And all that ancient opulence a dream.
Must a majestic rhythm of rise and fall
Conquer the peoples once so proud on earth?
Does man but march in circles, after all,
Playing his curious game of death and birth?
Or shall an ultimate nation, God’s own child,
Arise and rule, nor ever conquered be;
Untouched of time because, all undefiled,
She makes His ways her ways eternally?
—Richard Burton, The Century Magazine.