Page:Lyra heroica.djvu/213

 Then lands were fairly portioned;

Then spoils were fairly sold : The Romans were like brothers

In the brave days of old.

Now Roman is to Roman

More hateful than a foe, And the Tribunes beard the high,

And the Fathers grind the low. As we wax hot in faction,

In battle we wax cold : Wherefore men fight not as they fought

In the brave days of old.

THE KEEPING OF THE BRIDGE

Now while the Three were tightening

Their harness on their backs, The Consul was the foremost man

To take in hand an axe : And Fathers mixed with Commons

Seized hatchet, bar, and crow, And smote upon the planks above,

And loosed the props below.

Meanwhile the Tuscan army,

Right glorious to behold, Came flashing back the noonday light, Rank behind rank, like surges bright

Of a broad sea of gold. Four hundred t mm pets sounded

A peal of warlike glee,

�� �