Berenice, your sister, the Edomite queen, I thought I saw her stroll in your garden tonight. How tranquil she has grown, and how serene, Since she has learned to bear her days upright. Henceforth you will be as two twin sisters here, Palace of black marble, villa of burnished wood; The things that set you apart will disappear, Existence, Time, and Space be your one hood. She the illustrious queen, and you the courtesan The pale child yielding under the heart's weight, You have both journeyed in one caravan, And with the same tears have borne a single fate. Here now you two are calm, though life be harsh, With your renouncements, lest the ways widen; And therefore, here at Aigues-Mortes, the marsh Resembles the marshes of Tyre and of Sidon. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PHANTOM SHIP by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW SONNET PREFIXED TO 'THE COMMONWEALTH & GOVERNMENT OF VENICE' by EDMUND SPENSER THE SURPRISE AT TICONDEROGA [MAY 10, 1775] by MARY ANNA PHINNEY STANSBURY A MATCH by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE HARMOSAN by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH CITY OF ORGIES by WALT WHITMAN THE ANGEL OF PATIENCE by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER |