Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Greece and Turkey in Europe: Vol. XIX. 1876–79.

Greece: Athens

The Parthenon

By James Gates Percival (1795–1856)

THIS rock was once the seat of pomp and power;

Here rest the chiefs of olden time,

And here the orator sublime

Shed on their willing ears his golden shower.

Here stood their temple in its beauty’s blaze,

When like a thing of light it rose,

And proudly on their dazzled foes

So brightly beamed, it quelled their daring gaze.

Here stood Minerva with her guardian shield,

And from her threatening lance

Shot such a lightning glance,

None dared to try the heaven-protected field.

Here genius, glory, piety, were shrined,

And hence that spirit flew,

Whose wing has hurried through

The darkened world, and fired the inglorious mind.