Page:Anthology of Magazine Verse (1921).djvu/221

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BRONZE TRUMPETS AND SEA WATER On Turning Latin Verse Into English Verse
Alembics turn to stranger thingsStrange things: but never while we liveShall magic turn this bronze that singsTo singing water in a sieve.
The trumpeteers of Caesar's guardSalute his rigorous bastionsWith ordered bruit: the bronze is hardThough there is silver in the bronze.
Our mutable tongue is like the sea,Curled wave, and shattering thunder-fit:Dangle in strings of sand shall beWho smooths the ripples out of it!
The New RepublicElinor Wylie


THE TORTOISE IN ETERNITY
Within my house of patterned hornI sleep in such a bedAs men may keep before they're bornAnd after they are dead.
Sticks and stones may break their bones,And words may make them bleed:There is not one of them who ownAn armour to his need.
Tougher than hide or lozenged barkSnow-storm and thunder proof,And quick with sun and thick with darkIs this my darling roof.

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