Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IN THE ROMAN FORUM, by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR First Line: Nothing but beauty, now Last Line: Divinity alone. Subject(s): Forum (rome) | ||||||||
NOTHING but beauty, now. No longer at the point of goading fear The sullen, tributary world comes near Before all-subjugating Rome to bow. No more the pavement of the Forum rings To breathless victory's exultant tread Before the heavy march of captive kings. Here stood the royal dead In sculptured immortality, their gaze Remote above the turmoil of the street Hoarse with its living struggle at their feet. Here spoke the law -- that voice of bronze was heard By all the world, and stirred The latent mind of nations in the bud. Bright with the laurels, bitter with the blood Of heroes upon heroes was this place Where the strong heart of an imperial race Beat with the essence of a nation's life. Princes and people evermore at strife -- Incense and worship -- clash of armoured rage -- Ambition soaring up the sky like flame -- Interminable war that mortals wage From century to century the same. Still Fortune holds the crown for those who dare; Mankind in many a distant otherwhere Leaps panting toward the promise of her face -- But here, no more of coveting nor care. No longer here the weltering human tide Sluices the market-place and scatters wide The weak as foam, to perish where they list. Now by the sovereign Silence purified Spring showers all with fragrant amethyst. Were once these pulses violent and swift As those that shake the cities of to-day? How indolently sweet the petals drift From yonder nodding spray! Warming their broidered raiment in the sun The little bright-eyed lizards bask and run O'er fallen temples gracious in decay. Man's arrogance with calculated art Boasted in marble -- now the quiet heart Of the Great Mother dreams eternal things In brief bright roses and ethereal green, Or more exuberant, sings In poppies poured profusely to the air From secret hoards of scarlet. Nothing seen But swoons with beauty -- beauty everywhere -- Nothing but beauty . . . now. Here is the immortality of Rome. Not where the city rises, dome on dome, Seek we the living soul of ancient might, But in this temple of green silence -- here Flame purer than the vestal is alight. The world again draws near In reverence, but now it comes to pay The tribute of a nobler coin than fear. In wondering worship, not in fierce dismay, Men bow the knee to what of Rome remains. Time's long lustration has effaced her stains. All that is perishable now is past And earth her portion tenderly transmutes To evanescent beauty of her own, Jubilant flowers and nectar-breathing fruits, Leaving in deathless glory at the last Divinity alone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A LYNMOUTH WIDOW by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR A MINOR POET by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR A MIRACLE by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR A POET by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR A POET ENLISTS by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR A SPRING SYMPHONY by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR A WISH by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR ABBOTSFORD by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR ALLAH IS WITH THE PATIENT by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR AMORINO by AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR |
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