O'er the minds of other sages held so absolute a sway;
Panels, which Apelles used, with all the colours worn away;
Witty jests of Periander; bulletins of Alexander;
Systems of Anaximander; fossil Pterodactyles found
In the old Homeric strata; speeches that could once create a
New soul in a dying state, or burst the chains a tyrant bound;
Once loved arts and cherished customs; moulder on the dusty ground.
To the higher rooms approaching, still we find the new encroaching
On the old; the Moderns poaching coolly on the Ancients' land.
Niebuhr's stern determination many an ancient reputation