Homer, thy song men liken to the sea br With all the notes of music in its tone, br With tides that wash the dim dominion br Of Hades, and light waves that laugh in glee br Around the isles enchanted; nay, to me br Thy verse seems as the River of source unknown br That glasses Egypt's temples overthrown br In his sky-nurtured stream, eternally. br br No wiser we than men of heretofore br To find thy sacred fountains guarded fast; br Enough, thy flood makes green our human shore, br As Nilus Egypt, rolling down his vast br His fertile flood, that murmurs evermore br Of gods dethroned, and empires in the past.