Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DARA, by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: When persia's sceptre trembled in a hand Last Line: Two added provinces blest dara's sway. Subject(s): Iran; Persia | ||||||||
WHEN Persia's sceptre trembled in a hand Wilted with harem-heats, and all the land Was hovered over by those vulture ills That snuff decaying empire from afar, Then, with a nature balanced as a star, Dara arose, a shepherd of the hills. He who had governed fleecy subjects well Made his own village by the selfsame spell Secure and quiet as a guarded fold; Then, gathering strength by slow and wise degrees Under his sway, to neighbor villages Order returned, and faith and justice old. Now when it fortuned that a king more wise Endued the realm with brain and hands and eyes, He sought on every side men brave and just; And having heard our mountain shepherd's praise, How he refilled the mould of elder days, To Dara gave a satrapy in trust. So Dara shepherded a province wide, Nor in his viceroy's sceptre took more pride Than in his crook before; but envy finds More food in cities than on mountains bare; And the frank sun of natures clear and rare Breeds poisonous fogs in low and marish minds. Soon it was hissed into the royal ear, That, though wise Dara's province, year by year, Like a great sponge, sucked wealth and plenty up, Yet, when he squeezed it at the king's behest, Some yellow drops, more rich than all the rest, Went to the filling of his private cup. For proof, they said, that, wheresoe'er he went, A chest, beneath whose weight the camel bent, Went with him; and no mortal eye had seen What was therein, save only Dara's own; But, when 't was opened, all his tent was known To glow and lighten with heaped jewels' sheen. The King set forth for Dara's province straight; There, as was fit, outside the city's gate, The viceroy met him with a stately train, And there, with archers circled, close at hand, A camel with the chest was seen to stand: The King's brow reddened, for the guilt was plain. "Open me here," he cried, "this treasure-chest!" 'T was done; and only a worn shepherd's vest Was found therein. Some blushed and hung the head; Not Dara; open as the sky's blue roof He stood, and "O my lord, behold the proof That I was faithful to my trust," he said. "To govern men, lo all the spell I had! My soul in these rude vestments ever clad Still to the unstained past kept true and leal, Still on these plains could breathe her mountain air, And fortune's heaviest gifts serenely bear, Which bend men from their truth and make them reel. "For ruling wisely I should have small skill, Were I not lord of simple Dara still; That sceptre kept, I could not lose my way." Strange dew in royal eyes grew round and bright, And strained the throbbing lids; before 't was night Two added provinces blest Dara's sway. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE HANDKERCHIEFS OF KHAIBAR KHAN by JOHN UPDIKE HARMOSAN by RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH PERSIAN [ORIENTAL] ECLOGUES: 2. HASSAN; OR, THE CAMEL-DRIVER by WILLIAM COLLINS (1721-1759) PERSIA by HENRY CLARENCE KENDALL LALLA ROOKH: THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS by THOMAS MOORE PERSIA TO EUROPE by EDNA DEAN PROCTOR THE KING AND THE COTTAGER; A PERSIAN LEGEND by JOHN GODFREY SAXE AFTER THE BURIAL by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL |
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