Classic Poem

But, if it were, how soon Jerusalem
Should front my homestead with her mountain-hold!
And ever-listening hills of Bethlehem
Report themselves in colours clear and bold!
Then would I summon here old Cheops' tomb,
With its broad base to flank my bordering wood —
A mighty phantom! pressing for the room
It holds in Egypt! next, with change of mood,
Fair Athens should be welcomed, and the rest
Of those immortal cities, one by one;
And, for my latest atmospheric guest,
I'd bid that crumbled mound from Babylon
Come looming up at sundown, with the moan
Of evening winds, and shadows from the west.