OH, haughty Thebes! In shadowy days of yore, Where history faintly blends with mythologic lore, I was thy hidden terror, yet, revealed, I traced a stain of woe upon thy glittering shield. Fair Palestine! I was put forth in thee Amid a scene of gay festivity; Yet brought by me a sullen frown, I ween, Was on the brow of my originator seen. 'Tis mine to give thee strange and needless toil, For Gordian knots I weave in many a tangled coil: I shun publicity, for I declare, That if you speak my name, I vanish into air. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BALLAD OF HUMAN LIFE by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES A SEA STORY by EMILY HENRIETTA HICKEY THE ORIGIN OF DIDACTIC POETRY by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL OF A FAIR LADY PLAYING WITH A SNAKE by EDMUND WALLER AGNOSTIC TO MYSTIC by WILLIAM ROSE BENET TAKE YOUR CHOICE: OR HERE'S GRANTLAND RICE'S METHOD by BERTON BRALEY |