Launcelot loved Guinevere, Ages and ages ago, Beautiful as a bird was she, Preening its wings in a cypress tree, Happy in sadness, she and he, They loved each other so. Helen of Troy was beautiful As tender flower in May, Her loveliness from the towers looked down, With the sweet moon for silver crown, Over the walls of Troy Town, Hundreds of years away. Cleopatra, Egypt's Queen, Was wondrous kind to ken, As when the stars in the dark sky Like buds on thorny branches lie, So seemed she too to Antony, That age-gone prince of men. The Pyramids are old stones, Scarred is that grey face, That by the greenness of Old Nile Gazes with an unchanging smile, Man with all mystery to beguile And give his thinking grace. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RIGHT MUST WIN by FREDERICK WILLIAM FABER MOONRISE by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS ABOU BEN ADHEM by JAMES HENRY LEIGH HUNT THE MOCKING BIRD by SIDNEY LANIER AN HORATIAN ODE UPON CROMWELL'S RETURN FROM IRELAND by ANDREW MARVELL PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 17. THE BESTOWER by EDWIN ARNOLD |