Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RUINED PALACE, by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RUINED PALACE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Broken are the palace windows
Last Line: Where once there sat a queen.
Alternate Author Name(s): Meredith, Owen; Lytton, 1st Earl Of; Lytton, Robert
Subject(s): Ruins


BROKEN are the Palace windows:
Rotting is the Palace floor.
The damp wind lifts the arras,
And swings the creaking door;
But it only startles the white owl
From his perch on a monarch's throne,
And the rat that was gnawing the harp-strings
A Queen once played upon.

Dare you linger here at midnight
Alone, when the wind is about,
And the bat, and the newt, and the viper,
And the creeping things come out?
Beware of these ghostly chambers!
Search not what my heart hath been,
Lest you find a phantom sitting
Where once there sat a Queen.





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