86
Forcing the fair well-jointed blocks apart,
Rejoicing in the ruin they have wrought
As Colonnade and cornice nod and fall.
Themistius.(Looks up from a scroll he is reading):
May we not pity their insanity?
Whom factious Jews despise, deride, for us
Were worthy pity.
Theonöe.(Scornfully):
Nay, such pity is pityless!
Pity's for women, not for Gods or men.
Pity had never piled the pyramid
Or flung the Colosseon arch so high!
The great strong wise old world knew not of it,
Till dawn'd the day of this, her decadence.
Pity is baleful, like a noxious weed,
Springing where e'er the Galilean trode,
Stealthily spreading in the minds of men
