Mounted the sky, and light possessed the land,

Then from the Greeks a mighty chant was borne,

Triumphant, to our ears, and every cliff

Of sea-girt Salamis pealed back the strain.

And fear possessed us every one, O Queen,

And staggering doubt; for not as if in flight

Rose the great pæan then among the Greeks,

But as when brave men cheer themselves for fight.

Then the heart-kindling trumpet spake, and then

We heard the thunder of a thousand oars

That swung together at the steersman’s cry,

And all at once the sounding furrows smote.

Then soon full clear their charging line we saw,

The right wing leading, and the main array

A little after; and ere long we heard

Such cries as these: “On, children of the Greek!

Now for your fatherland, for freedom now!

For wife and child, and for your fathers’ homes!

Now for the temples of your fathers’ Gods!

To-day we fight for all!” So cried they still,

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