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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A DREAM OF JULIUS CAESAR, by ROBERT FROST Poem Explanation Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: A dreamy day; a gentle western breeze Last Line: The fairy hosts of silvery light might shed. Subject(s): Caesar, Julius (100-44 B.c.) | |||
A dreamy day; a gentle western breeze That murmurs softly 'midst the sylvan shades; Above, the fleecy clouds glide slowly on To sink from view; within the forest's depth, A thrush's drowsy note starts echoes through The vistas of the over-hanging trees. All nature seems to weave a circle of Enchantment round the mind, and give full sway To flitting thoughts and dreams of bygone years. Thus, as the summer afternoon wears on, In Nature's cradle lulled to calm repose, I watch the shifting of a purling rill, As visions of a busy throng, of life, Of passing days that come not back again, Rush in confusion through my weary brain; Till rumblings wafted o'er the distant hills, Proclaim a timely warning to the one Who, wandering far from shelter and from home, Forgets that space exists, that still he lives: -- But, wrapped in Nature's all entrancing shroud, Is lured to seek her wildest inmost realms. The dying cadences are tossed from vale To vale, but fall unheeded on my ear. Anon, the winds burst on the silent scene, And cause the leaves to dance and sing for joy. Then clouds with bosoms darker than the night, Rise up along the whole horizon's brink, And all the sky is flecked with hurrying forms. Thus, ever as the storm comes on, led by The heralds of its wrathful power, between The foremost rifts, like ladders long, by which From earth to heaven the woodland nymphs may pass Beyond the clouds, bright rays of light stretch down Upon each grove and mead. So, far and wide A charm of magic breathes its spell around: For at my feet a far upreaching ladder rests, And as I gaze, a form, scarce seen at first, Glides down; a moment, and before me stands, With stately mien and noble wreathed brow, His toga streaming to the western wind, The restless fire still gleaming in those eyes, Just as before the Roman Senate, years Agone, he stood and ruled a people with His mighty will, Caesar, first conqueror of The Roman World. Within his hand the bolt Of Jove gleams forth with frequent flash. Clasping The toga's waving folds, a gem of ray Most pure, that nigh outshines the sun, rests like The dew of heaven. I gaze in awe, a space; Then, with majestic mien, he points me toward A bridge, an ancient moss-grown trunk that fell In some fierce storm to join the brook's green banks, And speaks: "Be gone! from Jupiter I come To rule with storm and darkness o'er the world," Then with uplifted arm: "Look up, behold My might, my legions. Conquest still is the One passion of this fiery breast. Speak they Farewell to all this scene of quietude And peace; ere from this hand I launch the fire Of Jove, and pierce the darkness with its gleam; Ere yonder cohorts with resistless march Spread terror in the air and vanquish light." He speaks and vanishes from sight. The roar Of chariot wheels breaks on my ear. The fight Is on, for blood in torrents falls around, Not crimson, but a lighter hue, such as The fairy hosts of silvery light might shed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CAESAR'S LOST TRANSPORT SHIPS by ROBERT FROST THE MYSTERIES OF CAESAR by ANTHONY HECHT AFTER CONSTRUING by ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER BENSON CAESAR AND CHRIST by THOMAS CURTIS CLARK THE KING by SAMUEL VALENTINE COLE |
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