From out its chamber, green and high, A bird leap'd forth at break of day, And speeding o'er the wood, came nigh Where two great glittering armies lay. It swooped aside, and clamour stirred The pale grey region where it flew; And wavering down the plain, the bird Reach'd the calm river-nook it knew. But neither army paused nor spoke, And one read foul and one read fair; And straight the storm of battle broke, With ruin here and triumph there. At eve the bird flew back again, The plain beneath now bare and wide; Stars throng'd, the skies were fleec'd, in pain The stricken warrior turn'd and died. From cape to mountain beacons gleamed, And cities waked with peal and blare. Head under wing it slept, nor dream'd Of that wild symbol traced in air. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO CERTAIN POETS by ALFRED JOYCE KILMER IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 2 by ALFRED TENNYSON A CHURCHYARD SOLILOQUY by HENRY ALFORD AEOLIAN HARP (1) by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM DERELICT; A REMINISCENCE OF R.L.S.'S TREASURE ISLAND by YOUNG EWING ALLISON FRAGMENT OF A CHORUS OF A DEJANEIRA by MATTHEW ARNOLD CLIO, NINE ECLOGUES IN HONOUR OF NINE VIRTUES: 7. OF HOSPITALITY by WILLIAM BASSE |