The Marbles Stay

I was delighted to learn that talks about returning the Elgin Marbles to Greece have collapsed, apparently because the Greek government is insisting the return must be permanent, and the British Museum is (fortunately) prevented by law from giving away its treasures. Of course the marbles should stay where they are, if only because they inspired this great sonnet by Keats – On Seeing the Elgin MarblesMy spirit is too weak—mortality Weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep, And each imagined pinnacle and steepOf godlike hardship tells me I must dieLike a sick eagle looking at the sky. Yet ’tis a gentle luxury to weep That I have not the cloudy winds to keepFresh for the opening of the morning’s eye.Such dim-conceived glories of the brain Bring round the heart an undescribable feud;So do these wonders a most dizzy pain, That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rudeWasting of old time—with a billowy main— A sun—a shadow of a magnitude.