Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Greece and Turkey in Europe: Vol. XIX. 1876–79. | | | | Greece: Marathon | | From Marathon | | Charlotte Fiske Bates (1838–1916) |
| | | JUST these two words beneath a little spray | |
| Still freshly green, and tipped with brilliant red; | |
| What wonder should they snatch my faith away? | |
| Such noble birth! can it be credited? | |
| Ay! this has sprung from Glory’s very heart, | 5 |
| Who gave it to me plucked it from the mound; | |
| I see and press what somehow had its part | |
| With those who made the spot immortal ground. | |
| No stony relic; daily breath it drew | |
| In airs that blew two thousand years ago; | 10 |
| Over the deathless hundred ninety-two, | |
| The green of victory budded into glow. | |
| ’T is a rich life-drop that I look upon, | |
| The ruddy fruit of blood-sown Marathon. | | | | |
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