Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, EVENTS, by GEORGE O'NEIL


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

EVENTS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The queen of egypt yawned and frowned
Last Line: Still as a sea-rock, sat a toad.
Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers; Egypt; Napoleon I (1769-1821); Tristram And Isolde


The queen of Egypt yawned and frowned
And twisted all her rings around,
Her thoughts were still, her pulse was slow
While kings and courtiers bowed below.
Upon a gem encrusted throne
The queen of Egypt sat alone,
Hating her sterile gorgeous land,
When, suddenly, against her hand,
Between two curves of tortoise-shell,
A sulky little rain-drop fell.
The queen threw back her head and stared,
And on her brow the lightning flared . . .
As Tristan and Isolde lay,
Dreaming their happiness away
Within the forest quiet-boughed,
A thrush came in a morning cloud.
And through the foliage of an oak
A silver fountain rose and broke,
Quivering leaves that drooped afar,
Still drowsing with the night's last star.
Embracing shadows grew estranged,
The dreaming of the dreamers changed;
The thrush sang on and Tristan slept,
But sad Isolde woke and wept.

Napoleon turned his horse about
And down the steepest path set out,
Letting the horse go on alone,
Picking his way from stone to stone.
The trees stood leafless on the hill,
The puddles in the clay lay still.
Napoleon set his gaze below;
The west was streaked with afterglow.
They struck the highway . . . up its side
The horse, without a warning, shied . . .
In scarlet water on the road,
Still as a sea-rock, sat a toad.





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