 |
|
I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive;
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial
Proof of the pride and power of being alive;
Men's biologic urge to readjust
The Map of Europe, Lord of Hosts, increase;
Lift up their hearts in large destructive lust;
And crown their heads with blind vindictive Peace.
The Prince of Darkness to the Cenotaph
Bowed. As he walked away I heard him laugh.
Siegfried Sassoon
XVII
Who will believe my verse in time to come,
If it were fill'd with your most high deserts?
Though yet, heaven knows, it is but as a tomb
Which hides your life and shows not half your parts.
If I could write the beauty of your eyes
And in fresh numbers number all your graces,
The age to come would say "This poet lies:
Such heavenly touches ne'er touch'd earthly faces".
So should my papers yellow'd with their age
Be scorn'd like old men of less truth than tongue,
And your true rights be term'd a poet's rage
And stretched metre of an antique song:
But were some child of yours alive that time,
You should live twice;- in it and in my rhyme.
William Shakespeare
| Front page | Address | Epigrams | Family | Career | Research | Publications | Meetings | Links
Performed by The Consort of Musicke, 1981.
From Madrigals and Wedding Songs for Diana, CDA66019 of Hyperion Records, London.
in stereo, 1.4 MB. |
in mono, 384 KB.