The Old Gods.

O ye gods, if you could tell us What ye are — if banned or blest — Ye that reigned of old in Hellas! Ye that ruled the radiant West! Old-born gods! The Past still flashes In the eyes of Greece and Rome; Ye are not mere dust and ashes Urned for all the years to come. Ye that ruled in heavenly places, And the faith of mortals won! Gods created by old races Perished from beneath the sun; Born of faith, and with it blended, Ye shall yet the world inspire Till the last breath has ascended From the latest altar fire. All the hopes and invocations Breathed by lips of heroes dead, All the genius of the nations Who the march of Freedom led — Though your temples broke and fell as Dusty fanes of little worth — These will keep you, gods of Hellas! Still alive upon the earth.