Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LEGEND OF A TOMB IN FLORENCE, by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON


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LEGEND OF A TOMB IN FLORENCE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Here he is, in marble, waiting by a tomb
Last Line: And the knight and lady heavenward will go.
Alternate Author Name(s): Chandler, Ellen Louise
Subject(s): Florence, Italy; Graves; Tombs; Tombstones


HERE he is, in marble, waiting by a tomb --
Strong-winged for flying, yet, the legends say,
Waiting till a maiden buried here below
Shall break forth and join him once again, some day.

Long ago she lived here, in this Town of Flowers --
She herself a blossom brighter than the rest --
Myrtles blue as Heaven, lilies saintly white,
Ne'er a one was worthy to bloom upon her breast.

Here he saw and loved her -- he, the gallant Knight,
Loved this gracious Lady, fairer than the May;
Loved her, and won her, Flower of all Delight --
Then Death, the Robber, stole his love away.

By her grave he waited, years on weary years,
Sure that Love would sometime triumph over Fate,
Till at length, o'er-tired, he too must go to sleep;
Then he bade them carve him, still by her to wait --

But with wings for flying, so that when she came
From her narrow chamber he could bear her high,
Over seas and mountains, past the bars of Earth,
To a spacious dwelling somewhere in the sky.

Still the summons comes not -- long their silent dream --
But the watching seraphs pity them, I know,
And the tomb will open, and the dead will rise,
And the Knight and Lady Heavenward will go.






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