Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO THE KING OF THULE, by HENRI ALLORGE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO THE KING OF THULE, by                    
First Line: O thou, whose name is as a sigh exhaled
Last Line: O king of thule, it is thine.
Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers; Tears; Thule (island); Time; Royal Court Life; Royalty; Kings; Queens


O THOU, whose name is as a sigh exhaled,
In whom trouvere and minstrel did delight,
Sad King of Thule, many a day and night
With pangs thou hast my peace assailed.

I muse upon thy love inviolate,
Thy cup that yielded bitter tears for wine,
Upon thy keep o'er waters leonine,
Where thou thy life did'st dedicate.

To one whom thou wert fain to love till Death,
Soul-blent with thee in everlasting tryst,
Thy pale, mysterious queen, now swathed in mist,
Whom Love alone remembereth.

Time hath effaced her lineaments, yet this
Gleans more than divination: Good and wise
And innocent was she beyond surmise,
Who won thine immemorial kiss.

Mayhap her martyrdom thy bosom bled,
But when she passed to shades of underground
No anodyne on earth for thee was found,
For ever sad, uncomforted.

King of the lonely isle, thou art the proem
Of every coronach and mournful measure;
More precious is thy soul than any treasure,
Thy name more beautiful than any poem.

I pass the great of many a princely line,
Sealed in their tombs of gold and porphyry;
But if I envy aught of majesty,
O King of Thule, it is thine.





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