Consuls, Dictators, still in Curule state Sit and decide; and, as of old in ROME, Name but their names, set every heart on fire! Here, in his bonds, he whom the phalanx saved not,* The last on PHILIP's throne; and the Numidian †, So soon to say, stript of his cumbrous robe, Stript to the skin, and in his nakedness Thrust under-ground, 'How cold this bath of yours!' Whose temples, palaces, a wondrous dream Illumine yet the desert. Some invoked * Perseus. + Jugurtha. + Zenobia. § Cleopatra. Sophonisba. The story of the marriage and the poison is well-known to every reader. The day is silent, dreary as the night; (And there are many who have crossed the earth) That they may give the hours to meditation, And wander, often saying to themselves, 'This was the ROMAN FORUM!' A FUNERAL. 'WHENCE this delay ?'—' Along the crowded street A Funeral comes, and with unusual pomp.' So I withdrew a little and stood still, 6 While it went by. She died as she deserved,' Said an Abatè, gathering up his cloak, And with a shrug retreating as the tide Flowed more and more. But she was beautiful!' Replied a soldier of the Pontiff's guard. A Matron sitting in her stall, hung round The stab,' she cried, 'was given in jealousy; As thou wilt say, or much my mind misleads, When thou hast seen her face. Last night at dusk, When on her A wail, a chant, louder and louder yet; And now a strange fantastic troop appeared! Thronging, they came-as from the shades below; All of a ghostly white! O say,' I cried, 'Do not the living here bury the dead? Do Spirits come and fetch them? What are these, That seem not of this World, and mock the Day; Each with a burning taper in his hand?' 'It is an ancient Brotherhood thou seest. Such their apparel. Through the long, long line, N Like one asleep, her eyelids closed, her hands As 'twere her nightly posture, through the crowd Death, when we meet the Spectre in our walks, Knocks at the heart. His form and fashion here To me, I do confess, reflect a gloom, A sadness round; yet one I would not lose; In this, this land of shadows, where we live |