Idylls and Lyrics of The Nile By H. D. Rawnsley |
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| XXIX. |
| XXX. |
| XXXI. | XXXI NILE BOATS |
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 | Idylls and Lyrics of The Nile |  |
69
XXXI NILE BOATS
Tall towers of snow, or sloping from the gale,
With what majestic progress o'er the flood
Pass the great boats that hoist the single sail,
As if they felt the king was in their blood!—
With what majestic progress o'er the flood
Pass the great boats that hoist the single sail,
As if they felt the king was in their blood!—
As if their white similitude of form
To Upper Egypt's royal crown forth-told
With what ancestral powers they ruled the storm,
Stemmed Nile's red tide and fought the winds of old.
To Upper Egypt's royal crown forth-told
With what ancestral powers they ruled the storm,
Stemmed Nile's red tide and fought the winds of old.
Yet never more majestical they move,
Than when, through dazzling sun and flickering rain,
They flash by mounded village, palmy grove,
And shake their splendours o'er the Delta plain.
Than when, through dazzling sun and flickering rain,
They flash by mounded village, palmy grove,
And shake their splendours o'er the Delta plain.
For then the silver crown of ancient kings
By hands of might invisible is borne—
Alternate light and vast o'ershadowings,
In noiseless triumph thro' the leagues of corn.
By hands of might invisible is borne—
Alternate light and vast o'ershadowings,
In noiseless triumph thro' the leagues of corn.
70
But filled with mystery of magic power
Seem the great sails that brightened to the noon,
When very silent at the midnight hour
They glide and gleam against the silver moon.
Seem the great sails that brightened to the noon,
When very silent at the midnight hour
They glide and gleam against the silver moon.
Then like the wings of some gigantic bird,
That shine in heaven or dive into the stream,
While scarce a ripple at the prow is stirred,
They push like phantoms thro' a world of dream.
That shine in heaven or dive into the stream,
While scarce a ripple at the prow is stirred,
They push like phantoms thro' a world of dream.
| Idylls and Lyrics of The Nile | |