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The monastery , Al Dier, Petra , Jordan
Petra
by John William Burgon (1845)
It seems no work of Man's creative hand,
By labor wrought as wavering fancy planned ;
But from the rock as if by magic grown,
Eternal, silent, beautiful, alone !
Not virgin white- like that old Doric Shrine,
where erst Athena held her rites divine;
Not saintly grey , like many a minster fane,
That crowns the hill and consecrates the plain ;
But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,
That first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;
The hues of youth upon a brow of woe,
Which man deemed old two thousand years ago.
Match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,
A rose-red city half as old as time
photo by
The monastery , Al Dier, Petra , Jordan
photo by
Royal Tombs
