Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ANDROMACHE'S LAMENT by ANONYMOUS

First Line: WHITHER SHALL I FLEE FOR REFUGE?
Last Line: "FOULLY MURDERED, AND THE ALTAR OF THE HIGHEST BEARS THE STAIN"
Subject(s): HOMER (10TH CENTURY B.C.);LAMENT;MURDER;MYTHOLOGY - CLASSICAL;POETRY & POETS; ILIAD;ODYSSEY;

WHITHER shall I flee for refuge? whither shall I look for aid?
Flight or exile, which is safer? tower and town are both betrayed;
Whom shall I implore for succour? our old altars are no more,
Broken, crushed they lie, and splintered, and the flames above them roar.
And our walls all blackened stand -- O my father! fatherland!
O thou haughty house of Priam -- temple with the gates surrounded
I have seen thee -- all thy splendour, all thy eastern pomp unbounded --
All thy roofs and painted ceilings, all the treasures they contain,
I have seen them -- seen them blazing -- I have seen old Priam slain,
Foully murdered, and the altar of the Highest bears the stain.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net