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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE OLD GODS, by CALVIN DILL WILSON
First Line: The old gods never die
Last Line: Outside the new church gate.
First Line: The old gods never die
Last Line: Outside the new church gate.
The Old Gods never die;
They only watch and wait;
They wait for a thousand years
Outside the new Church gate.
Jove and Neptune and Mars,
Tyr and Odin and Thor,
These watch with the ageless stars,
They watch forevermore.
They call with the worn bronze trumpets,
They call and all men hear;
Their voice is deeper than church bells,
Deeper than chimes rung clear;
It charms like the seraphim's,
And is older than all the hymns.
We hear the tramp of many feet
Upon the ancient pavements of the Gods;
We see the people hasten on the street,
Chanting their lauds;
Their fashion's garments off they cast,
And don the shag-skins of the past.
The Old Gods rule the seas,
And men are fed to the waves;
The Old Gods burn the cities;
They burn and ravish their slaves.
They ride on the storm and the lightning;
They revel in jungle and brake;
They inhabit the seats of the thunders
When the tempests in wrath awake.
A strange, strange smile
Is the Old Gods', while
They hope for the Cross to fall
And they be lords of all.
Jove and Neptune and Mars.
Tyr and Odin and Thor,
These watch with the ageless stars,
They watch forevermore.
The Old Gods never die;
They only watch and wait;
They wait for a thousand years
Outside the new Church gate.
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