Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MITHRIDATES PRESENTING BERENICE WITH THE CUP OF POISON, by ALFRED TENNYSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MITHRIDATES PRESENTING BERENICE WITH THE CUP OF POISON, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh! Berenice, lorn and lost
Last Line: And then farewell -- farewell for ever!
Alternate Author Name(s): Tennyson, Lord Alfred; Tennyson, 1st Baron; Tennyson Of Aldworth And Farringford, Baron
Subject(s): Mithridates Vi Eupator (d. 63 B.c.); Mithrodates The Great


OH! Berenice, lorn and lost,
This wretched soul with shame is bleeding:
Oh! Berenice, I am tost
By griefs, like wave to wave succeeding.

Fall'n Pontus! all her fame is gone,
And dim the splendour of her glory;
Low in the west her evening sun,
And dark the lustre of her story.

Dead is the wreath that round her brow
The glowing hands of Honour braided;
What change of fate can wait her now,
Her sceptre spoil'd, her throne degraded?

And wilt thou, wilt thou basely go,
My love, thy life, thy country shaming,
In all the agonies of woe,
Mid madd'ning shouts, and standards flaming?

And wilt thou, wilt thou basely go,
Proud Rome's triumphal car adorning?
Hark! hark! I hear thee answer 'No!'
The proffer'd life of thraldom scorning.

Lone, crownless, destitute, and poor,
My heart with bitter pain is burning;
So thick a cloud of night hangs o'er,
My daylight into darkness turning.

Yet though my spirit, bow'd with ill,
Small hope from future fortune borrows;
One glorious thought shall cheer me still,
That thou art free from abject sorrows --

Art free for ever from the strife
Of slavery's pangs and tearful anguish;
For life is death, and death is life,
To those whose limbs in fetters languish.

Fill high the bowl! the draught is thine!
The Romans! -- now thou need'st not heed them!
'T is nobler than the noblest wine --
It gives thee back to fame and freedom!

The scalding tears my cheek bedew;
My life, my love, my all -- we sever!
One last embrace, one long adieu,
And then farewell -- farewell for ever!







Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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