Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MANMADIN, THE INDIAN CUPID, FLOATING DOWN THE GANGES, by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: There is darkness on the sky Last Line: Well may bend to thee, o love! Alternate Author Name(s): L. E. L.; Maclean, Letitia Subject(s): Cupid; India; Eros | ||||||||
THERE is darkness on the sky, And the troubled waves run high, And the lightning flash is breaking, And the thunder peal is waking; Reddening meteors, strange and bright, Cross the rainbow's timid light, As if mingled hope and fear, Storm and sunshine, shook the sphere. Tempest winds rush fierce along, Bearing yet a sound of song, Music's on the tempest's wing, Wafting thee, young MANMADIN! Pillow'd on a lotus flower Gather'd in a summer hour, Rides he o'er the mountain wave Which would be a tall ship's grave! At his back his bow is slung, Sugar-cane, with wild bees strung, -- Bees born with the buds of spring, Yet with each a deadly sting; -- Grasping in his infant hand Arrows in their silken band, Each made of a signal flower, Emblem of its varied power; Some form'd of the silver leaf Of the almond, bright and brief, Just a frail and lovely thing, For but one hour's flourishing; Others, on whose shaft there glows The red beauty of the rose; Some in spring's half-folded bloom, Some in summer's full perfume; Some with wither'd leaves and sere, Falling with the falling year; Some bright with the rainbow-dyes Of the tulip's vanities; Some, bound with the lily's bell, Breathe of love that dares not tell Its sweet feelings; the dark leaves Of the esignum, which grieves Droopingly, round some were bound; Others were with tendrils wound Of the green and laughing vine, -- And the barh was dipp'd in wine. But all these are summer ills, Like the trees whose stem distils Balm beneath its pleasant shade In the wounds its thorns have made. Though the flowers may fade and die, 'Tis but a light penalty. All these bloom-clad darts are meant But for a short-lived content! Yet one arrow has a power Lasting till life's latest hour -- Weary day and sleepless night, Lightning gleams of fierce delight, Fragrant and yet poison'd sighs, Agonies and cestasies; Hopes, like fires amid the gloom, Lighting only to consume! Happiness one hasty draught, And the lip has venom quaff'd. Doubt, despairing, crime, and craft, Are upon that honied shaft! It has made the crowned king Crouch beneath his suffering; Made the beauty's cheek more pale Than the foldings of her veil; Like a child the soldier kneel Who had mock'd at flame or steel; Bade the fires of genius turn On their own breasts, and there burn; A wound, a blight, a curse, a doom, Bowing young hearts to the tomb! Well may storm be on the sky, And the waters roll on high, When MANMADIN passes by. Earth below, and heaven above, Well may bend to thee, O Love! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MESSAGE FROM THE SLEEPER AT HELL'S MOUTH: 6. ONESELF AT HELL'S MOUTH by ALICIA SUSKIN OSTRIKER SONNET: O HUSBAND! by ANNE WALDMAN EROS by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES CLEOMENS, OR THE SPARTAN HERO: SONG by JOHN DRYDEN A CELEBRATION OF CHARIS: 5. HIS DISCOURSE WITH CUPID by BEN JONSON CUPID MISTAKEN by MATTHEW PRIOR DEATH AND CUPID; AN ALLEGORY by JOHN GODFREY SAXE CALYPSO WATCHING THE OCEAN by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON |
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