Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A FRIEND TO THEOCRITOS IN EGYPT, by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Dost thou not often gasp with longdrawn sighs Last Line: And help to lift it from this depth of sand. Subject(s): Home | ||||||||
DOST thou not often gasp with longdrawn sighs, Theocritos, recalling Sicily? Glorious is Nile, but rather give me back Our little rills which fain would run away And hide themselves from persecuting suns In summer, under oleander boughs, And catch its roses as they flaunt above. Here are no birds that sing, no sweeter flower Than tiny fragile weak-eyed resida, Which faints upon the bosom it would cool. Altho' the royal lotos sits aloof On his rich carpet, spread from wave to wave, I throw myself more gladly where the pine Protects me, loftier than the palace-roof, Or where the linden and acacia meet Across my path, in fragrance to contend. Bring back the hour, Theocritos, when we Shall sit together on a thymy knoll, With few about us, and with none too nigh, And when the song of shepherds and their glee We may repeat, perchance and gaily mock, Until one bolder than the rest springs up And slaps us on the shoulder for our pains. Take thou meanwhile these two papyrus-leaves, Recording, one the loves and one the woes Of Pan and Pitys, heretofore unsung. Aside our rivers and within our groves The pastoral pipe hath dropt its mellow lay, And shepherds in their contests only try Who best can puzzle. Come, Theocritos, Come, let us lend a shoulder to the wheel And help to lift it from this depth of sand. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EL FLORIDA ROOM by RICHARD BLANCO DESTINATIONS by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN TO THIS HOUSE by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE UPSTAIRS ROOM by WELDON KEES HOME IS SO SAD by PHILIP LARKIN DUTCH INTERIOR by DAVID LEHMAN A FIESOLAN IDYL by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR |
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