To Arthur de Noe Walker (II)

Few verses, and those light, I send,
A paltry present to my friend.
Heroes and heroines none remain
Upon my wide Hellenic plain.
While many a weak unthrifty stem
Germinates in the place of them.
As in Atlantic woods, unsown
And not worth sowing, plants are grown
Where ancient forests high and grand
Tower'd over leagues of subject land.
To your protecting care I trust
The scraps you rescued from the dust.
Save, you who saved embattled men.
The feebler offspring of my pen.