106 MACAULAY
But with a crash like thunder
Fell every loosened beam, And, like a dam, the mighty wreck
Lay right athwart the stream : And a long shout of triumph
Rose from the walls of Rome, As to the highest turret-tops
Was splashed the yellow foam.
And, like a horse unbroken
When first he feels the rein, The furious river struggled hard,
And tossed his tawny mane; And burst the curb, and bounded,
Rejoicing to be free; And whirling down, in fierce career, Battlement, and plank, and pier,
Rushed headlong to the sea.
FATHER TIBER
Alone stood brave Horatius,
But constant still in mind; Thrice thirty thousand foes before,
And the broad flood behind. 'Down with him! ' cried false Sextus,
With a smile on his pale face. 'Now yield thee,' cried Lars Porsena,
'Now yield thee to our grace.'
Round turned he, as not deigning Those craven ranks to see;
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