Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Greece and Turkey in Europe: Vol. XIX. 1876–79. | | | Turkey in Europe, and the Principalities
Dardanelles (Hellespont) | | Xerxes | | Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) |
| | (From The Vanity of Human Wishes)
IN gay hostility and barbarous pride, | |
| With half mankind embattled at his side, | |
| Great Xerxes comes to seize the certain prey, | |
| And starves exhausted regions in his way; | |
| Attendant Flattery counts his myriads o’er, | 5 |
| Till counted myriads soothe his pride no more; | |
| Fresh praise is tried till madness fires his mind, | |
| The waves he lashes, and enchains the wind; | |
| New powers are claimed, new powers are still bestowed, | |
| Till rude resistance lops the spreading god; | 10 |
| The daring Greeks deride the martial show, | |
| And heap their valleys with the gaudy foe; | |
| The insulted sea with humbler thoughts he gains, | |
| A single skiff to speed his flight remains; | |
| The incumbered oar scarce leaves the dreaded coast | 15 |
| Through purple billows and a floating host. | | | | |
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