Of fitful flame,—twin births of our gray brand

That 's sinking fast to ashes! I assert,

As sparkles want but fuel to expand

Into a conflagration no mere squirt

Will quench too quickly, so might Croisic strand,

Had Fortune pleased posterity to chowse,

Boast of her brace or beacons luminous.

CLIV

Did earlier Agamemnons lack their bard?

But later bards lacked Agamemnon too!