Chapter V

Delphi, Eleusis, guided human awe
By mystic voices and by legend thrill;
Then, one by one, came templed porch and floor
Gleaming by sea or on some fir-crowned hill.
Far back in forest, or on Islands, rose
Transcendent loveliness of chiselled stone,
And in the secret shrine Artemis chose
To hear, or not to hear, the victim’s moan.
The entrails burned; worshippers at the feet
Of Gold-Apollo knew the saving-sweet
Comfort of God-in-life, evolved from terrors
Of Nature-forces by the Greek Wayfarers.