On lonely headlands at a magic cry, The vanished fortress of a mountain king Shadows the cliff, and battle trumpets ring A clear call to adventure, stern and high; Upon a starry quest armed knights ride by Where, fairer than the wizard fires of Spring, The angels of the Grail rise wing on wing In a wild dawn against the eastern sky. Then turrets sway; the ragged bastion fails, A wind-blown mist along the darkening air; The plumed host sleep on Snowdon's cloudy scar; And from a haunted tower the raven wails Of shining hope and deeds that were so fair Beneath the splendor of the Dragon Star. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: ALONZO CHURCHILL by EDGAR LEE MASTERS MERSA by KEITH CASTELLAINE DOUGLAS KEEP A-PLUGGING AWAY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR UNDERSTANDING by NIXON WATERMAN MALIGNED MORTALITY by WILLIAM ROSE BENET CLIFF DWELLER LYRICS: THE SOLOIST by BERTON BRALEY OCTOBER, 1866 by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT GLIMPSES OF ITALY: 2. THE CLOISTER GARDEN AT CERTOSA by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON |