Page:The ascent of man by Blind, Mathilde.djvu/46


 * From many an icebound shore,
 * The human torrents pour,

Horde following upon horde as flood on flood, Avengers of the slain they come, they come, And break in thunder on the walls of Rome.


 * A trembling people waits
 * As, surging through its gates,

Break the fierce Goths with trumpet-blasts of doom;
 * And many a glorious shrine
 * Begins to flare and shine,

And many a palace flames up through the gloom, Kindled like torches by relentless wrath To light the Spoiler on destruction's path.


 * Yea, with Rome's ravished walls,
 * The old world tottering falls

And crumbles into ruin wide and vast;