Onward the fatal hours and minutes steal, To-morrow shall his archery commence, And Troy's proud walls be left without defence, Open and mortal as Achilles' heel: To-morrow that old suitor shall exact Grim vengeance, now for ten years overdue - For Menelaus and OEnone too - Th' adulterer shall be slain - the city sackt: Night falls - The mighty bow lies still on board, And dips and rises with the heaving wave: The ship-light flickers on that thirsty hoard Of arrows, which the twelve-fold labourer gave; The night-watch halts beside it, pondering all The dreadful purport of his chief's recall. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE VOICE OF THE GRASS by SARAH ROBERTS BOYLE TO A MOSQUITO by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT THE HOUR OF DEATH by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS THE NYMPH COMPLAINING FOR THE DEATH OF HER FAUN [OR, FAWN] by ANDREW MARVELL A SEA-SPELL (FOR A PICTURE) by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI AN ESCAPE by LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE FIRST MUSICIAN'S SONG, FR. LAODICE AND DANAE by GORDON BOTTOMLEY |