Memnon

Why dost thou hail with songful lips no more The glorious sunrise?—Why is Memnon mute, Whose voice was tuned as is the silvery flute When Thebes sat queenly by the Nile’s low shore? The chained slaves sweat no longer at the oar, No longer shrines are raised to man and brute, Yet dawn by dawn the sun thou didst salute Gives thee the greeting that it gave of yore. What nameless spell is on thee? Dost thou wait (Hoping and yearning through the years forlorn) The old-time splendor and the regal state, The glory and the power of empire shorn? Oh, break the silence deep, defying fate, And cry again melodious to the morn!