Classic and Contemporary PoetryRhyming Dictionary Search
THE ASPIRATION, by RHYS CARPENTER Poet's Biography First Line: Two days he rode: the sun at morn Last Line: From sky to sky the same Subject(s): Ambition; Crusades; Death; War; Dead, The | ||||||||
TWO days he rode: the sun at morn Beheld his struggling steed Toil onward, weary, sense-forlorn, In empty strife of speed. It was ambition's eager thorn That made his spirit bleed; 'The world,' he said, 'hath me in scorn; But soon the world shall read My name on every banner borne Where high adventures lead. Yet am I weary now to death, For sleep mine eyelids plead, My horse strives woefully for breath, And still no combat furnisheth Fulfilment of the deed!' Two days he rode, and on the third Beheld the tents afar Of them that mock the holy Word And flame in ceaseless war, Who smote with battle-axe and sword And curvèd scimitar, With clamour of onrushing horde And glowing chariot-car. He said, 'I render thanks, O Lord, For smitten wound and scar Whereby my spirit may attest Incarnate Avatar And Thine immutable Behest And Thee, the splendour in the West, The shining of a star.' He rode against them, and his cry Was like a sudden flame Across the threshold of the sky, And like a fire he came; Yet when the Pagans saw him nigh, They thought not of their shame That one so young, so bold should die, But lusted for his fame. They rode, they smote, they let him lie Stark without grave or name. Within that night, across the land Which no man's hand shall tame, Came whirling clouds of drifting sand And morning saw the deserts stand From sky to sky the same | Other Poems of Interest...DOUBLE ELEGY by MICHAEL S. HARPER A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY |
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