Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CHILDREN OF LILITH, by GEORGE SYLVESTER VIERECK Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: Now tell me, villon, where is he Last Line: What, brother villon, shall we say? Subject(s): Children; Jesus Christ; Nero, Roman Emperor (37-68 A.d.); Rome, Italy; Villon, Francois (1431-1463); Childhood | ||||||||
Now tell me, Villon, where is he, Young Sporus, lord of Nero's lyre, Who marked with languid ecstasy The seven hills grow red with fire? And he whose madness choked the hall With roses and made night of day? Rome's rulers for an interval, Its boyish Caesars, where are they? Where is that city by the Nile, Reared by an emperor's bronze distress When the enamoured crocodile Clawed the Bithynian's loveliness? The argent pool whose listening trees Heard Echo's voice die far away? Narcissus, Hylas, Charmides, O brother Villon, where are they? Say where the Young Disciple roved When the Messiah's blood was spilt? None knows: for he whom Jesus loved Was not the rock on which He built. And tell me where is Gaveston, The second Edward's dear dismay? And Shakespeare's love, and Jonathan, O brother Villon, where are they? Made -- for what end? -- by God's great hand, Frail enigmatic shapes, they dwell In some phantastic borderland, But on the hitherside of hell! Children of Lilith, each a sprite, Yet wrought like us of Adam's clay, And when they haunt us in the night What, brother Villon, shall we say? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE A BALLAD OF ST. VITUS by GEORGE SYLVESTER VIERECK |
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