Evening star., 1928-03-04
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quickencd before such heroic har-
mony--moonlight and marble, serene
and eternal
| The PROSTATE columns. the shattered
capitals took shape and line and color.
My fancy saw them back in place Once
more the statues ranged along the por-
ticos; the gods returned from exile and
took their places on the pediments. An
Athenian procession with garlands arid
music moved up the marble stairs to do
honor to Athena for some we'll earned
victory. In imagery the Golden Age Of
Pcricles lived again.
/ Into this throng Of worshipcrs I. too.
must go: into the temple Bending low,
moving forward noisciessly. clinging to
! the shadows of block and battlcment.
watching for the figures Of night watch
men, I crept toward the Parthenon. The
massive steps were attained. A moving,
| half-veiled shadow. climbed them one
by one. and. unchallenged. reached the
refuge Of the marble forest.
What loveliness rose all about me,
On across the cleaning flagstones
slipped on tiptoe. The wall toward the
sea inside the portico was shattered,
J leaving receding stumps Of marble that
climbed like gigantic stairway TO the
cornices. On hands and knees pulled
&
reached the croWning stone. and could
stand and look back upon the en-
chanted picture.
! Never have faced scene that stir
red my very soul as deeply as this pic
ture Of the brooding. broken Parthenon
spread below me in the moonlight. The
sight of its haggard marble. It's butchered
glory made me faint and weak within.
A lump Of bitterness filled my throat
and a rage swept over me against the
Venetian vandals who had wanton,y
gutted tAis sublime Palace of Art.
With all its prostration. the Parthenon
Is still the most overpoweriflg ruin Ola
earth-overpoWering not from magni-
! tude or richness. but because of its Sc
rene and classic perfection of form. It's
| terrible beauty is intellectual. not SEN
sual. 1t was reared to glorify Athena,
! the Goddess Of Wisdom. It was the
idea of intelligence supreme expressed
! in marble
! From cold stone. the artistic giants
who built the Parthenon embodied the
spirit OF the Greek Fire" that has civil
lized the world In Pentelic marble
they wrought this immortal monumen:
to the Greek passion for knowledge, foT
culture and for freedom. In this moon
lit temple spreading in silver shades be-
low me- I beheld the supreme effort
of genius in the pursuit of beauty" the
triumph of the ideal by which men once
were able to become like gods
One need not look far in the Acrop-
oils. since every time-Eorn block has
beauty and every inch OF it has mem
ories. The spirits OF half the ir1mcr-
talitieS Of earth" haunt this hailowed
scene Here Pericles stood. there
Phdias t-od; here Socrates taught
philosophy to young Plato. there Alex
ander the Great piled his captured
shields. / ..carcely knew which way tC
turn. In the dilemma my eye caught
sight, hundred yards away. Of the ex-
quisite little Porch Of the Maidens.
one Of the most delicate and beautiful
creations Of supremely artistic age.
! In a -shadowed corner Of the
port!co stopped to worship moment
at the feet OF the ghostly maidens
How sweet it was to relax amid such
.oveliness In the intensity Of the day
! had not thought TO rest. but now q
dreamy laSsitude came over me, and
half forgot the world. The breeze from
Mount Hymettus. like a soft careSs
whispered songs Of bees and pine trees
mu-murings. All the earth. outside my
! shadow. was gowned in silver mystery
Touched by It's hypnotic spell driftsd
with the moonlight into half-haunted
! dreams
/ Sadly I.crept away-baek TO my dark
recess. had waited q moment too
long. so ens,aved was by the charm,
, OF the marble uiaidens When moved