"To His Friend and Neighbor Dr. Thomas Taylor"

Go, search for Athens; her deserted ports,
Enter - a noiseless, solitary shore,
Where commerce once crowded the Athenian strand.
Trace her dark streets, her ruined shrines;
And wonder, where her glories shined.
Where are her orators, her sages, now?
Shattered her smouldering arches, her towers in dust,
But far less ruin’d, than her soul decayed.
Upon the mount where the muses once sung,
Sits the gruff Turkish captain and exacts
Harsh tribute! In the grove where Plato taught
A stupid Turk is preaching ignorance.

Syned Davis
1744