Caesar

By Francis Saltus Saltus (1849–1889)

(Born in Rome, July 12, 100 B.C.)

THY marvelous genius, perfect as the sun,

Gave light and vigor to the Roman gloom;

Europe to hold thy legions had not room;

Thy boundless mind craved worlds to overrun.

The will that shrank not at the Rubicon,

Could in grave council virtues new assume,

And while thy glory on the earth did bloom,

Proud nations hailed the grand deeds that hadst done.

Thy clarion name will to all men recall

The lofty soul, the valor undismayed!

We see thee battling ’mid the groves of Gaul,

And when in robes Imperial arrayed,

Near Pompey’s threatening marble thou didst fall,

Supremely scorning thy assassins’ blade!