Art and Archaeology, Vol. 4 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Art and Archaeology, Vol. 4<br><br>Athena<br><br>Hail, Athena! Proud daughter of a noble race divine!<br>Enthroned upon thy sacred hill whose splendor once did shine<br>On all the world around. Unrivalled on that lovely throne,<br>Thy beauty dimmed the luster of the glorious Parthenon,<br><br>The marvel of all ages past - that matchless temple rare,<br>Which held the pearl of Hellas, thy majestic form so fair<br>Wrought fine of gold and ivory, that Phidias did make live<br>With touch divine, which his great soul alone knew how to give.<br><br>I approach thy sacred temple and in silence bow my head,<br>And hear again the echo of illustrious footsteps dead,<br>I stand before the stately pile of Doric columns old,<br>On which the dying sunlight falls and turns them into gold.<br><br>The sculptured gods and heroes which its pediment did fill,<br>Now lie in exile far away in England cold and chill.<br>Confined within those gloomy walls, their spirit ever sighs<br>To be restored to Hellas; and beneath her azure skies<br><br>To rest once more, and watch the clouds that drift like rosy dreams<br>Across a sky of turquoise hue, where mist of violet gleams.<br>Where silvery mountains bend their slope towards a sea of blue,<br>And perfumed winds caress their brows of classic beauty pure.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.