27.12.2010, 11:53
ALEXANDER THE GREAT'S DESIGNS
AT BABYLON FRUSTRATED.
He plied Hephaestion's ear with royal schemes
Over the wine-cup ; hollow rang his voice
From barrier-rocks of Providence, and gleams
Of fatal fever lighten'd from his eyes ;
He thought to build and drain with busy power —
But could not pass beyond the appointed goal ;
For the strong ward of one prophetic scroll
Had fray'd the horns of Ammon, and his hour
Drew nigh ; Time sped—the bitterns throng'd the strand,
And shook the site of his imperial dream
With booming, and the dropsy of the land
Orew from the untended waters ; evening's beam,
And morn's, look'd down upon a realm of fear.
With pools and mounds and marshes far and near.
AT BABYLON FRUSTRATED.
He plied Hephaestion's ear with royal schemes
Over the wine-cup ; hollow rang his voice
From barrier-rocks of Providence, and gleams
Of fatal fever lighten'd from his eyes ;
He thought to build and drain with busy power —
But could not pass beyond the appointed goal ;
For the strong ward of one prophetic scroll
Had fray'd the horns of Ammon, and his hour
Drew nigh ; Time sped—the bitterns throng'd the strand,
And shook the site of his imperial dream
With booming, and the dropsy of the land
Orew from the untended waters ; evening's beam,
And morn's, look'd down upon a realm of fear.
With pools and mounds and marshes far and near.