MEN AND WOMEN. LOVE AMONG THE RUINS. 1. WHERE the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles Miles and miles On the solitary pastures where our sheep Half-asleep Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop As they crop 2. Was the site once of a city great and gay, (So they say) Of our country's very capital, its prince Ages since Held his court in, gathered councils, wielding far Peace or war. Now 3. the country does not even boast a tree, To distinguish slopes of verdure, certain rills From the hills Intersect and give a name to, (else they run 4. Where the domed and daring palace shot its spires Up like fires O'er the hundred-gated circuit of a wall Bounding all, Made of marble, men might narch on nor be prest, Twelve abreast. 5. And such plenty and perfection, see, of grass Never was! Such a carpet as, this summer-time, o'erspreads Every vestige of the city, guessed alone, Stock or stone 6. Where a multitude of men breathed joy and woe Long ago; Lust of glory pricked their hearts up, dread of shame Struck them tame; |