Troy Fell One Night Three Thousand Years Ago

Troy fell one night three thousand years ago When Lord Agamemnon led his Achaeans In a thousand black ships across the Aegean To breach its walls and to conquer in the glow From its flames and its fires, ’midst the dead and the dying, ‘Midst the sounds of the crashing and old women crying. Thus famed Ilios fell, so many years ago. Troy fell. And the Scamander ran red and the warriors died. Agamemnon killed all the men and enslaved the rest, And laughed with his generals and his high-born guests While the dead lay in heaps in the streets broad and wide, While a bard sang of a war both noble and just, While the towers with a sigh collapsed into dust, While mortals asked their gods “Why?” and no god replied. Troy fell. And the Achaeans sailed home with their plunder and women. And Troy was silent and the wind blew across her And buried her walls until the grass grew over, Until the site of Troy was forgotten by men, Until Troy lived on in only legend and mist, Until the ages passed and then, from the depths of Hisarlik, The lost walls of Troy saw the sunlight again.