IF Fate, though jealous of second birth Of names in history raised to high degree, Permits that Athens yet once more shall be, Let her be placed as suits the thought and worth Of those who, during long oppression's dearth, Went out from Hydra and Ipsara free, Making their homestead of the chainless sea, And hardly touching their enslaved earth. So on the shore, in sight of Salamis, On the Piraean and Phalerian bays, With no harsh contrast of what was and is, Let Athens rise; while in the distance stands, Like something hardly raised by human hands, The awful skeleton of ancient days! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE STATE OF WYOMING by KAREN SWENSON SONNET TO HIS FRIEND R.L. IN PRAISE OF MUSIQUE AND POETRIE by RICHARD BARNFIELD ODE TO WISDOM by ELIZABETH CARTER IN THE HOLY NATIVITY [OF OUR LORD GOD]; AS SUNG BY SHEPHERDS by RICHARD CRASHAW LESSER EPISTLES: TO BERNARD LINTOTT by JOHN GAY THE SICK KING IN BOKHARA by MATTHEW ARNOLD |