Thou that on every field of earth and sky Didst hunt for death, who seemed to flee and fear- How great and greatly fallen dost thou lie Slain in the desert by some wandering spear: 'Not here, alas!' may England say, 'not here, Nor in this quarrel was it meet to die, But in that dreadful battle drawing nigh To thunder through the Afghan passes sheer, Like Aias by the ships shouldst thou have stood, And in some glen have stayed the stream of flight, The bulwark of thy people and their shield, When Indus or when Helmund ran with blood; Till back into the northland and the night The smitten eagle scattered from the field. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FAIR HARVARD by GEORGE SANTAYANA THE CHOIR INVISIBLE by MARY ANN EVANS BY THE PACIFIC OCEAN by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER FRATER AVE ATQUE VALE by ALFRED TENNYSON DEAD LOVE by MARY MATHEWS ADAMS WHAT IS LONDON'S LAST NEW LION? by THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY S. BARTHOLOMEW by JOSEPH BEAUMONT A REPLY TO AN IMITATION OF THE SECOND ODE OF HORACE by RICHARD BENTLEY |