ROBERT LEADER
CARTHAGE
Proud Carthage
Where is your shadow now?
Rome overshadowed you
And even Rome is gone.
The stars still wheel the sky,
That watched you fall and die,
And cared as little for the fall of Rome.
Your ships that ruled the seas
And all the sea-fringed lands,
Even their bones have perished
Beneath the waves and sands,
And still the endless tide,
Where once your ships did ride,
Rolls on,
And barely saw you go.
The wind that filled your sails
And carried far your fame,
Still furl the white-froth clouds
That flaunt above the main.
Carthage is past, and Rome is sped,
Mightier empires yet have fled.
And still
The winds remain.
Where pride Carthage?
Lost beneath the ruins of Rome,
Unremembered by the heedless stars
Forgotten by the careless seas,
Dust-cloaked by the scornful wind
Where pride Carthage?
Where power?
Glory?
Fame?
Oh proud Carthage,
Where is your shadow now?