'Tis good our earliest sympathies to trace, And I would muse upon a little thing - What brought the blush into the infant's face When first confronted with the rueful king? He boldly came - what made his courage less? A signal for the heart to beat less free Are all imperial presences, and he Was aw'd by Death's consummate kingliness; A strange bewilder'd look of shame he wore; 'Twas the first mortal hint that cross'd the lad; He fear'd the stranger, tho' he knew no more, Surmising and surprised, but most, afraid, As Crusoe wandering on the desert shore Saw but an alien footmark and was sad! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CITY REVISITED by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET THE PASSING OF THE EX-SLAVE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE BUSY HEART by RUPERT BROOKE A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 3. AMARYLLIS by THOMAS CAMPION JOY OF THE MORNING by EDWIN MARKHAM LAUS VENERIS (A PICTURE BY BURNE-JONES) by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON |