Ere Greece soared, showering sovranties of light
Ere Rome shook earth with her tremendous tread
Ere yon blue-feasting sun-god burst blood-red
Beneath thee slept thy prodigy, O Night!
Aeons have ta'en like dreams their strange, slow flight
And vastest, tiniest, creatures paved her bed
E'en cities sapped by the usurping spread
Of her imperious waves have sunk from sight
Since she first chanted her colossal psalms
That swell and sink beneath the listening stars;
Oft, as with myriad drums beating to arms
She thunders out the grandeur of her wars;
Then shifts through moaning moods her wizard charms
Of slow flutes and caressing, gay guitars