Ebony and Crystal/The Absence of the Muse
THE ABSENCE OF THE MUSE
O, Muse, where lingerest thou? In any landOf Saturn, lit with moons and nenuphars?Or in what high metropolis of Mars—Hearing the gongs of dire, occult command,And bugles blown from strand to unknown strandOf continents embattled in old warsThat primal kings began? Or on the barsOf ebbing seas in Venus, from the sandOf shattered nacre with a thousand hues,Dost pluck the blossoms of the purple wrackAnd roses of blue coral for thy hair?Or, flown beyond the roaring Zodiac,Translatest thou the tale of earthly newsAnd earthly songs to singers of Altair?