Here in a little rustic hermitage Alfred the Saxon King, Alfred the Great, Postponed the cares of king-craft to translate The Consolations of the Roman sage. Here Geoffrey Chaucer in his ripe old age Wrote the unrivalled Tales, which soon or late The venturous hand that strives to imitate Vanquished must fall on the unfinished page. Two kings were they, who ruled by right divine, And both supreme; one in the realm of Truth, One in the realm of Fiction and of Song. What prince hereditary of their line, Uprising in the strength and flush of youth, Their glory shall inherit and prolong? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE DEATH OF GRANT by AMBROSE BIERCE THE WAY TO ARCADY by HENRY CUYLER BUNNER TRUST IN GOD by NORMAN MACLEOD (1812-1872) UPON THE IMAGE OF DEATH by ROBERT SOUTHWELL AT ELLIS ISLAND by MARGARET LIVINGSTON CHANLER ALDRICH |