DEATH sallied forth upon this fateful day Through Spain and England for a mighty prey, And struck two masters with a single blow And laid Cervantes and Will Shakespeare low! Two Captains in the very front of Fame, A valiant pair without a touch of shame, They laid them down contented both to go, Leaving behind the life all letters know:— Don Quixote's dreams and follies for the wise,— Hamlet and Lear and many another prize For thoughtful youth and unforgetting age Ranged at the footlights of a magic stage.— But when the two great master-ghosts did hark Together on the shore where Charon's bark Came feebly plashing for so grand a freight, Cervantes sweeping a salute of state Said, "Here must you precede me, Master Will!" And Shakespeare bowed: "You are Don Quixote still." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...I COULD TAKE by HAYDEN CARRUTH SAPPHIC SUICIDE NOTE by JAMES GALVIN MY BOY by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 6. SUNSET IN THE TROPICS by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON THE GOLDEN WEDDING OF STERLING AND SARAH LANIER by SIDNEY LANIER THE DOLL BELIEVERS by CLARENCE MAJOR |