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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE EAGLE AND THE KINGS, by VICTOR MARIE HUGO Poet's Biography First Line: An eagle sought the desert's spring beside / a lion's cave Last Line: "and keep the sky." Subject(s): Birds; Courts & Courtiers; Eagles; Murder; Royal Court Life; Royalty; Kings; Queens | |||
An eagle sought the desert's spring beside A lion's cave: Meanwhile, two Kings (God willed it so), espied The sparkling wave. Beneath tall palms, where pilgrims quench their drought Fresh strength to gain, These Kings, sworn foemen, fought their duel out 'Till both were slain. The eagle hovered o'er each lifeless brow, And, mocking, said: "Ye found the universe too small, and now Your souls have fled! O Princes, lately jubilant! your bones To-morrow must Be mixed with indistinguishable stones Amid the dust! Ye fools! what gained ye by your savage feud? Behold, the end! I, the proud eagle, haunt this solitude— The lion's friend. From the same spring we drink, each morn and eve— Kings, he and I: Hill, dale, and forest depths to him I leave, And keep the sky." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BOTHWELL: PART 4 by WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN IN PHARAOH'S TOMB by HAYDEN CARRUTH FOR THE INVESTITURE by CECIL DAY LEWIS ELEGY ASKING THAT IT BE THE LAST; FOR INGRID ERHARDT, 1951-1971 by NORMAN DUBIE L,ENVOI: IN OUR TIME by ERNEST HEMINGWAY VASHTI by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON LINES ON CARMEN SYLVA by EMMA LAZARUS TO CARMEN SYLVA (QUEEN OF ROUMANIA) by EMMA LAZARUS A COUP D'ETAT; AN INCIDENT IN THE NIGHT OF DECEMBER 4, 1851 by VICTOR MARIE HUGO |
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