GREEK SONGS. I. THE STORM OF DELPHI.1 FAR through the Delphian shades An Eastern trumpet rung! And the startled eagle rush'd on high, Banners, with deep-red gold All waving as a flame, And a fitful glance from the bright spear-head He came with starry gems On his quiver and his crest; With starry gems, at whose heart the day 1See the account cited from Herodotus, in Mitford's Greece. But a gloom fell o'er their way, And a heavy moan went by! A moan, yet not like the wind's low swell, Or a warrior's dying sigh! A gloom fell o'er their way! 'Twas not the shadow cast By the dark pine boughs, as they cross'd the blue And hollow to their tread, Came the echoes of the ground, And banners droop'd, as with dews o'erborne, But they blew a louder strain, When the steep defiles were pass'd! And afar the crown'd Parnassus rose, To shine through heaven with his radiant snows, And in golden light the Delphian fane Before them stood at last! In golden light it stood, 'Midst the laurels gleaming lone, For the Sun-god yet, with a lovely smile, O'er its graceful pillars look'd awhile, Though the stormy shade on cliff and wood Grew deep round its mountain-throne. And the Persians gave a shout! But the marble-walls replied, With a clash of steel and a sullen roar On the armour of the god, Then a viewless hand was laid; There were helm and spear, with a clanging din, And a sudden silence fell Through the dim and loaded air! On the wild-bird's wing, and the myrtle spray, But the pause was broken soon! 'Twas not by song or lyre; For the Delphian maids had left their bowers, And the hearths were lone in the city's towers, But there burst a sound through the misty noon That battle-noon of fire! It burst from earth and heaven! It roll'd from crag and cloud! For a moment of the mountain blast, With a thousand stormy voices pass'd, And the purple gloom of the sky was riven, And the lightnings in their play Flash'd forth, like javelins thrown; Like sun-darts wing'd from the silver bow, And the massy oak-boughs crash'd And lit the streams, as they foam'd and dash'd, Then rush'd the Delphian men On the pale and scatter'd host; There were cries of wild dismay, There were shouts of warrior-glee, There were savage sounds of the tempest's mirth, And the Pæan swell'd erelong, Io Pæan! from the fane; Io Pæan! for the war-array, On the crown'd Parnassus riven that day! -Thou shalt rise as free, thou mount of song! With thy bounding streams again. II. THE BOWL OF LIBERTY.' BEFORE the fiery sun, The sun that looks on Greece with cloudless eye, Amidst the tombs they stood, The tombs of heroes! with the solemn skies, They call'd the glorious dead, In the strong faith which brings the viewless nigh, They call'd them from the shades, The golden-fruited shades, where minstrels tell Then fast the bright-red wine3 Flow'd to their manes who taught the world to die, And made the land's green turf a living shrine, Meet for the wreath and Bowl of Liberty. 'This and the following piece appeared originally in the New Monthly Magazine. 'For an account of this ceremony, anciently performed in commemoration of the battle of Platea, see POTTER'S Antiquities of Greece, vol. i. p. 389. VOL. III. - 20 |