Double Eagle

Poemata CIII

All who mimic Rome / in aquiline majesty / become Byzantium

Bird of mighty kings
Of kingly crowned head
Cry out from above
Shake mortal men with your dread;

Shake the plotting princes
Track the tyrants down
Glower with your eye
Master all them with your frown;

Little masters fleeing
From your taloned hand
Grasping without reach
Spreading their nets o'er the land;

Spread your wings about
And wheel in your gyre
O'er the crumbled farms
Cities consumed in their fire;

And consumed the corn
Of posterity
Save the golden sheaf
Rescue the sons of the free;

Loose the arrows held
That going they may fly
Come as comes the squall
Lightning which courses the sky!

In the course of things
The fire we must renew
Head you had but one
Rising up now become two!

Author’s note: Enjoy the voiceover this time! It really sells the content.