Not us. Never us.
Horatio Algers, 'Voices of the Past' (1849)
The solemn voices of the past Fall on our ears in accents low, And many an ancient record tells The frailty of all things below.
The proudest monuments of art, Man fondly thought would live alway, When many a year shall pass, will fall, And yield at length to sure decay.
Where is thy power, imperial Rome, -- The power which thou wert wont to boast, When through thy streets in triumph marched Thy generals with an armed host?
Eternal city! whose vast sway Extended o'er a conquered world, While every nation suppliant saw Thy banner to the breeze unfurled!
No longer shall thy streets resound With a victorious army's tread, -- No longer at thy chariot wheels Shall foreign kings be suppliant led.
Gone is each vestige of thy pomp, Thou wast, but art no longer great; In thee we see of human pride And human power the common fate.
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