To Margaret Anglin
By George Sterling
The tears of old defeats are in your eyes,
The trumpets of old victories in your voice;
In you the Grecian yesterdays rejoice
And Rome sends up her eagles in the skies.
An echo of forgotten battle-cries,
Caught up by you, is vibrant in the heart,
And in the magic sessions of your art
Again the world is dipped in royal dyes.
Sister in soul to hero and to king,
Your mind has traversed that enormous night
To which the broken swords and crowns were cast.
And ancient dooms of which the poets sing
Resound in you, revealing to our sight
The terror and the beauty of the Past
Originally titled, "Medea"