"GIVE me your soldiers' bracelets; all Their splendid jewels, great and small, And straight your army shall be led Within the city walls." So said Tarpeia, while the Sabine waits In siege before the Roman gates. Whereat each soldier, filing past The traitress, on her body cast His heavy bracelet; till at last The shining heap became so great, She fell and died beneath their weight. Even so it fares with mortals, who With headlong eagerness pursue Ambition, pleasure, wealth, or fame, The glittering prize at which they aim Comes often, like Tarpeia's fate, To bruise and crush them with its weight. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVE'S SECRET, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE FARE WELL by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE THE BLUE AND THE GRAY by FRANCIS MILES FINCH AT CASTERBRIDGE FAIR: 5. THE INQUIRY by THOMAS HARDY THE AKOND [OR, AKHOND] OF SWAT by EDWARD LEAR THE HUSBAND'S PETITION by WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN CASSANDRA by RICHARD BARNFIELD |