To greet the first faint flushes of the morn,—

The obelisks that rose in lofty grandeur

From their stony beds—the sphynxes gaunt and grim,

With unsolved riddles on their lips—and all

The bright creation’s painters art and sculptors

Skill had gathered in those regal halls, where mirth

And dance, and revelry, and song had chased

With careless feet the bright and fleeting hours.

He was leaving all; but no regrets came

Like a shadow o’er his mind, for he had felt