of old Socrates,
The fervor of Demosthenes!
In you strait gate beside the seas
Greece conquered all her enemies,
And slew them one by one!

So stands the hunted human soul
Confronted by unnumbered days!
But we can win life's hard-fought goal
And lift to Him our songs of praise,
Who heaven and earth did so create
That at our morning sunrise-gate
Our days in single file must wait;
And we are masters of our fate,
When time's fleet course is run!





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