Childe Harold's Pilgrimage 2-84
CANTO THE SECOND.
 
LXXXIV.

When riseth Lacedæmon’s hardihood,
When Thebes Epaminondas rears again,
When Athens’ children are with hearts endued,
When Grecian mothers shall give birth to men,
Then mayst thou be restored; but not till then.
A thousand years scarce serve to form a state;
An hour may lay it in the dust: and when
Can man its shattered splendour renovate,
Recall its virtues back, and vanquish Time and Fate?

George Gordon Byron, Lord Byron (1788-1824) 
ByronLong