The captive Bird was gone;--to cliff or moor
Perchance had flown, delivered by the storm;
Or he had pined, and sunk to feed the worm:
Him found we not: but, climbing, a tall tower,
There saw, impaved with rude fidelity
Of art mosaic, in a roofless floor,
An Eagle with stretched wings, but beamless eye--
An Eagle that could neither wail nor soar.
Effigies of the Vanished, (shall I dare
To call thee so?) or symbol of past times
That towering courage, and the savage deeds
Those times were proud of, take Thou too a share,
Not undeserved, of the memorial rhymes
That animate my way where'er it leads!
Design, coding, and editing: Copyright © 1998 by James M. Garrett. All rights reserved.