Classic Poem

In the scorching sun amid the bricks we languish,
And no golden ransom cometh o'er the foam;
We are slaves in utter misery and anguish,
Left unshielded by the generals of Rome.

We are doomed by mighty beasts to be down-trampled,
Or upon a hideous cross to shriek and rot,
If to save us for our valor unexampled
Our companions from the Forum hurry not.

We were captured in the fierce heart of the battle,
But no warrior brought a pallor to our cheeks;
We withstood the many darts that smite and rattle,
We were terrorized by no Numidian shrieks.

But our blood forsook us when those beasts Titanic,
Those ponderous monsters, trod our legions down,
And our gods deserted us in hideous panic,
While we battled for our citadel's renown!

When the sacred band of Megara assaulted
Our unbroken lines with many a savage cry,
We defied their power and all their gods exalted,
And like heroes we were jubilant to die!

But we war not with strange monsters and with devils,
To the gleam of tusks we dare not trust our eyes,
When a fierce and snorting brute in armor levels
Half a legion to the dust before it dies!

Man to man in equal battle we fight gravely:
Lance to lance, and sword to sword, we know no fears;
We repel attack and urge our chargers bravely
Through a maze of shields and labyrinths of spears!

Oh great Rome! Oh mother-city! strike, and spare us
From ignoble death upon these arid sands!
To thy walls impregnable in triumph bear us,
Place our captured glaives once more within our hands!