The Ravaged Villa

 by: Herman Melville (1819-1891)

IN shards the sylvan vases lie,

Their links of dance undone;

And brambles wither by the brim,

Choked Fountain of the Sun!

The spider in the laurel spins,

The weed exiles the flower,

And, flung to kiln, Apollo's bust

Makes lime for Mammon's tower.