The king stood bowed within the cloister crypt Above the scribe who blent the green and blue With lines of scarlet color burning through, As though the quill in Malcolm's heart were dipped; And like the letters curved to wings flame-tipped, His thoughts about the pearl of women drew, Made lovelier by the radiant Life that grew Fair as a rose along the glowing script. The hands that wrought the missal for the queen Have dropped to dust, and over heath and hill The royal hunter never more will ride; But through the ages, bright with golden sheen, Upon the leaves of painted parchment still Love and the light-illumined Word abide. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOW MY HEART SINKS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE ROMANCE OF THE SWAN'S NEST by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING DYING SPEECH OF AN OLD PHILOSOPHER by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR HAWTHORNE by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW THE RUBAIYAT, 1879 EDITION: 7 by OMAR KHAYYAM MINNIE AND WINNIE by ALFRED TENNYSON |