Classic Poem

From the Wind clever Hermes learned
To discourse on the mated reeds,
And the hearts of the Olympians burned
As they yearned
For sweet love or the passion of deeds.

On the syrinx the shepherds played
As they rested at noon with their sheep
Underneath the plane-tree's shade
In the glade
Mid the mountain-silences deep.

And the Wind as he shepherded
The unresting flocks of the sky
Tost them tunes from far overhead
As he sped
And they learned from him rivalry.

Then a youth took the twisted horn
Which a ram had lost as he fought,
And the blast that he blew on that morn
Rang to warn
Of the prowling wolf that they sought.

And 'twas blown for a battle-call
When the shepherds went forth to fight,
And it shook the trophy-hung hall
To appall
The tyrant's insolent might.

And the Wind as he hastened past
Laughed with glee, for his was the breath
In the small as well as the vast
Trumpet-blast
Waking Life or summoning Death.