Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LION OF FLORENCE, by GEORGE DONALD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LION OF FLORENCE, by                    
First Line: In the fair city of florence, on a time
Last Line: Then slowly on its way it quietly went.
Subject(s): Animals; Babies; Lions; Infants


IN the fair city of Florence, on a time,
Were gather'd once, brought from a distant clime,
Nature's wild denizens. It chanced one day,
Escaped, a lion roam'd the public way.
Amid the terror and disorder spread,
A frantic mother with her infant fled.
Oh, how can words that mother's anguish tell,
When from her arms the precious burden fell!
At the same instant, horrified, she saw
Her child beneath the monster's hungry jaw!
Aghast and motionless, as marble fixed,
She stood. 'Twas but a moment thus, the next
By fear o'ercome, by fear restor'd to sense, --
O charm of love! frenzy sublime, intense! --
Upon her knees she sank -- "My child, my child --
Give me my boy!" she cried in accents wild.
Was it a miracle? the piteous cries
Moved the fierce beast: it turn'd on her its eyes,
Seem'd to divine a mother's heart implor'd
That her dear babe might be to her restor'd;
Rais'd tenderly the infant from the street
And laid the darling treasure at her feet;
Look'd on the child, now smiling and content,
Then slowly on its way it quietly went.





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