The knight rides forth in blackest mail, The rustling world to meet. Out there he finds all: the day and the dale And the friend and the foe and the castle's pale, And fair May and fair maid and the woods and the grail, And God Himself doth never fail To stand upon the street. But within the knightly armor yonder, Behind that gloomy wringing, Cowers death and has to ponder, ponder: When will the blade come springing Over the iron wall, The stranger, freedom bringing, That from my hiding-place shall call Me forth, where I for many a day Am waiting, crouched and clinging, That I may stretch out, once for all, With play And singing? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DEXTER GORDON: COPENHAGEN/AVERY FISHER HALL by KAREN SWENSON MOTTO TO THE SONGS OF INNOCENCE & OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE TWO SAYINGS by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING SONNET PREFIXED TO 'THE COMMONWEALTH & GOVERNMENT OF VENICE' by EDMUND SPENSER LOCKSLEY HALL SIXTY YEARS AFTER by ALFRED TENNYSON THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 104. WRITTEN AT FLORENCE: 2 by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT |