Page:Lyra heroica.djvu/220

 106 MACAULAY

But with a crash like thunder

Fell every loosened beam, And, like a dam, the mighty wreck

Lay right athwart the stream : And a long shout of triumph

Rose from the walls of Rome, As to the highest turret-tops

Was splashed the yellow foam.

And, like a horse unbroken

When first he feels the rein, The furious river struggled hard,

And tossed his tawny mane; And burst the curb, and bounded,

Rejoicing to be free; And whirling down, in fierce career, Battlement, and plank, and pier,

Rushed headlong to the sea.

FATHER TIBER

Alone stood brave Horatius,

But constant still in mind; Thrice thirty thousand foes before,

And the broad flood behind. 'Down with him! ' cried false Sextus,

With a smile on his pale face. 'Now yield thee,' cried Lars Porsena,

'Now yield thee to our grace.'

Round turned he, as not deigning Those craven ranks to see;

�� �