On the hallowed bourne, on the Nile’s last bound:
We toiled side by side, for the hope was sweet
To engrave our names on the Rock of Time;
On the Holy Hill to implant our feet
Where enfaned sits Fame o’er the earth sublime;
And now rose the temple before our eyes,
We had paid the price, we had plucked the prize;
When up stood the Shadow betwixt us twain—
Had the dusky goddess bequeathed her ban?—
And the ice of death through every vein