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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HERO AND LEANDER, by JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER Poet's Biography First Line: Mark ye how yon time-worn towers Last Line: Of the unfathomable deep. Alternate Author Name(s): Schiller, Friedrich Von Subject(s): Dardanelles; Hero And Leander; Hellespont | |||
MARK ye how yon time-worn towers, In the golden noontide hours, Greet each other o'er the straits, Where the Hellespont rolls thundering Through the Dardanelles, wide sundering In his march their rocky gates? Hear ye how the stormy surges, Moaning, lash the naked rock, Asia's coast from Europe rending? Love fears not their sullen shock. Long had Hero and Leander, Pierced by Love's resistless arrow, Nursed a sweet and secret pang; Hero, fair as Hebe blooming, He, through wild and mountain roaming, Where the chase tumultuous rang. Fearful feuds, their sires dividing, Frowned upon the lovers' bliss, And the fruit of sweet affection Hung o'er danger's wild abyss. There, on Sestos' rocky tower, Where tempestuously each hour Wild the Euxine moans and swells, Sat the maiden, lone and weary, Gazing o'er the waters dreary, Where the fondly loved one dwells. Ah, no bridge across those billows Shall her trembling footsteps stay; No bold vessel stems the surges; Love alone hath found the way. Darkly now the waves were flowing, And she bade the torch bright-glowing From the lofty window gleam. The lone swimmer, faint and weary, Mid the waste of waters dreary Soon shall hail its guiding beam. Wildly curl the blackening billows; Every star is quenched on high, And the moan of sullen breakers Hoarsely speaks the tempest nigh. Wide o'er Pontus' plains extending Night now broods, and floods descending Burst from every angry cloud; Forked lightnings rend the heavens, And from out their rocky caverns All the storms howl wild and loud. Now the gloomy, giant billows To the skies in fury swell, And now yawn the deep abysses, Like the hungry jaws of Hell. And the tempest's wild lash urges Mountain-high the thundering surges Up the cliff and o'er the rock; Sullen moan the whitening breakers; E'en the oak-ribbed vessel staggers, Nor unshattered 'scapes the shock. Flickering in the wind that moment, Dies the torch's beacon-light; And the billows and the landing With wild horrors mock the sight. And the wild winds cease their blowing, And the steeds of Morn, bright-glowing, Climb their eastern path on high. Peaceful on his bed old Ocean Flows along with shining motion, Smiling to the smiling sky. And the waves with gentlest whisper Greet the rock and kiss the strand; And at length a corpse comes floating In their light wake up the sand. Ay, 't is he, -- one glance reveals him, -- He, who e'en in death is faithful! Faithful to his solemn vow! Not a groan, -- no sigh she utters, -- Not a tear her pale cheek moistens, -- Marble-cold she stands there now. O'er the dreary deep she gazes, Looks despairing to the sky, And a kindling fire illumines Her pale cheek and fading eye. In the breeze her loose robes flutter, -- From the battlement she plunges Down into the sounding wave; And the God of ocean proudly Bears on high the holy corpses, And himself prepares their grave. Then triumphantly the billows With their proud prey onward sweep, From the never-failing fountains Of the unfathomable deep. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MARCH OF XERXES by LUIGI ALAMANNI DARDANELLES by THEODORE AUBANEL THE HELLESPONT by THEOPHILE GAUTIER HERO AND LEANDER by JAMES HENRY LEIGH HUNT THE FLIGHT OF XERXES by MARIA JANE JEWSBURY XERXES by SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-1784) HERO AND LEANDER: THE LOVES OF HERO AND LEANDER by GRAMMATICUS MUSAEUS |
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