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FERVOUR They say beautiful were those times When in a golden pillar rose the sacred flames And Rome looked to white virgins for protection: Who sat, like a Senate, with the Caesars. Meanwhile, the Druids and dark Lithuanian hordes Cursed the sin-laden goat - their brows Gilded with a living torch, yet the sacred flame Ended like all gifts which from Heaven came : History followed legendary ages And holy fire ceased to guide the sages. (We - by contrast - have safety matches cheap: Hold one up properly - depress its tip And rub against your shoe - a flame will leap. A Turk takes the coiled hookah to his lip.) |