THIS sword I'll carry in a myrtle bough, It is my trophy now; Aristogiton, and Harmodius, They bare it thus, When they the Tyrant had destroy'd, Restoring Athens to those liberties, Which she so much does prize, And which she anciently enjoy'd. O dear Harmodius! Thou art not dead, But in the Island of the Blest Dost live in peace, and rest: For so, 'tis said, Thou happy art in company Of swift Achilles, and fierce Diomede; And dost Tydides see; Therefore this Sword in a green myrtle bough, I carry as in triumph now. The brave Harmodius, And fam'd Aristogiton bare it thus: For when they had perform'd the sacrifice, To our great patroness, Minerva, due, They, as he in his grandeur sate, The tyrant, proud Hipparchus, slew, Who o'er th' Athenian State, Without pretence of right, did tyrannize. Eternal honours you on Earth shall gain, Aristogiton and Harmodius! You have the bloody tyrant slain, By which you do restore Your city to the laws which govern'd it before. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BENEDICTION by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DAWN by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON STREET CRIES: 6. TO RICHARD WAGNER by SIDNEY LANIER UNDER THE CEDARCROFT CHESTNUT by SIDNEY LANIER TWO POEMS FROM THE WAR: 1 by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH STUDY FOR A GEOGRAPHICAL TRAIL; 1. SEATTLE by CLARENCE MAJOR STUDY FOR A GEOGRAPHICAL TRAIL; 2. ILLINOIS by CLARENCE MAJOR |