Villanelle of Change

Since Persia fell at Marathon,

    The yellow years have gathered fast:

  Long centuries have come and gone.

  And yet (they say) the place will don

    A phantom fury of the past,

  Since Persia fell at Marathon;

  And as of old, when Helicon

    Trembled and swayed with rapture vast

  (Long centuries have come and gone),

 This ancient plain, when night comes on,

   Shakes to a ghostly battle-blast,

 Since Persia fell at Marathon.

 But into soundless Acheron

   The glory of Greek shame was cast:

 Long centuries have come and gone,

 The suns of Hellas have all shone,

   The first has fallen to the last:—

 Since Persia fell at Marathon,

 Long centuries have come and gone.

Composition date is unknown - the above date represents the first publication date.The lyrical form of this poem is villanelle.1. Marathon: town on a plain in Attica north of Athens on the Aegeansea where Miltiades defeated the Persian army in 490 B.C.7. Helicon: mountain in Greece near the Gulf of Corinth.13. Acheron: river in Hades.16. Hellas: Greece.