THE WHITE LIGHTS
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BROADWAY, 1906) When in from Delos came the goldThat held the dream of Pericles,When first Athenian ears were toldThe tumult of Euripides,When men met Aristophanes,Who fledged them with immortal quills--Here, where the time knew none of these,There were some islands and some hills. When Rome went ravening to seeThe sons of mothers end their days,When Flaccus bade LeuconoëTo banish her Chaldean ways,When first the pearled, alembic phraseOf Maro into music ran--Here there was neither blame nor praiseFor Rome, or for the Mantuan. When Avon, like a faery floor,Lay freighted, for the eyes of One,With galleons laden long beforeBy moonlit wharves in Avalon--Here, where the white lights have begunTo seethe a way for something fair,No prophet knew, from what was done,That there was triumph in the air.
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