Villanelle of Change

Since Persia fell at Marathon,     The yellow years have gathered fast:   Long centuries have come and gone.   And yet (they say) the place will don     A phantom fury of the past,   Since Persia fell at Marathon;   And as of old, when Helicon     Trembled and swayed with rapture vast   (Long centuries have come and gone),  This ancient plain, when night comes on,    Shakes to a ghostly battle-blast,  Since Persia fell at Marathon.  But into soundless Acheron    The glory of Greek shame was cast:  Long centuries have come and gone,  The suns of Hellas have all shone,    The first has fallen to the last:—  Since Persia fell at Marathon,  Long centuries have come and gone.

Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date.

The lyrical form of this poem is villanelle.1.

Marathon: town on a plain in Attica north of Athens on the Aegeansea where Miltiades defeated the Persian army in 490 B.

C.7.

Helicon: mountain in Greece near the Gulf of Corinth.13.

Acheron: river in Hades.16.

Hellas:

Greece.