Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 2.djvu/134

100 Goddess of Wisdom! here thy temple was,

And is, despite of War and wasting fire,N1

And years, that bade thy worship to expire:

But worse than steel, and flame, and ages slow,N2

Is the dread sceptre and dominion dire

Of men who never felt the sacred glow

That thoughts of thee and thine on polished breasts bestow.

II.

Ancient of days! august Athena! where,

Where are thy men of might? thy grand in soul?

Gone—glimmering through the dream of things that were:

First in the race that led to Glory's goal,

They won, and passed away—is this the whole?

A schoolboy's tale, the wonder of an hour!