Rebellion (Howard)

The marble statues tossed against the sky In gestures blind as though to rend and kill, Not one upon his pedestal was still. Stiff fingers clutched at winds that whispered by, And from the white lips rose a deathly cry: "Cursed be the hands that broke us from the hill! There slumber of unbirth was ours till The gave us life that cannot live or die."

And then as from a dream I stirred and woke— Sublime and still each statue raised its head, Etched pure and cold against the leafy green, No limb was moved, no sigh the silence broke; And people walked amid the grove and said: "How peaceful these white gods!—aye, how serene."