Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79. | | | | Mesopotamia: Nineveh | | Nineveh | | Nicholas Michell (1807–1880) |
| | (From Ruins of Many Lands)
MEET is the hour thy dreary site to see, | |
| City of darkness, vanished Nineveh! | |
| To trace the mounds that mark the barren plain, | |
| Where, veiled from view, tombed wonders yet remain! | |
| Yes, Ninus’ palace, where all glories shone, | 5 |
| And rose at once his sepulchre and throne; | |
| Thy far-encircling walls, and thousand towers, | |
| Baffling for ages Asia’s leaguered powers; | |
| The streets where princes drove their glittering cars, | |
| And Traffic’s sons were countless as the stars; | 10 |
| Arask’s vast shrine, where that dread warrior died, | |
| Whose banded myriads—boastful slaves of pride— | |
| Fell in one night, when Heaven’s own lightnings came, | |
| And Death’s pale angel waved her sword of flame, | |
| Are now but heaps, with rude wrecks scattered o’er, | 15 |
| That bear a language writ by man no more; | |
| Where scarce the hermit wild-flower deigns to blow, | |
| But coarse rank grass and plants of poison grow, | |
| And jackals lurk, and hooded serpents glide,— | |
| Monarchs! approach ye here, and bow your pride! | 20 |
| Empires! so strong to-day, like change await! | |
| And, laurelled conquerors! weep, and read your fate! | | | | |
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