Intrepid

I am intrepid in my wanderings:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said, "A house divided cannot stand,
But fill the building up with lifeless things,
Like pedestals, dead slaves, and diamond rings,
And maybe the detritus, weirdly grand,
Could hold things up, at least until a band
Is brought in, playing while the mezzo sings."

Bravely, I answered that I wondered why
The hose was spraying all across the deck.
Was it, I asked, because his scrawny neck
Was in my grasp? Was he prepared to die?
We smiled, exchanged a slight wave and a sigh,
And left the place a great colossal wreck.