Classic Poem

WRITTEN AT THE TIME OF PRINCE LEOPOLD'S PROPOSED ELECTION FOR THE THRONE OF GREECE .

Now we may roam along thy flowery dales,
Fair Greece! and where each ancient fountain flows;
Now may we pluck at will the lily and rose,
That bloom so sweetly down thy noble vales.
How strange to hear that Attic nightingale
Of old K OLONOS , dear to thee and us!
Or haply catch — if listening may avail
To catch — the lonely voice of oedipus,
Or wail of choral sorrow from the Past
For wild Medea's wrath. On plain and wold
Thy fanes are free to crumble undefaced,
For Britain's future poets to behold,
That they may keep that sum of memories fast
Which haunts thy ruins from the days of old!