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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MEDIEVAL TAPESTRY, by DON FARRAN First Line: A sentry paces the postern-gate Last Line: M'lords, m'lords, will you lift your cups! | |||
A sentry paces the postern-gate, Watching for those who are coming late. The kitchen is dim with beechfire smoke And peopled with all the servant-folk; The Yule-log burns in its bright red flames And ghostly shadows are filled with names: Richard, The Lion ... Peter, the odd ... Men in armor ... and men of God ... All have come back from the distant past Through the postern-gate, at last, at last, To bend their heads and be still, be still, While Three Wise Men come over the hill. Presents are laid at One's tiny feet. Then silence is gone ... for men must eat. And laughter rings to the oaken beams While into the hall a long line streams Bearing food like an old-time fable, Piling it on the long oak table: A great wild boar in a silver boat With a rosy apple in his throat, The meat of a doe, and wild white hares Caught in the loop of a hunter's snares ... Waiting the teeth of the hungry men Who, gone a year, have come back again. So stand a moment, my lords, my lords, And spill some wine on these table-boards. A year has gone ... and all its pages Are waiting now the dust of ages; The crops were poor and the rents were high, But life is sweet to the day you die! Another year ... and another day ... The good must go and the bad must stay; Let no man weep and let no man moan ... We shall give thanks for the things we own -- The wolf-hounds bitch has given us pups ... M'lords, M'lords, will you lift your cups! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ARCHIMEDES LAST FORAY by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET AN INVOCATION; SONG, FR. REMORSE by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE SONNET TO A FRIEND WHO ASKED, HOW I FELT ... MY INFANT TO ME by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE AN INDIGNATION DINNER by JAMES DAVID CORROTHERS WHEN SHE COMES HOME by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY A JAPANESE DWARF TREE by ISABEL ANDERSON INVITATION by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 1 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH |
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