SHE lies raped from her bright sarcophagus,
Denuded, stripped, her tomb a thoroughfare;
Rome was not when she breathed, and she
lies there:
For thirty centuries she has lain thus.
Rome rose; Rome fell; proud nations emulous
Have been like fitful dreams blown everywhere,
Like smoke about the world, aghast, aglare;
While she lay tranquil, mute, mysterious.
And one may pass, some girl indifferent,
Who chattering pauses, half inquisitive,
Half-heedless of some strange vague sentiment
As of some far-off wistful memory;
Who cannot know she did not always live;
Who barely dreads what she shall sometime be.
(E J Rupert Atkinson)
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Based on Topics: World Poems, Memory Poems, Mystery PoemsBased on Keywords: raped, inquisitive, thoroughfare, emulous, sarcophagus, denuded, aglare, half-heedless