Page:Poems Jones.djvu/20

CANTO I.

I.
HEN first Athena's wind-borne arrows sang
 Through Acta's clouds and down its ranges grand,
At once to life her symbol olive sprang,
 And Terra hailed her goddess of the land:
 But mighty Neptune rushed upon the strand,
(Far-off the firm hills, trembling, felt the shock!)
 His whirling trident left the sinewy hand,
It struck and tarried, vibrant in the rock,
And crested billows there did rise and round it flock.

II.
"Behold!" he cried, "mine are the rugged vales;
 The fearful cliffs my dread approach attend;
Up the green slopes my foam-white sea-bird sails;