EXILE or Caesar? Death hath solved thy doubt, And made thee certain of thy changeless fate; And thou no more hast wearily to wait, Straining to catch the people's tarrying shout That from unrestful rest would drag thee out, And push thee to those pinnacles of State Round which throng courtly loves, uncourted hate, Servility's applause, and envy's flout. Twice happy boy! though cut off in thy flower, The timeliest doom of all thy race is thine: Saved from the sad alternative, to pine For heights unreached, or icily to tower. Like Alpine crests that only specious shine, And glitter on the lonely peak of Power. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON A CARRIER WHO DIED OF DRUNKENNESS by GEORGE GORDON BYRON MY AIN WIFE by ALEXANDER LAING A PROPHECY by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR PAN IN WALL STREET by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN THE DEATH OF ADONIS by THEOCRITUS THE MAIMED DEBAUCHEE by JOHN WILMOT FRATERNITY by ANNE REEVE ALDRICH SUSPIRIA NOCTIS by HENRY HOWARD BROWNELL THE CONTRAST BETWEEN TWO LORDS AT THEIR EXECUTION by JOHN BYROM |