Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, PALESTINE, 1192-1917, by ARTHUR GLYN PRYS-JONES


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

PALESTINE, 1192-1917, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Gallant knights of christendom riding out together
Last Line: For lion-heart hath come again to claim you for his own.
Subject(s): Fights; Knights & Knighthood; Palestine; War


I

GALLANT knights of Christendom riding out together
Down along the scorching plain, through the breathless noon;
Hauberk-mail of burnished steel, lance and plumea-feather,
And archers out of Cymric hills marching by the moon.

II

Brazen drums of Araby, strident bugles calling,
Calling from Damascus unto golden Babylon:
Saladin and Saphedin; and flaming Acre falling
And all the gates of Ascalon a-shimmer in the sun.

III

Towers of Jerusalem, marble-white and gleaming,
Pallid with the sorrow of the unredeeming dawn,
And silent in the tented sand—King Richard sick and dreaming,
Dreaming of your shadowed face—oh, weary and forlorn.

IV

Knights of Britain overseas, riding ever riding
From Gaza unto Olivet, though centuries have flown:
O Towers of Jerusalem—there is an end to biding,
For Lion-heart hath come again to claim you for his own.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net