Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/517

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Perchance that wondrous city was to him

But as one voiceless blank; a place of graves,

And recollections indistinct and dim,

Whose sons were conquerors once, and now were slaves:

It may be in that desolate sight his eye

Saw but another step to climb to victory!

Alas! that fiery spirit little knew

The change of life, the nothingness of power,

How both were hastening, as they flowered and grew,

Nearer and nearer to their closing hour:

How every birth of time's miraculous womb

Swept off the withered leaves that hide the naked tomb.

One little year; that restless soul shall rest,

That frame of vigor shall be crumbling clay,

And tranquilly, above that troubled breast,

The sunny waters hold their joyous way:

And gently shall the murmuring ripples flow,

Nor wake the weary soul that slumbers on below.

Alas! far other thoughts might well be ours

And dash our holiest raptures while we gaze:

Energies wasted, unimproved hours,

The saddening visions of departed days:

And while they rise here might we stand alone,

And mingle with thy ruins somewhat of our own.