Skip to content
Linespedia

Attila

Topics: classic

What though his feet were shod with sharp, fierce flame,     And death and ruin were his daily squires,     The Scythian, helped by Heavens thunders, came:     The time was ripe for Gods avenging fires.     Lo! loose, lewd trulls, and lean, luxurious liars     Had brought the fair, fine face of Rome to shame,     And made her one with sins beyond a name     That queenly daughter of imperial sires!     The blood of elders like the blood of sheep,     Was dashed across the circus. Once while din     And dust and lightnings, and a draggled heap     Of beast-slain men made lords with laughter leap,     Night fell, with rain. The earth, so sick of sin,     Had turned her face into the dark to weep.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"What though his feet were shod with sharp, fierce flame,..."

Henry Kendall's contribution to classic is further solidified by the brilliance found in "Attila"... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"I dread that street its haggard face     I have not seen for eight long years;     A mothers curse is on the place,     (Theres blood, my rea"

"The gums in the gully stand gloomy and stark,     A torrent beneath them is leaping,     And the wind goes about like a ghost in the dark     W"

"The hut was built of bark and shrunken slabs,     That wore the marks of many rains, and showed     Dry flaws wherein had crept and nestled rot."

"Where the pines with the eagles are nestled in rifts,     And the torrent leaps down to the surges,     I have followed her, clambering over the"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"I dread that street its haggard face     I have no..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.