THE AGE OF BRONZE.
I.
The " good old times "—all times when old are good—
Are gone ; the present might be if they would ;
Great things have been, and are, and greater still
Want little of mere mortals but their will : i
A wider space, a greener field, is given
To those who play their " tricks before high heaven." 1
I know not if the angels weep, but men
Have wept enough — for what ? — to weep again !
II.
All is exploded — be it good or bad.
Reader ! remember when thou wert a lad,
Then Pitt was all ; or, if not all, so much,
His very rival almost deemed him such.2
We — we have seen the intellectual race
Of giants stand, like Titans, face to face —
Athos and Ida, with a dashing sea
Of eloquence between, which flowed all free.
As the deep billows of the Ægean roar
Betwixt the Hellenic and the Phrygian shore.
But where are they — the rivals ! a few feet
Of sullen earth divide each winding sheet.3
i. Want nothing of the little, but their will— [MS.]
1. [Measure for Measure, act ii. sc. 2, line l21.]
2. [Fox used to say, "I never want a word, but Pitt never wants the word."]
3. [The grave of Fox, in Westminster Abbey is within eighteen
inches of that of Pitt. Compare—
