Hellas in ruins
I walked among the ruins of Hellas' past ages Lying there, sad sun-beaten memorials of Time Wondering about men like Plato and Socrates Who like others enriched her with thoughts sublime. How frail to me seemed all human dreams of power, How unfruitful the imaginings of our brains When on Delos in the gathering twilight hour I reflected how little of all her greatness remains And tears flowed from the heart o'ersaddened That from afar loved this god-haunted land. What's remained of Hellas' years of grandeur That saved the world from barbarian tyranny? Will all-seeing Apollo in visions of the future Yet forsee sunken Delphi's renewed glory? Where once trod the most illustrious of warriors There is now utter silence and desolation: Time and neglect have doomed the god's sanctuaries And Poseidon too no longer rules o'er the seas, The icy breath of centuries has chilled Hellas' ardours, Her sacred grounds have sunk into sepulchral oblivion. Is Poseidon, once proud ruler of the four seas, Tamer of horses, and gatherer of pearls Still in command of the oarsmen's destinies, As of old when Odysseus buffetted by unruly swirls With head lifted to the clouds appealed to Chronus For calmer waves and gentler sail-hugging breeze? Or does he only rise in wrath from his slumberous Conch to snatch helpless souls from sinking ferries? Nothing remains but traces of half-buried greatness, Faint voices of headless gods and goddesses Fill the poet's loving heart with painful sadness For Hades now presides o'er a vale of distress Where the soul roams and roams for'er lost. Darkness has devoured Apollo's flickering light For Ares in blood-red armour arrayed with warlust Has filled the hearts of men marching into the Night! Claudio Wye November 2000
