Helen

Judith Schrier
Brown University

Is Helen faithful, and the world at peace?
Then Troy still stands, and white haired Priam reigns.
In Greece, Orestes' parents watch with pride
Their son and daughters at their childish games.

Odysseus sleeps at home, all snugly wrapped
In blankets from his dear wife's busy loom,
While soldiers everywhere tend sheep,
Their thoughts unburdened by averted doom.

Woman and children pass their lives
Serene in love and safety, without dread,
And far away in Carthage, Dido's crown
Remains on that Queen's fair, untroubled head.

The fields of Greece are not neglected now,
But yield their proper harvest every fall.
What's Home, then? A blind old man,
Mumbling of nothing by a garden wall.