Corinth

On Leaving Greece

I STOOD upon that great Acropolis,

The turret-gate of Nature’s citadel,

Where once again, from slavery’s thick abyss

Strangely delivered, Grecian warriors dwell.

I watched the bosom of Parnassus swell,

I traced Eleusis, Athens, Salamis,

And that rude fane below, which lives to tell

Where reigned the city of luxurious bliss.

Within the maze of great antiquity

My spirit wandered tremblingly along;

As one who with rapt ears to a wild song

Hearkens some while, then knows not whether he

Has comprehended all its melody,

So in that parting hour was it with Greece and me.