The smiting of your brows the plash of oars,
Wafting the boat, to Acheron"s dim shores
That passeth ever, with its darkened sail,
On its uncharted voyage and sunless way,
Far from thy beams, Apollo, god of day--
The melancholy bark
Bound for the common bourn, the harbour of the dark!
Look up, look yonder! from the home
Antigone, Ismene come,
On the last, saddest errand bound,
To chant a dirge of doleful sound,
With agony of equal pain
Above their brethren slain!
Their sister-bosoms surely swell,
Heart with rent heart according well
In grief for those who fought and fell!
Yet--ere they utter forth their woe--
We must awake the rueful strain
To vengeful powers, in realms below,
And mourn hell"s triumph o"er the slain!
