Classic and Contemporary Poetry
UPON MASTER WALTER MONTAGUE HIS RETURN FROM TRAVEL, by THOMAS CAREW Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Lead the black bull to slaughter, with the boar Last Line: As laymen clasp their hands, we join our feet. Subject(s): Homecoming; Exiles | ||||||||
LEAD the black bull to slaughter, with the boar And lamb, then purple with their mingled gore The ocean's curled brow, that so we may The sea-gods for their careful waftage pay: Send grateful incense up in pious smoke To those mild spirits, that cast a curbing yoke Upon the stubborn winds, that calmly blew To the wish'd shore our long'd-for Montague. Then, whilst the aromatic odours burn In honour of their darling's safe return, The Muses' choir shall thus with voice and hand Bless the fair gale that drove his ship to land: Sweetly breathing vernal air, That with kind warmth dost repair Winter's ruins; from whose breast All the gums and spice of th' East Borrow their perfumes; whose eye Gilds the morn and clears the sky; Whose dishevell'd tresses shed Pearls upon the violet bed; On whose brow, with calm smiles dress'd, The halcyon sits and builds her nest: Beauty, youth, and endless Spring Dwell upon thy rosy wing. Thou, if stormy Boreas throws Down whole forests when he blows, With a pregnant flowery birth Canst refresh the teeming earth; If he nip the early bud, If he blast what's fair or good, If he scatter our choice flowers, If he shake our hills or bowers, If his rude breath threaten us--- Thou canst stroke great Æolus, And from him the grace obtain To bind him in an iron chain. Thus, whilst you deal your body 'mongst your friends, And fill their circling arms, my glad soul sends This her embrace: thus we of Delphos greet; As laymen clasp their hands, we join our feet. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#58) by MARVIN BELL LITTLE CITIZEN, LITTLE SURVIVOR by HAYDEN CARRUTH GOING OUT FOR CIGARETTES by BILLY COLLINS HOMO WILL NOT INHERIT by MARK DOTY DEFLECTION TOWARD THE RELATIVE MINOR by FORREST GANDER ON A CERTAIN FIELD IN AUVERS by JOHN HAINES A DEPOSITION FROM LOVE by THOMAS CAREW A PASTORAL DIALOGUE: SHEPHERD, NYMPH, CHORUS by THOMAS CAREW |
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