A Classic Ode
Oh, limpid stream of Tyrus, now I hear
The pulsing wings of Armageddon’s host,
Clear as a colcothar and yet more clear—
(Twin orbs, like those of which the Parsees boast;)
Down in thy pebbled deeps in early spring
The dimpled naiads sport, as in the time
When Ocidelus with untiring wing
Drave teams of prancing tigers, ’mid the chime
Of all the bells of Phicol. Scarcely one
Peristome veils its beauties now, but then—
Like nascent diamonds, sparkling in the sun,
Or sainfoin, circinate, or moss in marshy fen.
Loud as the blasts of Tubal, loud and strong,
Sweet as the songs of Sappho, aye more sweet;
Long as the spear of Arnon, twice as long,
What time he hurled it at King Pharaoh’s feet.
Charles Battell Loomis.