Alexander at Thebes
Surely
the young King must have been blind to pity
As
he spoke the order: ‘Destroy Thebes utterly’.
The
old general gazed and knew this place to be
No
better than he remembered it, a haughty city.
Put
it all to the fire! There were wonders –
gate
And
tower and temple everywhere the King searched,
But
suddenly his face brightened with a thought:
‘Be
sure that the house of the Poet is not touched’.
Anna Akhmatova, Leningrad
Wonderful!
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