Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE TWO DEATHS: 1. DEATH OF SIGURD, EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND, by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: The earl lay on his purple bed Last Line: And earl sigurd's life is done! Alternate Author Name(s): L. E. L.; Maclean, Letitia Subject(s): Death; Dead, The | ||||||||
THE Earl lay on his purple bed, Faint and heavy was his head, Where the snows of age were shed -- Heavy on his pillow. Never more when seas are dark Will Earl Sigurd guide his bark Thro' the dashing billow. Never from that bed of pain Will the warrior rise again. Yes, he will arise: -- e'en now Red he flushes to the brow; Like the light before his prow Is the dark eye's gleaming. No: it never shall be said Sigurd died within his bed With its curtains streaming -- Whose sole curtain wont to be Banners red with victory. Lift me up, the sea-king said -- At the word his sons obey'd, And the old man was convey'd Where the sea was sounding, At his ancient castle-gate, Death's dark coming to await, With his knights surrounding. Morn was reddening in the sky, As the Earl came forth to die. In a carved oaken chair, Carved with carving quaint and rare -- Faces strange and garlands fair -- Is the chieftain seated, As when at some festival In his high ancestral hall Bards his deeds repeated. And there was no loftier song, Than what bore his name along. Round him swept his mantle red, Like a chief apparelled, With his helmet on his head -- With its white plumes flying. At his side the sheathed brand, And the spear in his right hand -- Mid the dead and dying. Where the battle raged the worst, Ever was that right hand first. He -- the tamer of the wild -- Who invincible was styled, Now is feeble as a child By its mother sleeping; But the mind is unsubdued -- Fearless is the warrior's mood, While his eyes are keeping This last vigil strange and lone, That his spirit may be known. As a ship cuts through the froth Shining comes the morning forth, From his own ancestral north, While each rosy vapour Kindles beautiful and bright, With an evanescent light: But the human taper Hath an even briefer ray: Strange, oh life, is thy decay! Haughtily his castle stands On a rock amid the sands, Where the waves in gather'd bands Day by day are dashing. Never is the sounding shore Still with their eternal roar, And their strife is flashing To the noontide's azure light, And the stars that watch at night. Sigurd's look is on the foam Where his childhood wont to roam -- For the sea has been his home From his earliest hours -- Gathering the echoing shells, Where the future tempest dwells, As some gather flowers; Trembling when a rosy boy With a fierce and eager joy. Many things long since forgot In a hard and hurried lot Now arise -- they trouble not Him, the stately hearted: But he saw a blue-eyed maid, Long since 'mid the long grass laid, And true friends departed. Tears that stand in that dark eye Only may the sea-breeze dry. Longer do the shadows fail Of his castle's armed wall, Yet the old man sits, while all Stand behind him weeping: But behind they stand, for he Would not brook man's tears to see. One fair child is sleeping -- To his grandsire's feet he crept, Weeping silent till he slept. Heavily beneath his mail Seems Earl Sigurd's breath to fail, And his pale cheek is more pale, And his hand less steady. Crimson are the sky and surge, Stars are on th' horizon's verge, Night and Death are ready! Down in ocean goes the sun, And Earl Sigurd's life is done! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...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 NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND CALYPSO WATCHING THE OCEAN by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON |
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