When the Assault Was Intended to the City

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     CAPTAIN or Colonel or Knight in Arms
     Whose chance on these defenceless doors may seize
     If deed of honour did thee ever please
     Guard them and him within protect from harms.
     He can requite thee; for he knows the charms
     That call fame on such gentle acts as these
     And he can spread thy name o'er lands and seas
     Whatever clime the sun's bright circle warms.
     Lift not thy spear against the Muses' bower:
     The great Emathian conqueror bid spare
     The house of Pindarus when temple and tower
     Went to the ground; and the repeated air
     Of sad Electra's poet had the power
     To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare.