Classic and Contemporary Poetry
TOWN AND HARBOR OF ITHACA, by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: By another light surrounded Last Line: Where ulysses was the king. Alternate Author Name(s): L. E. L.; Maclean, Letitia Subject(s): Ithaca, Greece; Mythology - Classical; Ulysses; Odysseus | ||||||||
BY another light surrounded Than our actual sky; With the purple ocean bounded Does the island lie Like a dream of the old world. Bare the rugged heights ascending Bring to mind the past, When, the weary voyage ending, Was the anchor cast, And the stranger sails were furled Beside the glorious island Where Ulysses was the king. Still does Fancy see the palace With its carved gates; Where the suitors drained the chalice, Mocking at the Fates. Stern and dark and veiled are they, Still their silent thread intwining Of our wretched life; With their cold, pale hands combining Hate and fear and strife. Hovers the avenging day O'er the glorious island Where Ulysses was the king. Grant my fancy pardon If amid these trees Still it sees the garden Of old Laertes, Where he met his glorious son. The apple boughs were drooping Beneath their rosy fruit, And the rich brown pears were stooping To the old man at their foot, While his daily task was done In the glorious island Where Ulysses was the king. 'T is a vain and cold invention, 'T is the spirit's wrong, Which to some small mind's pretension Would subdue that song, Shrined in manhood's general heart. One almighty mind, one only, Could such strain have sung; Ever be the laurel lonely Where such lyre is hung. Be the world a thing apart Of the glorious island Where Ulysses was the king. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CALYPSO'S ISLAND by ARCHIBALD MACLEISH THE SAIL OF ULYSSES by WALLACE STEVENS ULYSSES AND THE SIREN by SAMUEL DANIEL THE OLD SHIPS by JAMES ELROY FLECKER CALYPSO WATCHING THE OCEAN by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON |
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