The dust of Carthage and the dust <br />Of Babel on the desert wold, <br />The loves of Corinth, and the lust, <br />Orchomenos increased with gold; <br />The town of Jason, over-bold, <br />And Cherson, smitten in her prime - <br />What are they but a dream half-told? <br />Where are the cities of old time? <br /> <br />In towns that were a kingdom's trust, <br />In dim Atlantic forests' fold, <br />The marble wasteth to a crust, <br />The granite crumbles into mould; <br />O'er these--left nameless from of old - <br />As over Shinar's brick and slime, <br />One vast forgetfulness is roll'd - <br />Where are the cities of old time? <br /> <br />The lapse of ages, and the rust, <br />The fire, the frost, the waters cold, <br />Efface the evil and the just; <br />From Thebes, that Eriphyle sold, <br />To drown'd Caer-Is, whose sweet bells toll'd <br />Beneath the wave a dreamy chime <br />That echo'd from the mountain-hold, - <br />'Where are the cities of old time?' <br /> <br />ENVOY. <br /> <br />Prince, all thy towns and cities must <br />Decay as these, till all their crime, <br />And mirth, and wealth, and toil are thrust <br />Where are the cities of old time.<br /><br />Andrew Lang<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ballade-of-the-dead-cities/
