Ye Gods of Greece! Bright Fictions! when
Ye ruled, of old, a happier race,
And mildly bound rejoicing men
In bonds of Beauty and of Grace;
When worship was a service light,
And duty but an easy bliss,
And white-hued fanes lit every height;
Then-what a sparkling world was this.
Creation, then but newly born,
Felt all the glowing trust of youth;
And pulses, yet, were all unworn,
And poesy was very truth;
And Gods were spread thro’ earth and air,
And looked or spoke, in sight or sound;
And who but loved to worship there,
Where they were mingling all around?
Not then was yonder radiant sun
Mere globe of fire, as now they say;
But Phoebus urged his chariot on,
A guiding God!-and made the day.
Each hoary hill, each thymy mount,
Some fond presiding Oread tended;
And Naiads bent by every fount
From which a gushing stream descended.
‘Twas Daphne’s voice-so taught the creed-
That murmur’d from yon laurel tree;
‘Twas Syrinx from the hollow reed
Out-sighed her plaintive melody.
No bird sent forth that fervent trill;
‘Twas Philomel the song supplying;
And Venus wept, on yonder hill,
O’er young Adonis, gored and dying.
And then, if perfumed airs came breathing,
At eve, from off th’
(John Kenyon)
More Poetry from John Kenyon:
John Kenyon Poems based on Topics: Sense & Perception, Youth, Light, Nature, Death & Dying, Beauty, Breathing, Truth, World, Happiness, God- Moonlight (John Kenyon Poems)
- Pretence. Part II - The Library (John Kenyon Poems)
- Dorchester Amphitheatre . (John Kenyon Poems)
- The Streams (John Kenyon Poems)
- Silchester (John Kenyon Poems)
- Shrine Of The Virgin - Part II (John Kenyon Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: God Poems, World Poems, Light Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Nature Poems, Youth Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Fire Poems, Beauty Poems, Happiness Poems, Truth PoemsBased on Keywords: presiding, supplying, then-what, white-hued, voice-so