Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE ROMAUNT OF KING MORDAMEER, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Ho! Did ye hear of mordameer Last Line: And met him face to face. Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers; Dreams; Fantasy; Sleep; Nightmares | ||||||||
HO! did ye hear of Mordameer, The King of Slumberland! A lotus-crown upon his brow -- A poppy in his hand, And all the elves that people dreams To bow at his command. His throne is wrought of blackest night, Enriched with rare designs Wherein the blazing comet runs And writhes and wreathes and twines About a crescent angel-face That ever smiling shines. The dais is of woven rays Of starlight fringed with shade, And jeweled o'er with gems of dew, And dyed and interlaid With every gleaming tint and hue Of which the flowers are made. And when the day has died away In darkness o'er the land, The King bends down his dusky face And takes the sleeper's hand, And lightly o'er his folded eyes He waves his magic wand. And lo! within his princely home, Upon his downy bed, With soft and silken coverlets And curtains round him spread, The rich man rolls in troubled sleep, And moans in restless dread: His eyes are closed, yet Mordameer May see their stony stare As plainly fixed in agony As though the orbs were bare And glaring at the wizard throng That fills the empty air: -- A thousand shapes, with phantom japes, Dance o'er the sleeper's sight, -- With fingers bony-like and lean, And faces pinched and white, And withered cheeks, and sunken eyes With ever-ravening sight. And such the dreams that Mordameer Brings to the child of Pride, -- The worn and wasted forms that he Hath stinted and denied -- Of those who filled his coffers up And empty-handed died. And then again he waves his wand: And from his lair of straw The felon, with his fettered limbs, Starts up with fear and awe, And stares with starting eyes upon A vision of the law: A grim procession passes by, The while he glares in fear -- With faces, from a wanton's smile Down to a demon's leer, -- The woman marching at the front, The hangman at the rear. All ways are clear to Mordameer: The ocean knows his tread; His feet are free on land or sea: -- Above the sailor's head He hangs a dream of home, and bends Above his cottage-bed: And, nestled in the mother's arms, A child, surpassing fair, In slumber lies, its tiny hands Entangled in her hair, And round its face a smile that moves Its lips as though in prayer. And lo! the good king feasts its eyes With fruits from foreign shores, And pink-lipped shells that ever mock The ocean as it roars; And in the mother's arms he folds The form that she adores. Through all the hovels of the poor He steals with noiseless tread, And presses kisses o'er and o'er Where sorrow's tears are shed, Till old caresses live once more That are forever dead. Above the soldier in his tent Are glorious battles fought; And o'er the prince's velvet couch, And o'er the peasant's cot, And o'er the pallet of disease His wondrous spells are wrought. He bends him o'er the artist's cot, And fills his dazzled mind With airy forms that float about Like clouds in summer wind, O'er landscapes that the angels wrought And God Himself designed. And drifting through the poet's dreams The seraph trails her wings, And fills the chancels of his soul With heavenly whisperings, Till, swooning with delight, he hears The song he never sings. He talks the wide world's every way, This monarch grand and grim; All paths that reach the human heart, However faint and dim, He journeys, for the darkest night Is light as day to him. And thus the lordly Mordameer Rules o'er his mystic realm, With gems from out the star's red core To light his diadem, And kings and emperors to kneel And kiss his garment's hem. For once, upon a night of dreams, Adown the aisles of space I strayed so far that I forgot Mine own abiding-place, And wandered into Slumberland, And met him face to face. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIATIONS: 14 by CONRAD AIKEN VARIATIONS: 18 by CONRAD AIKEN LIVE IT THROUGH by DAVID IGNATOW A DREAM OF GAMES by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN THE DREAM OF WAKING by RANDALL JARRELL APOLOGY FOR BAD DREAMS by ROBINSON JEFFERS GIVE YOUR WISH LIGHT by ROBINSON JEFFERS A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
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