Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SHUHUR, JEYPORE, by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: A lonely grave, far from all kindred ties Last Line: And pine and perish 'neath a foreign sky. Alternate Author Name(s): L. E. L.; Maclean, Letitia Subject(s): Graves; India; Tombs; Tombstones | ||||||||
A lonely grave, far from all kindred ties; Lonely like life, and that was past afar From friends and home. 'Tis well that youth has hopes That gladden with the future present hours; Or else how sorrowful would seem the time Which parts the young bird from its parent nest, To wing its passage through the dreary world. Alas! hope is not prophecy, -- we dream, But rarely does the glad fulfillment come: We leave our land, and we return no more; Or come again, the weary and the worn. But yonder grave, where the dark branches droop, The only sign of mourning, early closed O'er the young English stranger; -- former love And other days were warm about his heart, When it grew cold forever ....... And many are the tombs that scatter'd lie Alone neglected, o'er the Indian plains -- 'Tis the worst curse, on this our social world, Fortune's perpetual presence -- wealth, which now Is like life's paramount necessity. For this, the household band is broken up, The hearth made desolate -- and sundered hearts Left to forget or break. For this the earth Is covered with a thousand English graves, By whose side none remain to weep or pray; Alas! we do mistake, and vainly buy Our golden idols at too great a price. I'd rather share the lowest destiny, That dares not look beyond the present day, But treads on native ground, breathes native air, -- Than win the wealth of worlds beyond the wave; And pine and perish 'neath a foreign sky. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SURVIVOR AMONG GRAVES by RANDALL JARRELL SUBJECTED EARTH by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE GRAVE OF MRS. HEMANS by CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER THOSE GRAVES IN ROME by LARRY LEVIS NOT TO BE DWELLED ON by HEATHER MCHUGH ONE LAST DRAW OF THE PIPE by PAUL MULDOON ETRUSCAN TOMB by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS ENDING WITH A LINE FROM LEAR by MARVIN BELL CALYPSO WATCHING THE OCEAN by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON |
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