Chapter IV

Thus rovers came, and dark-skinned traders planned
New villages by fertile pasture lures
In lonely valleys; by succeeding hands
Minoan vases, Mycenean ewers
Were fashioned; then the tribes fought hill by hill,
And coast by coast, for wealth, till Knossos’ tombs
And Tiryns’ palaces had dawning skill
Of goldsmith and of craftsman in their glooms.
The legends grew, the wooden statues raised
New, mystic Cults. Where rams and young kids grazed
Distaffs sprang up, and primitive sheep-shearers
Brought snowy fleece to clothe the Greek Wayfarers.