Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE EYE OF MY LORD THE KING, by E. LYTTLETON FOX First Line: Keen as the point of the steel-shod lance Last Line: "of the eye of my lord the king?" Subject(s): Yale University | ||||||||
KEEN as the point of the steel-shod lance At his silver saddle-bow, Black as the hair of a stripling born Where the lotus lilies blow, Stern as the roar of the wind-swept sea When the gulls are skimming low; And there's never a peasant did not pale, Nor ever a lord that did not quail, Nor a henchman's heart that did not fail 'Neath the Eye of My Lord the King. "Hoho!" laughed the crow from the ivied wall, "For a pair of eyes to conquer all -- 'Tis a wondrous silly thing." True as the hearts of the hundred knights That fly his pennons free, Soft as the perfume-laden breeze That wafts o'er a Southern Sea, Kind as the soul of our gracious queen When she prays on bended knee; And there's never a maid in the broad realms nigh, Be she castle-born or shepherdess shy, That did not gaze to earth and sigh 'Neath the Eye of My Lord the King. "Hoho!" laughed the crow from the moat below, "For a pair of eyes to witch them so -- 'Tis a passing foolish thing." Cold as a link of the drawbridge chain At the purple tinge of day, Dull as the mien of a mountain pool When the mist hangs thick and gray, Still as a mouldering donjon keep Where crawling lizards play, And there's never a lord to bend him low, Nor even a maiden's cheek to glow, For the flame has died with a broadsword blow From the Eye of My Lord the King. "Hoho!" laughed the crow as he perched near by, "Not all birds dine on a kingly eye. -- 'Tis a wondrous lucky thing! Here's a royal feast for a year and a day. Now where is a feather of reason, pray, In the terrible things the people say Of the Eye of My Lord the King?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BALLADE OF MYSELF AND MONSIEUR RABELAIS by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) THE BALLADE OF THE GOLDEN HORN by LEONARD BACON (1887-1954) DEATH AND THE MONK by ARTHUR E. BAKER PASSIO XL MARTYRUM by ARTHUR E. BAKER THE LAST BALLADE; MASTER FRANCOIS VILLON LOQUITUR by THOMAS BEER WERE IT ONLY NOW by A. W. BELL AS FROM THE PAST -- by WILLIAM ROSE BENET THE LINE MEN by WILLIAM ROSE BENET A PARTING WORD by E. LYTTLETON FOX |
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