ARTHUR WENTWORTH HAMILTON EATON
(NYMPHÆA LOTUS)
PROUD, languid lily of the sacred Nile,'Tis strange to see thee on our western wave,Far from those sandy shores that, many a mile,Papyrus-plumed, lie silent as the grave.O'er dark, mysterious pool and sheltered bay,And midst soft-sleeping isles thy leaves expand,Where Alexandrian barges plow their way,Full freighted, to the ancient Theban land.On Karnak's lofty columns thou wert seen,And Luxor's spacious temple palace walls,Each royal Pharaoh's emeralded queenChose thee to deck her glittering banquet halls;Yet thou art blossoming in this fairy lakeAs regally, amidst these common things,As on the shores where Nile's soft ripples break,As in the halls of old Egyptian kings.Thy beauty daily lures men's curious eyes,But he who finds in thought his richest feasts,Looking at thee, sees stately temples riseAbout him, and long lines of white-robed priests,That chant strange music as they slowly paceDim, columned aisles; hears trembling over headEchoes that lose themselves in that vast space,Of Egypt's solemn ritual for the dead.Aye deeper thoughts than these, though undefined,Wake in reflective souls at sight of thee,For this majestic orient faith enshrinedMan's yearning hope of immortality.And thou wert Egypt's symbol of the powerThat under all decaying forms lies hid;The old world worshipped thee, O Lotus flower!Then carved its Sphinx and reared its pyramid.
PROUD, languid lily of the sacred Nile,'Tis strange to see thee on our western wave,Far from those sandy shores that, many a mile,Papyrus-plumed, lie silent as the grave.O'er dark, mysterious pool and sheltered bay,And midst soft-sleeping isles thy leaves expand,Where Alexandrian barges plow their way,Full freighted, to the ancient Theban land.On Karnak's lofty columns thou wert seen,And Luxor's spacious temple palace walls,Each royal Pharaoh's emeralded queenChose thee to deck her glittering banquet halls;Yet thou art blossoming in this fairy lakeAs regally, amidst these common things,As on the shores where Nile's soft ripples break,As in the halls of old Egyptian kings.Thy beauty daily lures men's curious eyes,But he who finds in thought his richest feasts,Looking at thee, sees stately temples riseAbout him, and long lines of white-robed priests,That chant strange music as they slowly paceDim, columned aisles; hears trembling over headEchoes that lose themselves in that vast space,Of Egypt's solemn ritual for the dead.Aye deeper thoughts than these, though undefined,Wake in reflective souls at sight of thee,For this majestic orient faith enshrinedMan's yearning hope of immortality.And thou wert Egypt's symbol of the powerThat under all decaying forms lies hid;The old world worshipped thee, O Lotus flower!Then carved its Sphinx and reared its pyramid.
PROUD, languid lily of the sacred Nile,'Tis strange to see thee on our western wave,Far from those sandy shores that, many a mile,Papyrus-plumed, lie silent as the grave.
PROUD, languid lily of the sacred Nile,
'Tis strange to see thee on our western wave,
Far from those sandy shores that, many a mile,
Papyrus-plumed, lie silent as the grave.
O'er dark, mysterious pool and sheltered bay,And midst soft-sleeping isles thy leaves expand,Where Alexandrian barges plow their way,Full freighted, to the ancient Theban land.
O'er dark, mysterious pool and sheltered bay,
And midst soft-sleeping isles thy leaves expand,
Where Alexandrian barges plow their way,
Full freighted, to the ancient Theban land.
On Karnak's lofty columns thou wert seen,And Luxor's spacious temple palace walls,Each royal Pharaoh's emeralded queenChose thee to deck her glittering banquet halls;
On Karnak's lofty columns thou wert seen,
And Luxor's spacious temple palace walls,
Each royal Pharaoh's emeralded queen
Chose thee to deck her glittering banquet halls;
Yet thou art blossoming in this fairy lakeAs regally, amidst these common things,As on the shores where Nile's soft ripples break,As in the halls of old Egyptian kings.
Yet thou art blossoming in this fairy lake
As regally, amidst these common things,
As on the shores where Nile's soft ripples break,
As in the halls of old Egyptian kings.
Thy beauty daily lures men's curious eyes,But he who finds in thought his richest feasts,Looking at thee, sees stately temples riseAbout him, and long lines of white-robed priests,
Thy beauty daily lures men's curious eyes,
But he who finds in thought his richest feasts,
Looking at thee, sees stately temples rise
About him, and long lines of white-robed priests,
That chant strange music as they slowly paceDim, columned aisles; hears trembling over headEchoes that lose themselves in that vast space,Of Egypt's solemn ritual for the dead.
That chant strange music as they slowly pace
Dim, columned aisles; hears trembling over head
Echoes that lose themselves in that vast space,
Of Egypt's solemn ritual for the dead.
Aye deeper thoughts than these, though undefined,Wake in reflective souls at sight of thee,For this majestic orient faith enshrinedMan's yearning hope of immortality.
Aye deeper thoughts than these, though undefined,
Wake in reflective souls at sight of thee,
For this majestic orient faith enshrined
Man's yearning hope of immortality.
And thou wert Egypt's symbol of the powerThat under all decaying forms lies hid;The old world worshipped thee, O Lotus flower!Then carved its Sphinx and reared its pyramid.
And thou wert Egypt's symbol of the power
That under all decaying forms lies hid;
The old world worshipped thee, O Lotus flower!
Then carved its Sphinx and reared its pyramid.