In the torch-lit city of Finias that flames on the brow of the South The Spear that divideth the heart is held in a brazen mouth— Arias the flame-white keeps it, he whose laughter is heard Where never a man has wandered, where never a god has stirred. High kings have sought it, great queens have sought it, poets have dreamed— And ever louder and louder the flame-white laughter of Arias streamed. For kingdoms shaken and queens forsaken and high hopes starved in their drouth, These are the torches ablaze on the walls of Finias that lightens the South. Forbear, O Arias, forbear, forbear—lift not the dreadful Spear— I had but dreamed of thee, Finias, Finias . . . now I am stricken . . . now I am here! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...RIDDLE: A BLACKSMITH by MOTHER GOOSE SONG, WRITTEN AT SEA, IN THE FIRST DUTCH WAR, 1665 ... by CHARLES SACKVILLE (1637-1706) THE PROCLAMATION by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER MODERN MANNERS by MARY (CUMBERLAND) ALCOCK TO MR. BOWRING ON HIS POETICAL TRANSLATIONS by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |