Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN OLD ROMAN SHIELD FOUND IN THE THAMES (1), by CHARLES TENNYSON TURNER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN OLD ROMAN SHIELD FOUND IN THE THAMES (1), by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Drowned for long ages, lost to human reach
Last Line: Our weapons change, we quarrel now as then!
Subject(s): Great Britain - Roman Conquest


Drowned for long ages, lost to human reach,
At last the Roman buckler reappears,
And makes an old-world clang upon the beach,
Its first faint voice for many a hundred years;
Not the weird noises on the battle-field
Of Marathon, as thrilling legends tell,
Could speak more sadly than this ancient shield,
As ringing at the fisher's feet it fell.
How cam'st thou to be grappled thus, and hauled
To shore, when other prey was sought, not thou?
How strangely was thy long-lost chime recalled,
As when the arrows struck thee! Then, as now,
The tented plain was thronged with armed men;
Our weapons change, we quarrel now as then!





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