The House Of Caesar
Yea — we have thought of royal robes and red.
Had purple dreams of words we utterèd;
Have lived once more the moment in the brain
That stirred the multitude to shout again.
All done, all fled, and now we faint and tire —
The Feast is over and the lamps expire!
"Yea — we have launched a ship on sapphire seas,
And felt the steed between the gripping knees;
Have breathed the evening when the huntsman brought
The stiffening trophy of the fevered sport —
Have crouched by rivers in the grassy meads
To watch for fish that dart amongst the weeds.
All well, all good — so hale from sun and mire —
The Feast is over and the lamps expire!
Yet — we have thought of Love as men may think,
Who drain a cup because they needs must drink;
Have brought a jewel from beyond the seas
To star a crown of blue anemones.
All fled, all done — a Cæsar's brief desire —
The Feast is over and the lamps expire!
Yea — and what is there that we have not done,
The Gods provided us 'twixt sun and sun?
Have we not watched an hundred legions thinned,
And crushed and conquered, succorèd and sinned?
Lo — we who moved the lofty gods to ire —
The Feast is over and the lamps expire!
Yea — and what voice shall reach us and shall give
Our earthly self a moment more to live?
What arm shall fold us and shall come between
Our failing body and the grasses green?
And the last heart that beats beneath this head —
Shall it be heard or unrememberèd?
All dim, all pale — so lift me on the pyre —
The Feast is over and the lamps expire!"
Viola Garvin