A PLEASANT music floats along the Mere, From Monks in Ely chanting service high, While-as Canute the King is rowing by: "My Oarsmen," quoth the mighty King, "draw near, "That we the sweet song of the Monks may hear!" He listens (all past conquests, and all schemes Of future, vanishing like empty dreams) Heart-touched, and haply not without a tear. The Royal Minstrel, ere the choir is still, While his free Barge skims the smooth flood along, Gives to that rapture an accordant Rhyme. O suffering Earth! be thankful: sternest clime And rudest age are subject to the thrill Of heaven-descended Piety and Song. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CELEBRATION OF CHARIS: 1. HIS EXCUSE FOR LOVING by BEN JONSON NORTHERN FARMER, NEW STYLE by ALFRED TENNYSON THE BIRDS: THE HYMN OF THE BIRDS by ARISTOPHANES PARLEYINGS WITH CERTAIN PEOPLE OF IMPORTANCE: CHRISTOPHER SMART by ROBERT BROWNING SPRING AND WINTER by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON ANTICLIMAX by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON AN HYMENAL SONG, ON THE NUPTIALS OF ANNE WENTWORTH AND LORD LOVELACE by THOMAS CAREW A JOURNEY INTO THE PARK; TO SIR ASTON COCKAIN by CHARLES COTTON |