Poem by Walter Raleigh

A Vision upon the Fairy Queen

Methought I saw the grave where Laura lay,
Within that temple where the vestal flame
Was wont to burn; and, passing by that way,
To see that buried dust of living fame,
Whose tomb fair Love and fairer Virtue kept,
All suddenly I saw the Fairy Queen,
At whose approach the soul of Petrarch wept ;
And from thenceforth those graces were not seen,
For they this Queen attended; in whose stead
Oblivion laid him down on Laura's hearse.
Hereat the hardest stones were seen to bleed,
And groans of buried ghosts the heavens did pierce :
Where Homer's spright did tremble all for grief,
And cursed the access of that celestial thief. 

1. Sestina Otiosa
2. On Being Challenged to Write an Epigram in the Manner of Herrick
3. Farewell to the Court
4. On the Cards and Dice
5. If Cynthia Be a Queen

Print

1384 Views

Last Poems

To Russian version