The Ballad of St. Barbara

" When the long grey lines came flooding upon Paris in the plain, We stood and drank of the last free air we never could taste again: They had led us back from the lost battle, to halt we knew not where And stilled us; and our gaping guns were dumb with our despair. The grey tribes flowed for ever from the infinite lifeless lands And a Norman to a Breton spoke, his chin upon his hands. "There was an end to Ilium; and an end came to Rome; And a man plays on a painted stage in the land that he calls home; Arch after arch of triumph, but floor beyond falling floor, That lead to a low door at last; and beyond there is no door." And the Breton to the Norman spoke, like a small child spoke he, And his sea-blue eyes were empty as his home beside the sea: "There are more windows in one house than there are eyes to see, There are more doors in a man"s house, but God has hid the key: Ruin is a builder of windows; her legend witnesseth.."