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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


GLIMPSES OF ITALY: 5. LIKE PAESTUM'S TEMPLE by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON

First Line: MOMENTS THERE ARE THAT LOOM UP FROM THE PAST
Last Line: RADIANT WITH DREAMS AND ANCIENT ECSTASY.
Subject(s): SEA; SLEEP; SOUL; TEMPLES; OCEAN; MOSQUES;

MOMENTS there are that loom up from the past
Tarnished yet beautiful; we deemed them dead,
Their old-time witchery for ever fled;
Not so; for of a sudden, all unasked,
Lo, they return to rule our souls at last;
So fresh, so fair, they almost seem to shed
A lovelier light than in the years long sped,
Weaving a wonder that is unsurpassed:

Proud vistaed arches, gleams of broken stone,
Columns superb, blithe statues buried deep
Until exhumed from immemorial sleep
To be beloved as our household own:
Like Paestum's temple, tranced beside the sea,
Radiant with dreams and ancient ecstasy.



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