OUR HERITAGE.
“Retire within thyself, O mortal Man!”
Was the grand doctrine of the classic age,
From whence has come the imperishable page
Of rarest wisdom that the eye may scan.
The city that Augustus raised—nay, mighty Pan,
And all the wonders penned by bard and sage
Have vanished ’neath the unconquerable rage
Of rival factions since their doom began.
But we who live and look with rev’rent gaze
Across the awful space that marks their course,
May struggle with great odds to gain perforce
This heritage of mind from sundered days:
Or, with hearts athirst, mid barren ways,
Drink of ennobling life from such unfailing source.
B. F. D. Dunn.