Page:Dreams and Dust, by Don Marquis.djvu/30

 Their legends. . . Ask oblivion! . ..
 * "They had no poet, and they died."

Heroes, the braggart trumps that dinned
 * Their futile triumphs, monarch, pawn,

Wild tribesmen, kingdoms disciplined,
 * Passed like a whirlwind and were gone;

They built with bronze and gold and brawn,
 * The inner Vision still denied;

Their conquests. . . Ask oblivion! . ..
 * "They had no poet, and they died."

Dumb oracles, and priests withdrawn,
 * Was it but flesh they deified?

Their gods were. . . Ask oblivion! . ..
 * "They had no poet, and they died."