Here shrines are void and voiceless, all are fled;
Roofless the columns and the altars bare.
Shades of Olympus twine with mortal dead;
For gods nepenthe, and for man despair.
Weird wraith of ardour, Aphrodite clings
To Ares’ hand or Zeno’s, unaware;
Lyreless and tuneless pale Apollo sings
Shadows of song that lull no mortal care.
The plinths are mossy, and the asphodel
Gleams white upon the tumbled travertine;
Oaks born when deities departed tell
Of the last off’ring and the years between.
All, all are fled, the priests and votaries
Are one with Pluto and Persephone;
Mere mists that tremble on Plutean breeze
Echoes of chorus and antiphony.
All? Nay, for peering from his covert, Pan
With twinkling eyes of dread perversity
Pipes threnodies to gods, paeans to man;
And, brooding o’er the ruins, Necessity.
(Burnett A. Ward)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, God Poems, Necessity PoemsBased on Keywords: tuneless, pluto, aphrodite, persephone, votaries, roofless, paeans, ares, nepenthe, perversity, zeno