Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE STORM-KING, by GRACE DENIO LITCHFIELD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE STORM-KING, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Stand back! Stand back / from my giant track!
Last Line: I am monarch, and earth must obey!
Subject(s): Courts & Courtiers; Earth; Storms; Royal Court Life; Royalty; Kings; Queens; World


STAND back! Stand back
From my giant track!
Sweep the grey dust from the way!
See the pale grass bend!
See the great trees rend!
Hurrah! I am Lord of the day!
I am Master and King
Over everything—
I am Monarch, and Earth must obey!

Weave me a gown
Of yon cloud's black frown,
Which shall keep me warm as I go.
Pluck me a whip
From the spars of yon ship
And a staff from that forest below,
And this tall church-spire
Is the tip I desire
For the arrow I set in my bow.

I am King! I am King!
The whole world shall ring
My mad coronation bell!
Cities are shaking.
Men's hearts are quaking,
As they quake before Azrael.
I am coming! I come!
Beat, beat the drum!
Let the echoes my advent tell!

Hurrah, oh, hurrah!
Beneath moon and star
How will I revel at night!
I will build me a fire
Where hills stand higher,
And scream and exult in its light,
And write out my name,
In red letters of flame,
In cowering mortals' sight.

I hiss and I mutter,
And none knows if I utter
Or blessing, or curse, or prayer.
None knows what I speak;
Though I storm and I shriek,
None interprets the message I bear.
I rave and I rage,
And Earth's wisest sage
Hears no more than the brute in his lair!

I am King! I am King!
And to me one thing
Is beggar, or courtier, or pope.
I thread into rags
The proudest of flags,
Or the end of the hangman's rope.
I scoff in lords' faces.
I jeer in high places.
I shout on the graveyard's slope.

Oh, delight! Oh, joy!
The world is my toy!
Hurrah! I am Lord of the day!
I rule all alone
On my self-raised throne,
And none may dispute my sway!
Then stand back! Stand back!
Sweep the dust from my track!
I am Monarch, and Earth must obey!





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