WARRIOR! whose image on thy tomb, With shield and crested head, Sleep soundly in the purple gloom By the stained window shed; The records of thy name and race Have faded from the stone, Yet, through a cloud of years, I trace What thou hast been and done. A banner, from its flashing spear, Flung out o'er many a fight; A war-cry ringing far and clear, And strong to turn the flight; An arm that bravely bore the lance On for the holy shrine; A haughty heart and a kingly glance -- Chief! were not these things thine? A lofty place where leaders sate Around the council board; In festal halls a chair of state When the blood-red wine was poured: A name that drew a prouder tone From herald, harp, and bard: Surely these things were all thine own -- So hadst thou thy reward. Woman! whose sculptured form at rest By the armed knight is laid, With meek hands folded o'er a breast In matron robes arrayed; What was thy tale? -- O gentle mate Of him, the bold and free, Bound unto his victorious fate, What bard hath sung of thee? He wooed a bright and burning star -- Thine was the void, the gloom, The straining eye that followed far His fast-receding plume; The heart-sick listening while his steed Sent echoes on the breeze; The pang -- but when did Fame take heed Of griefs obscure as these? Thy silent and secluded hours Through many a lonely day While bending o'er thy broidered flowers, With spirits far away; Thy weeping midnight prayers for him Who fought on Syrian plains, Thy watchings till the torch grew dim -- These fill no minstrel strains. A still, sad life was thine! -- long years With tasks unguerdoned fraught -- Deep, quiet love, submissive tears, Vigils of anxious thought; Prayer at the cross in fervor poured, Alms to the pilgrim given -- Oh! happy, happier than thy lord, In that lone path to heaven! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOVEMBER STARS by SARA TEASDALE TO HIS SON, VINCENT CORBET, ON HIS THIRD BIRTHDAY by RICHARD CORBET FAIRIES' SONG by THOMAS RANDOLPH UNDERWOODS: BOOK 1: 5. THE HOUSE BEAUTIFUL by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON DERELICT; A REMINISCENCE OF R.L.S.'S TREASURE ISLAND by YOUNG EWING ALLISON MIRACLE by LIBERTY HYDE BAILEY |