Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BIRTHDAY VERSES; WRITTEN IN A CHILD'S ALBUM, by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Twas sung of old in hut and hall Last Line: Into the inexorable sea. Subject(s): Birthdays | ||||||||
'T WAS sung of old in hut and hall How once a king in evil hour Hung musing o'er his castle wall, And, lost in idle dreams, let fall Into the sea his ring of power. Then, let him sorrow as he might, And pledge his daughter and his throne To who restored the jewel bright, The broken spell would ne'er unite; The grim old ocean held its own. Those awful powers on man that wait, On man, the beggar or the king, To hovel bare or hall of state A magic ring that masters fate With each succeeding birthday bring. Therein are set four jewels rare: Pearl winter, summer's ruby blaze, Spring's emerald, and, than all more fair, Fall's pensive opal, doomed to bear A heart of fire bedreamed with haze. To him the simple spell who knows The spirits of the ring to sway, Fresh power with every sunrise flows, And royal pursuivants are those That fly his mandates to obey. But he that with a slackened will Dreams of things past or things to be, From him the charm is slipping still, And drops, ere he suspect the ill, Into the inexorable sea. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BIRTHDAY (AUTOBIOGRAPHY) by ROBINSON JEFFERS POEM FOR MY TWENTIETH BIRTHDAY by KENNETH KOCH A HAPPY BIRTHDAY by TED KOOSER FOR A SOLDIER'S BIRTHDAY by EVE MERRIAM PICTURE THIS:/ FOR THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH THE QUEEN MOTHER by ANDREW MOTION POEM FOR MY BIRTHDAY by LISEL MUELLER AFTER THE BURIAL by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL |
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