Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AN ARAB TO HIS MISTRESS by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

Poet Analysis

First Line: LOOK THOU YONDER, LOOK AND TREMBLE
Last Line: DRIVE NOT FROM THY BREAST THE DOVE.

LOOK thou yonder, look and tremble,
Thou whose passion swells so high;
See those ruins! that resemble
Flocks of camels as they lie.

'T was a fair but froward city,
Bidding tribes and chiefs obey,
Till he came, who, deaf to pity,
Tost the imploring arm away.

Spoil'd and prostrate, she lamented
What her pride and folly wrought:
But was ever Pride contented,
Or would Folly e'er be taught?

Strong are cities; Rage o'erthrows 'em;
Rage o'erswells the gallant ship;
Stains it not the cloud-white bosom,
Flaws it not the ruby lip?

All that shields us, all that charms us,
Brow of ivory, tower of stone,
Yield to Wrath; another's harms us,
But we perish by our own.

Night may send to rave and ravage
Panther and hyena fell;
But their manners, harsh and savage,
Little suit the mild gazelle.

When the waves of life surround thee,
Quenching oft the light of love,
When the clouds of doubt confound thee,
Drive not from thy breast the dove.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net