Served the Hebrew, the Persian, the most ancient Hindostanee,

Served the mound-raiser on the Mississippi—served those whose relics remain in Central America,

Served Albic temples in woods or on plains, with unhewn pillars, and the druids, and the bloody body laid in the hollow of the great stone,

Served the artificial clefts, vast, high, silent, on the snow-covered hills of Scandinavia,

Served those who, time out of mind, made on the granite walls rough sketches of the sun, moon, stars, ships, ocean-waves,

Served the paths of the irruptions of the Goths—served the pastoral tribes and nomads,

Served the incalculably distant Kelt—served the hardy pirates of the Baltic,

Served before any of those, the venerable and harmless men of Ethiopia,

Served the making of helms for the galleys of pleasure, and the making of those for war,

Served all great works on land, and all great works on the sea,

For the mediæval ages, and before the mediæval ages,

Served not the living only, then as now, but served the dead.

17. I see the European headsman,

He stands masked, clothed in red, with huge legs, and strong, naked arms,

And leans on a ponderous axe.