Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LION'S DEATH, by CHARLES MARIE RENE LECONTE DE LISLE



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THE LION'S DEATH, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: A hunter old whom once the desert air
Last Line: And like the lion make an end of all?
Subject(s): Animals; Death; Hearts; Lions; Dead, The


A HUNTER old whom once the desert air
And bulls' blood pricked to hunger, then he scann'd
The sea beyond him and the lonely sand
With sullen roaring from his rocky lair.
Then like a damned soul in dire Hell's despair
For the lewd pleasure of a gaping band,
He came and went within a cage, his grand
Rude head wall-thwarted in his pacing there.

Such being his vile doom perpetual
All meat and drink the savage beast put by
Till his wild soul in death o'er-leapt the wall.
O rebel to the world's captivity,
Weak heart still caged, why wilt thou too not die
And like the lion make an end of all?





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