Page:Prometheus bound - Browning (1833).djvu/135

 And what didst thou say, O my soul, Unto that mystic dame? 'I ask'd her of her tears, and eke I ask'd her of her name.

'She said, she built a prince's throne; She said, he ruled the grave; And that the levelling worm ask'd not If he were king or slave.

'She said, she form'd a godlike tongue, Which lofty thoughts unsheathed; Which roll'd its thunder round, and purged The air the nations breathed.

'She said, that tongue, all eloquent, With silent dust did mate; Whereon false friends betray'd long faith, And foes outspat their hate.