Page:Poems Howard.djvu/32

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26
POEMS.
Here Xenophon's delightful maze
Allures the philologic mind,
Or Plato's facile, honeyed phrase
Ambitious youth their model find;
While Homer's bold hexameters,
And Virgil's matchless epic lines,
To Poesy's wild worshipers
Are sacred as their altar-shrines.

Thy bounds encircle forum-ground
Where embryonic Presidents
The key to statesmanship have found,
Or latent gift of eloquence;
While, promised guerdon of his dreams,
More radiant than kingly crown,
To many a bright aspirant, seems
The ermined robe, or surplice-gown.

Proud alma mater thou hast been
Of scores of earth's successful sons
Who, in life's broad arena, win
The plaudits of less favored ones;
Who toy with fame, and are beset
By honor and prosperity—
But never, never quite forget
Their love and reverence for thee.