Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, CALLIOPE, by RAY CLARKE ROSE


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CALLIOPE, by                    
First Line: Chief of the muses - great calliope!
Last Line: Thus mask in modern processes immense.
Subject(s): Calliope (goddess); Goddesses & Gods; Muses; Mythology


Chief of the Muses—great Calliope!
Where is thy idle stylus hid to-day—
That rod, whose grand, immortalizing sway
Held Homer's hand in trust as honor's fee?
And has thy tuba lost its ancient free
And ample eloquence? Forsooth! the bray
Of modern orators is puppet play—
The loon's call hooting by life's raging sea!

And yet, I heard a locomotive roar
Across the almost boundless plain; its voice
Spake with prophetic power, thus: "Rejoice!
I carry progress to the farthest shore."
Perchance thy epic staves and eloquence
Thus mask in modern processes immense.





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