Wild sounds of battle and fierce cries of pain,
Vague murmurs of dim hopes and dreams most rare,
A glitter of bright swords in sunlit air,
And desolate cities, ghastly with their slain;
In cloister cell, a vexed, imperious brain—
In hamlet rude, a face deep lined with care—
On lonesome seas, a soul all space would dare—
Some “learned churls” that did not live in vain;
Babylon and Nineveh, and radiant forms
Of marvelous beauty; Cleopatra's face
Set round with dented shields; brave chiefs, who died
Where serried legions met like clashing storms;
A useless fame, bought by death's cold embrace;
And fagot embers a charred stake beside.