I listen, half in thought to hear The Roman trumpet blow-- I search for glint of helm and spear Amidst the forest bough: And armour rings, and voices swell-- I hear the legion's tramp, And mark the lonely sentinel Who guards the lonely camp. IV. Methinks I have no other home, No other hearth to find; For nothing save the thought of Rome Is stirring in my mind. And all that I have heard or dreamed, And all I had forgot, Are rising up, as though they seemed The household of the spot. V. And all the names that Romans knew Seem just as known to me, As if I were a Roman too-- A Roman born and free: And I could rise at Cæsar's name, As though it were a charm To draw sharp lightning from the tame, And brace the coward's arm. VI. And yet, if yonder sky were blue, And earth were sunny gay, If nature wore the summer hue That decked her yesterday, The mound, the trench, the rampart's space, Would move me nothing more Than many a sweet sequestred place That I have marked before. VII. I could not feel the breezes bring Rich odours from the trees; I could not hear the linnets sing, And think on themes like these. The painted insects as they pass In swift and motley strife, The very lizard in the grass Would scare me back to life. VIII. Then is the past so gloomy now That it may never bear The open smile of nature's brow, Or meet the sunny air? I know not that--but joy is power, However short it last; And joy befits the present hour, If sadness fits the past. DANUBE AND THE EUXINE "Danube, Danube! wherefore com'st thou Red and raging to my caves? Wherefore leap thy swollen waters Madly through the broken waves? Wherefore is thy tide so sullied With a hue unknown to me; Wherefore dost thou bring pollution To the old and sacred sea?"