Xix

The Hittite is no longer. Babylon Has gone into the silence of the sand. Mirage-like in the Syrian desert stand The pillars of Palmyra. Greece is gone. And where for generations softly shone The drowsy Pax Romana, sea and land Mouth at the fragile landmarks Hadrian planned. The State departs for ever: Man lives on. And England, would’st thou live, it can but be As thou, a spirit, in the restlessness Of thine abundant strength on land and sea Becom’st the spirit’s vehicle and dress, Attaining in the measure of thy span The spirit’s measure in the Perfect Man.

HESEPE, 21st July