THEY built rosy castles, And big, winged bulls, And red-robed wizards Worked miracles, When the kings rode hunting With javelin and bow Down the road to Nineveh A long time ago! They sat on their saddles As good men sit, Long in the stirrup, Light on the bit, Their proud lips a-curling, Their crimped beards just so, Down the road to Nineveh A long time ago! And what did they ride for? Great beasts of stress Lithe and tremendous— Lions! no less! The big black-maned beauties That prowled to and fro Down the road to Nineveh A long time ago! For why should we doubt it? Still does each chief Fill them with arrows— In bas-relief, And fine rough-and-tumbles The grim carvings show Down the road to Nineveh A long time ago! Then hear us, O Nimrod, That we may find Heart such as theirs was (Jumps still are blind); Send cubs stout as lions, The sort they laid low Down the road to Nineveh A long time ago! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WRITTEN AT AN INN AT HENLEY by WILLIAM SHENSTONE AT SENLIS ONCE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN SUNKEN GARDENS by ADA VAN LOON BRANDOW CENTENNIAL HYMN by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT SECOND BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 20 by THOMAS CAMPION |