Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay revised and illustrated edition |
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 | Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay |  |
Said Set, the torturer, the king of hell-fire:—
“If you are the daughter of a god,
If you would change your name and take your throne,
Command these grave-stones to be made your bread
In my great name, proudly defying them.
I am the light-god, I am the king of the skies.”
“If you are the daughter of a god,
If you would change your name and take your throne,
Command these grave-stones to be made your bread
455
I am the light-god, I am the king of the skies.”
Her one virtue, a transcendent scorn,
Her one virtue: supernatural pride,
Thirst and hunger had made the great queen mad.
But still she cried and sang through the dusty court
With the musical voice of all the mothers of time,
And the flaming heart, too, on the iron scales cried:—
“Cleopatra died when Cæsar died.
I am the heart of Cæsar, nothing more.”
Then, then, she was given in mercy The Wisdom of Thoth.
Then, though her mummy-face was in the dust,
She whispered against the tempter one last spell—
And the pride that would not break conquered the stars:—
“Must Set still violate the judgment hall?
Let the cold scales be the sole judge of my heart.
And as for the kingship of the universe
Hail to the true light-god, Amon-Ra,
And his Roman son, Caius Julius Cæsar—
Egypt's dazzling bird of paradise,
The great cock-pheasant and peacock of the world!
Oh, wings of Cæsar, high above all mountains,
Wings of Cæsar above the purple seas.”
Her one virtue: supernatural pride,
Thirst and hunger had made the great queen mad.
But still she cried and sang through the dusty court
With the musical voice of all the mothers of time,
And the flaming heart, too, on the iron scales cried:—
“Cleopatra died when Cæsar died.
I am the heart of Cæsar, nothing more.”
Then, then, she was given in mercy The Wisdom of Thoth.
Then, though her mummy-face was in the dust,
She whispered against the tempter one last spell—
And the pride that would not break conquered the stars:—
“Must Set still violate the judgment hall?
Let the cold scales be the sole judge of my heart.
And as for the kingship of the universe
Hail to the true light-god, Amon-Ra,
And his Roman son, Caius Julius Cæsar—
Egypt's dazzling bird of paradise,
The great cock-pheasant and peacock of the world!
Oh, wings of Cæsar, high above all mountains,
Wings of Cæsar above the purple seas.”
| Collected poems by Vachel Lindsay | |