THE RUMINAL FIG TREE.
(The Ruminal Fig Tree, near Curtian Lake, in the Forum at Rome, having been touched by lightning, was held sacred.—"Know that the lightning sanctifies below."—Byron's Childe Harold.)
Once in the clays of Rome's renown,
When laurel did the victor crown,
Within the Forum's classic shade
A fig tree reared its verdant head;
Among its boughs, by Curtian lake,
Gay birds did sweetest music make.
When laurel did the victor crown,
Within the Forum's classic shade
A fig tree reared its verdant head;
Among its boughs, by Curtian lake,
Gay birds did sweetest music make.
But storm-clouds gathered in the sky,
The tempest's voice rose hoarse and high;
Both man and beast before it quailed—
Then bolt from heaven the tree assailed;
And from that hour a sacred thing
Was that scarred tree by Curtian spring.
The tempest's voice rose hoarse and high;
Both man and beast before it quailed—
Then bolt from heaven the tree assailed;
And from that hour a sacred thing
Was that scarred tree by Curtian spring.
Doth not thy memory restore
A rural spot in days of yore;
Perchance from moonlight walk returning,
Hope's light undimmed in Youth's lamp burning—
Some lightning-scathed and withered tree,
Whose hollow trunk bore thought for thee?
A rural spot in days of yore;
Perchance from moonlight walk returning,
Hope's light undimmed in Youth's lamp burning—
Some lightning-scathed and withered tree,
Whose hollow trunk bore thought for thee?
