Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Greece and Turkey in Europe: Vol. XIX. 1876–79.
From Marathon
By Charlotte Fiske Bates (1838–1916)J
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,
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;
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.