Classic and Contemporary Poetry
DREAM O' NILE, by CHARLES V. H. ROBERTS First Line: Egyptian baccharis! I dream a dream Last Line: Souls rise and risehistory rests upon thy myrrh. Subject(s): Egypt; Nile (river); Pyramids | ||||||||
Egyptian baccharis! I dream a dream Through topaz glow, in the chalice of thy royal mysteries: I lay o'er barge upon the Nile, and glean The agony of thy fading centuries. A fluttered flight with eyes wide o'er to see, I dropped anon into entangling twilights, Past nymphs in gossamer gowns out-floating free, Where other forms and forces try to solve The laughter in thy Labyrinthsthe silvered nights Around thy granite temples,thence evolve To gardens flecked with robes in Ptolemys' rites. Adown these shimmering mystic paths I walked; To painted kings and jewelled queens I talked, In irised chambers of old revelry. I sipped from cups moulded o'er the Chrysolite; Played hide and seek with rapturous Aphrodite; Pressed amorous lips and caressive breasts all ivory. Nubians with flowers and with peacock fans, Adrift is Cleopatra and her love-bought bliss: The jealous moon winks back her tears and wanes: The queen athirsts for power in the Roman's kiss. Low a purple lilac o'er the Nile, Strangely chill the sandy winds tonight; Richest monuments and pylons there erewhile, And cold red obelisks of dead divinities; Satyrs a-creep from out the Sphinx's eyes, and sight To me on senseless stones great Histories. Afar to Lybian desert a lute string trilled, Drowned by the wingéd sweep of Basilisk; A-near a crocodile the air in terror filled; Peered o'er the banks the monster Hippogriffs. I saw the stars all trembling in the heaven, Wan wreaths around the Monoliths atwist: From amber foam of Nile I counted seven, As birds flew out the temples' weary glyphs. The Pyramids huge, fiercely black in hue, Stood half way down in moonlit silver rayed, Mighty diadems of Ancients' thew; Within Sarcophagi e'er mummies' sprites a-preyed. Hushed and silenced by the splendor of this view, Struck fear dumb Imy Dream O' Nile dismayed. O River, sleep swaying scents in thy wafted tresses, Past vanishedall away thy dynasties "That Were," Same are thy ways and still thine old caresses: Souls rise and riseHistory rests upon thy myrrh. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EVENING OF THE PYRAMIDS by NORMAN DUBIE SONNET TO MAN-MADE GRANDEUR by JOHN UPDIKE TRUMMERFRAUEN (THE RUBBLE-WOMEN) by ELEANOR WILNER PELTERS OF PYRAMIDS by RICHARD HENGIST (HENRY) HORNE THE SCARAB by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS THE SONG OF THE PYRAMID-BUILDERS by HARRY HIBBARD KEMP THE GREAT PYRAMID by HERMAN MELVILLE PYRAMIDS by LLOYD FRANK MERRELL THE WRITER by JOHN COWPER POWYS A PROPOSAL by CHARLES V. H. ROBERTS |
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