I KNEW it well; an enemy has been near. Perhaps I may have met him at your door; Perhaps I may have stood with him before Those canvasses where Beauty rises clear Of mist and shadow, and mortal forms appear Immortal, for mortality to adore. But what was that distilment he could pour Unchidden, in the porches of your ear? It was the kinsman of the royal Dane, No stranger at his gates, who did infuse The drops that lulled a noble heart and brain To untimely silence: O the sharper pain, If it should be a kinsman in the Muse Who came to wound me -- and worse still, to stain. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CAPTAIN; AFTER READING HENLEY'S INVICTUS by DOROTHEA DAY WERE I BUT HIS OWN WIFE by ELLEN MARY PATRICK DOWNING IN HARDWOOD GROVES by ROBERT FROST SONNET: TO FANNY by JOHN KEATS RORY O'MORE; OR, ALL FOR GOOD LUCK by SAMUEL LOVER THE HAND OF LINCOLN by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN THOUGHT OF A BRITON ON THE SUBJUGATION OF SWITZERLAND by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH |