Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN ANCIENT CHESS KING, by JEAN INGELOW


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN ANCIENT CHESS KING, by                 Poet's Biography
First Line: Haply some rajah first in the ages gone
Last Line: And murmurs of the dark majestic town.
Subject(s): Chess; Courts & Courtiers; Royal Court Life; Royalty; Kings; Queens


HAPLY some Rajah first in the ages gone
Amid his languid ladies fingered thee,
While a black nightingale, sun-swart as he,
Sang his one wife, love's passionate oraison;
Haply thou may'st have pleased Old Prester John
Among his pastures, when full royally
He sat in tent, grave shepherds at his knee,
While lamps of balsam winked and glimmered on.
What doest thou here? Thy masters are all dead;
My heart is full of ruth and yearning pain
At sight of thee; O king that hast a crown
Outlasting theirs, and tell'st of greatness fled
Through cloud-hung nights of unabated rain
And murmurs of the dark majestic town.





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