| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (18331908). An American Anthology, 17871900. 1900. |
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| 1023. The Sphinx Speaks |
| | | By Francis Saltus Saltus |
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| CARVED by a mighty race whose vanished hands | |
| Formed empires more destructible than I, | |
| In sultry silence I forever lie, | |
| Wrapped in the shifting garment of the sands. | |
| Below me, Pharaohs scintillating bands | 5 |
| With clashings of loud cymbals have passed by, | |
| And the eternal reverence of the sky | |
| Falls royally on me and all my lands. | |
| The record of the future broods in me; | |
| I have with worlds of blazing stars been crowned, | 10 |
| But none my subtle mystery hath known | |
| Save one, who made his way through blood and sea, | |
| The Corsican, prophetic and renowned, | |
| To whom I spake, one awful night alone! | |
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