Tempora Acta by Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st earl of Lytton. Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. 1895. A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Tempora Acta

Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st earl of Lytton (1831–91)

From “Babylonia”


O, FOR the times which were (if any
Time be heroic) heroic indeed!
When the men were few,
And the deeds to do
Were mighty, and many,	5
And each man in his hand held a noble deed.
Now the deeds are few,
And the men are many,
And each man has, at most, but a noble need.