Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ALEXANDER ON THE BANKS OF THE HYPHASIS, by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Lonely by the moonlit waters Last Line: But whose altar is the tomb! Alternate Author Name(s): L. E. L.; Maclean, Letitia Subject(s): Alexander The Great (356-323 B.c.) | ||||||||
LONELY by the moonlit waters Does the conqueror stand, Yet unredden'd by the slaughters Of his mighty band. Yet his laurel wants a leaf. There he stands, sad, silent, lonely; For his hope is vain: He has reached that river only To return again. Mournful bends the matchless chief; He -- the earth's unrivalled one -- He must leave his task undone. Far behind the camp lies sleeping -- Gods! how can they sleep, Pale fear o'er their slumbers creeping, With a world to weep? With a victory to win. There they lie in craven slumber, By their murmurs won -- Must their earthly weakness cumber Jove's immortal son? From the ardent fire within, Is there no impelling ray To excite their onward way? No! beside that moonlit river Stands the soldier-king, While he hears the night-wind shiver With a weary wing -- With a weary sound to him; By the numerous shadows broken On the river's brim -- From the mirror'd stars a token That his star is dim -- Changed and sullen they appear. To a great and fix'd despair All things fate and omen are. Far away the plains are spreading Various, dark and vast -- Where a thousand tombs are shading Memories from the past -- He must leave them still unknown. All the world's ancestral learning -- Secrets strange and old -- Early wisdom's dark discerning, Must remain untold. Mighty is the hope o'erthrown- Mighty was the enterprise Which upon that moment dies. With the moonlight on them sleeping Stands each stately palm, Like to ancient warriors keeping Vigil stern and calm O'er a prostrate world below. Sudden from beneath their shadow Forth a serpent springs, O'er the sands, as o'er a meadow, Winding in dark rings. Stately doth it glide, and slow Like an omen in a dream, Does that giant serpent seem. Silvery rose those far sands shining, Where that shade was cast -- While the king with stern repining Watched the serpent past. Sadly did the conqueror say -- "Would my steps were like my spirit, I would track thy path! What those distant sands inherit, What this new world hath, Should grow bright around my way. Ah! not mine, yon glorious sphere -- My world's boundary is here!" Pale he stood, the moonlight gleaming In his golden hair -- Somewhat of a spirit's seeming, Glorious and fair, Is upon that radiant brow. Like the stars that kindle heaven In the sacred night, To those blue clear eyes were given An unearthly light, Though the large tears fill them now; For the Macedonian wept As his midnight watch he kept. In those mighty tears' o'erflowing, Found the full heart scope For the bitter overthrowing Of its noblest hope; So will many weep again. Our aspirings have arisen In another world; Life is but the spirit's prison, Where its wings are furl'd, Stretching to their flight in vain, -- Seeking that eternal home Which is in a world to come. Like earth's proudest conqueror, turning From his proudest field, Is the human soul still yearning For what it must yield, Of dreams unfulfill'd and powers; Like the great yet guided ocean Is our mortal mind, Stirr'd by many a high emotion, But subdued, confined; -- Such are shadows of the hours; Glorious in the far-off gloom, But whose altar is the tomb! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SPEAKING TREE by MURIEL RUKEYSER HOW WE HEARD THE NAME by ALAN DUGAN ALEXANDER'S FEAST; OR, THE POWER OF MUSIC by JOHN DRYDEN THE HIGH-PRIEST TO ALEXANDER by ALFRED TENNYSON THE BALLAD OF ISKANDER by JAMES ELROY FLECKER IN PRAISE OF WYATT'S PSALMS by HENRY HOWARD ALEXANDER AND PHILIP by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON CALYPSO WATCHING THE OCEAN by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON |
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