I MUSE among these silent fanes br Whose spacious darkness guards your dust; br Around me sleep the hoary plains br That hold your ancient wars in trust. br br I pause, my dreaming spirit hears, br Across the wind's unquiet tides, br The glimmering music of your spears, br The laughter of your royal brides. br br In vain, O Kings, doth time aspire br To make your names oblivion's sport, br While yonder hill wears like a tier br The ruined grandeur of your fort. br br Though centuries falter and decline, br Your proven strongholds shall remain br Embodied memories of your line, br Incarnate legends of your reign. br br O Queens, in vain old Fate decreed br Your flower-like bodies to the tomb; br Death is in truth the vital seed br Of your imperishable bloom br br Each new-born year the bulbuls sing br Their songs of your renascent loves; br Your beauty wakens with the spring br To kindle these pomegranate groves.