Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE LOTUS OF THE NILE, by ARTHUR WENTWORTH HAMILTON EATON First Line: Proud, languid lily of the sacred nile Last Line: Then carved its sphinx and reared its pyramid. Variant Title(s): The Egyptian Lotus Subject(s): Lotus; Lotos | ||||||||
(IN AN ARTIFICIAL POND) PROUD, languid lily of the sacred Nile, 'T is strange to see thee on our Western wave, Far from those sandy shores, that mile on mile, Papyrus-plumed, stretch silent as the grave. O'er dark, mysterious pool and sheltered bay, And round deep dreaming isles thy leaves expand, Where Alexandrian barges plough their way, Full-freighted, to the ancient Theban land. On Karnak's lofty columns thou wert seen, And spacious Luxor's temple-palace walls, Each royal Pharaoh's emeralded queen Chose thee to deck her glittering banquet halls; Yet thou art blossoming on this fairy lake As regally, amidst these common things, As on the shores where Nile's soft ripples break, As in the halls of old Egyptian kings. Thy grace charms, day by day, men's curious eyes, But the whose outer senses thought has probed, Looking at thee, sees stately temples rise About him, and long lines of priests, white-robed, That chant strange music as they slowly pace Dim columned aisles; hears, trembling overhead, Echoes that lose themselves in that vast space, Of Egypt's solemn ritual for the dead. Ay, deeper thoughts than these, though undefined, Wake in the quickened soul at sight of thee, For this majestic orient faith enshrined Man's yearning hope of immortality. And thou wert Egypt's symbol of the power That under all decaying form lies hid; The old world worshipped thee, O Lotus flower, Then carved its sphinx and reared its pyramid. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON A JAPANESE NO DANCE by ALICE ROGERS HAGER THE LOTOS AND THE LILY: THE LOTOS by PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE THE LOTOS FLOWER by HEINRICH HEINE THE NILE by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING THE WEDDING OF THE ROSE AND THE LOTOS by NICHOLAS VACHEL LINDSAY THE LOTUS POND by JANET B. MONTGOMERY MCGOVERN MOUNTAIN LOTUS by ISABEL NEILL A LOTUS BLOOM by JOHN BANISTER TABB PRAY FOR THE DEAD by ARTHUR WENTWORTH HAMILTON EATON |
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