Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Original Text
Sonnets of José-Maria de Heredia, trans. Edward Robeson Taylor (San Francisco: W. Doxey, 1897): 81. Internet Archive
1On Egypt sleeping under sky of brass
2The twain gazed wistfully from terrace high,
3And watched the Flood, through Delta rolling nigh,
4Toward Sais or Bubastis slowly pass.
5The Roman felt beneath his thick cuirass
6Like captive soldier stilling infant's cry,
7On his triumphant bosom swooning lie
8Her form voluptuous in his close embrace.
9Turning her pallid head between his arms
10Toward him made mad by perfume's conquering charms,
11She raised her mouth and crystalline, fond eye;
12And o'er her bent, the Chieftain did behold
13In her great orbs, starry with dots of gold,
14Only a boundless sea where galleys fly.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
Data entry: Sharine Leung
Taylor, Edward Robeson :
Antony and Cleopatra
is a translation of
de Heredia, José-Maria:
Antoine et Cleopatre
RPO Edition
2012
Rhyme
Form