Be Still. The Hanging Gardens were a Dream
Be Still. The Hanging Gardens were a Dream
Original Text
The Poems of Trumbull Stickney, ed. George Cabot Lodge, William Vaughn Moody, and John Ellerton Lodge (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1905): 92. PS 3537 T525 1905 Robarts Library.
2That over Persian roses flew to kiss
4Troy never was, nor green Skamander stream.
5Provence and Troubadour are merest lies
6The glorious hair of Venice was a beam
8The world is very old and nothing is.
9Be still. Thou foolish thing, thou canst not wake,
10Nor thy tears wedge thy soldered lids apart,
11But patter in the darkness of thy heart.
12Thy brain is plagued. Thou art a frighted owl
13Blind with the light of life thou 'ldst not forsake,
14And Error loves and nourishes thy soul.
Notes
1] Hanging Gardens: those of Babylon, associated with Semiramis. Back to Line
3] Semiramis: queen of Assyria and wife of Ninus, founder of Nineveh. Back to Line
7] Titian: Tiziano Vecellio, Renaissance Italian painter (1477-1576). Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1902
Publication Notes
Dramatic Verses (1902), p. 83
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1998.
Rhyme