Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ANTIQUE COIN by JOSE-MARIA DE HEREDIA (1842-1905)

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.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net