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The Ruins Of Balaclava

Topics: classic

Oh, thankless Crimean land! in ruin laid             Are now the castles that were once your pride!     Here serpents and the owls from daylight hide,             And robbers arm them for the nightly raid.     Upon the lettered marble boasts are made,             Brave words on battered arms in gold descried,     And broken splendor years have scattered wide,             Beside the dead who made them are arrayed.     The Greek set shining, columned marble here.             The Latin put the Mongol horde to flight,     And Mussulmans prayed eastward morn and night.             The owl and vulture of dark wing and drear     Are fluttering like black banners overhead             In cities where the pest piles high the dead.

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"Oh, thankless Crimean land! in ruin laid..."

"The Ruins Of Balaclava" is a quintessential example of Adam Bernard Mickiewicz's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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"The reverent Mussulman bends low to greet         ..."

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