With
the dragon defeated
Athens
was left to grow and prosper.
It
turned into a great and shining polis.
A
flame of democracy to light the rest of the world
With
Athena smiling down
In
her golden temple.
Many
other poets
Came
to the land of Athena
Singing
her praises.
Greece
grew rich in trade
They
grew rich in freedom
They
grew rich in culture
They
grew rich in thought
Aeschylus
begot Sophocles
Who
begot Euripides
Who
begot Aristophanes.
People
came to Athens to speak their minds
Discussing
their world and all things in it.
Socrates
who drank the hemlock
Begot
Plato who wrote the Republic
Plato
begot Aristotle who taught the man who punished of Persia.
History
gave Herodotus his muse.
Pericles,
the statesman,
The
great orator
Came
to Athens
Standing
among his people for forty years
Speaking
like a lion.
Preaching
Pan-Hellenism
Showing
off his Apennine son to the west
Inviting
others to come help raise him.
Bringing
peace for thirty years.
He
reformed his government
Molding
it like a lump of clay.
Leading
the infant
To
new political maturity.
He
helped Athena’s imperial grasp to spread out into the Aegean.
Becoming
a pillar in the temple of democracy.
Pericles
was exalted by the people.
Elected
many times.
He
became the embodiment of the Athenian Golden Age
As
Delean gold was moved to his “high city”
Stored
in Athena’s house
He
heard the rumblings of war to the south.
When
he died
Peace
died with him.
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