Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Greece and Turkey in Europe: Vol. XIX. 1876–79.
Marathon
By Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton (1809–1885)I
Thus grave, thus streakt with thunderlight, of yore
The small Athenian troop rushed onward, more
As Bacchanals than men about to die.
How weak that massive, motley enemy
Seemed to those hearts, full-fed on that high lore,
Which, for their use, in his melodious store,
Old Homer had laid up immortally.
Thus Marathon was Troy,—thus here again
They were at issue with the barbarous East,
And favoring Gods spoke out, and walkt the plain;
And every man was an anointed priest
Of Nemesis, empoweréd to chastise
The rampant insolence that would not be made wise.