Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Greece and Turkey in Europe: Vol. XIX. 1876–79.
Corinth
By Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton (1809–1885)On Leaving Greece
I
The turret-gate of Nature’s citadel,
Where once again, from slavery’s thick abyss
Strangely delivered, Grecian warriors dwell.
I watched the bosom of Parnassus swell,
I traced Eleusis, Athens, Salamis,
And that rude fane below, which lives to tell
Where reigned the city of luxurious bliss.
Within the maze of great antiquity
My spirit wandered tremblingly along;
As one who with rapt ears to a wild song
Hearkens some while, then knows not whether he
Has comprehended all its melody,
So in that parting hour was it with Greece and me.