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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SELIMUS: ALONE, DEFEATED by ROBERT GREENE

First Line: SHALL SELIM'S HOPE BE BURIED IN THE DUST?
Last Line: HE'LL TURN MORE FIERCELY THAN BEFORE HE CAME.
Subject(s): DEFEAT;

Shall Selim's hope be buried in the dust?
And Bajazet triumph over his fall?
Then oh, thou blindful mistress of mishap,
Chief patroness of Rhamus' golden gates,
I will advance my strong revenging hand,
And pluck thee from thy ever-turning wheel.
Mars, or Minerva, Mahound, Termagunt,
Or whosoe'er you are that fight 'gainst me,
Come, and but show yourselves before my face,
And I will rend you all like trembling reeds.
Well, Bajazet, though Fortune smile on thee,
And deck thy camp with glorious victory;
Though Selimus now conquered by thee
Is fain to put his safety in swift flight;
Yet so he flies, that like an angry ram
He'll turn more fiercely than before he came.



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