Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ANTIQUE COIN, by JOSE-MARIA DE HEREDIA (1842-1905)


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ANTIQUE COIN, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Still etna bears the red wine and the gold
Last Line: The immortal beauty of sicilian girls.
Subject(s): Etna (volcano); Numismatics; Sicily; Volcanoes; Aetna (volcano); Coins, Commemorative; Medals, Historical


STILL Etna bears the red wine and the gold
Made glad Theocritus in times antique;
But in our day 'twere vain for him to seek
That fruit whereof his gracious verses told.
As bond-slave bartered and as harlot sold,
The blood of Anjou Brave and Arab Sheik
Now strives in Arethusa with the Greek;
Her face hath lost the godlike lines of old.

Time hastes. All dies. Ev'n marble towers tumble.
Old Agregente's citadel is down;
Still Syracuse sleeps where the blue unfurls:
Only on silver coins that cannot crumble
Love set unsullied in its old renown
The immortal beauty of Sicilian girls.





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