Seven Wonders of the World

Recite the Seven Wonders of the World
demanded my peculiar professor,
as if they were a list to be unfurled.
Are any of these wonders greater, lesser,
depending on their placement in our lists?
Atop it, the Great Pyramid of Giza,
the wonder that continues, that persists,
and is it any wonder when there is a
pronounced lack of existence for the rest?
Perhaps I should examine them in order
and see if one would qualify as best.
Let history, that wonder-full recorder,
direct me to an answer, if there's one.
Recounting each, in turn, until I'm done.

Recounting each, in turn, until I'm done,
I move on to the gardens. How's it hanging?
It doesn't, huh? The pride of Babylon,
by all accounts, magnificent and banging,
is missing. There are some who even claim
they weren't ever there: Nebuchadnezzar
had built them, or Senachreb, all the same.
(For who can name the name of each successor?)
The gardens, later swallowed by the sands,
and drifting, oh so slowly, into legend,
so now, when Wikipedia demands
a picture of a bush to trim and hedge, and
it cannot even find one, much less two…
The gardens have their fans, but they are few.

The gardens have their fans, but they are few.
What of the pride of Ephesus, the temple
to Artemis, the virgin goddess who
routinely magicked those who'd try to sample
her charms into an amply antlered deer?
Aside from its sheer size (we're talking Turkey),
its claims to fame remain a bit unclear,
and virgin status altogether murky,
as Isis, also worshipped at the site,
was meant to grant fertility and healing.
Size matters, though: it must have been some sight,
the ratios mathematically appealing.
Rebuilt, and more than once, but count 'em, three,
its safely on the list, we all agree.

Its safely on the list, we all agree,
and usually placed right next to Zeus,
whose statue, I could almost guarantee,
(from renderings on coins, which left us clues)
was something of a wonder to behold.
Pure ivory and gold, chryselphantine,
by Phidias of Athens, I've been told
So tall that it is said whoever's been
to see it, thought, should Zeus decide to stand,
(the king of gods was seated on a throne)
he'll lift the very roof. The sculptor planned
to awe his audience. Their deus shone
like no Olympian had shone before.
The better to admire and adore.

The better to admire and adore.
Since adoration is what rulers crave,
in life, and even after they're no more,
the man who coined the term for "fancy grave"
must surely be discussed. He's Mausulus.
No pharaoh, nor an emperor, and yet,
the tomb he'd built himself: ridiculous.
The scale of it ensured we won't forget
about him, although he is barely known,
this ancient satrap. Was he really missed?
He died, just like the rest of us, alone,
but nonetheless did make it on the list.
So what can one conclude for number five?
Dead, Mausulus was worth more than alive.

Dead, Mausulus was worth more than alive.
That couldn't have been said of Alexander.
The man had such enthusiasm and drive,
a wonder he had not wound up down under,
in conquering the world that we once knew
(that "we" above our "royal", Western asses)
Had he but lived, he might have followed through
and gathered the appeal of untold masses
from the Atlantic to the China Sea.
Eponymous, his cities, 'cross the planet.
A lighthouse made for everyone to see,
in Alexandria, from quarried granite,
must therefore make the list at number six.
We're nearly done, so let's review our picks!

We're nearly done, so let's review our picks!
The pyramids, the gardens, and the temple.
The statues and the segways to the Styx,
and Alexander, leading by example.
A lighthouse in the aforementioned city,
so tall, you would have seen it from the roads
to Karnak. It's long gone, and more's the pity.
To rival it, the gentle folk in Rhodes,
they built one of their own. No gentle giant,
a model for our Liberty, to boot,
it stood above the bay, lit up, defiant,
but ended up as plunder, prize and loot.
The lighthouse over Rhodes comes in at seven.
Oh mercy, I'm so glad there's not eleven.

Author notes: image generated by author prompt to Gemini