Analysis of Tamerlane

Kind solace in a dying hour!
        Such, father, is not (now) my theme-
      I will not madly deem that power
          Of Earth may shrive me of the sin
          Unearthly pride hath revell'd in-
        I have no time to dote or dream:
      You call it hope- that fire of fire!
      It is but agony of desire:
      If I can hope- Oh God! I can-
        Its fount is holier- more divine-
      I would not call thee fool, old man,
        But such is not a gift of thine.

Know thou the secret of a spirit
        Bow'd from its wild pride into shame.
      O yearning heart! I did inherit
        Thy withering portion with the fame,
      The searing glory which hath shone
      Amid the jewels of my throne,
      Halo of Hell! and with a pain
      Not Hell shall make me fear again-
      O craving heart, for the lost flowers
      And sunshine of my summer hours!
      The undying voice of that dead time,
      With its interminable chime,
      Rings, in the spirit of a spell,
      Upon thy emptiness- a knell.

I have not always been as now:
      The fever'd diadem on my brow
        I claim'd and won usurpingly-
      Hath not the same fierce heirdom given
        Rome to the Caesar- this to me?
          The heritage of a kingly mind,
      And a proud spirit which hath striven
          Triumphantly with human kind.

On mountain soil I first drew life:
        The mists of the Taglay have shed
        Nightly their dews upon my head,
      And, I believe, the winged strife
      And tumult of the headlong air
      Have nestled in my very hair.

So late from Heaven- that dew- it fell
        (Mid dreams of an unholy night)
      Upon me with the touch of Hell,
        While the red flashing of the light
      From clouds that hung, like banners, o'er,
        Appeared to my half-closing eye
        The pageantry of monarchy,
      And the deep trumpet-thunder's roar
        Came hurriedly upon me, telling
          Of human battle, where my voice,
      My own voice, silly child!- was swelling
          (O! how my spirit would rejoice,
      And leap within me at the cry)
      The battle-cry of Victory!

The rain came down upon my head
        Unshelter'd- and the heavy wind
        Rendered me mad and deaf and blind.
      It was but man, I thought, who shed
        Laurels upon me: and the rush-
      The torrent of the chilly air
        Gurgled within my ear the crush
      Of empires- with the captive's prayer-
      The hum of suitors- and the tone
      Of flattery 'round a sovereign's throne.

My passions, from that hapless hour,
        Usurp'd a tyranny which men
      Have deem'd, since I have reach'd to power,
          My innate nature- be it so:
        But father, there liv'd one who, then,
      Then- in my boyhood- when their fire
          Burn'd with a still intenser glow,
      (For passion must, with youth, expire)
        E'en then who knew this iron heart
        In woman's weakness had a part.

I have no words- alas!- to tell
      The loveliness of loving well!
      Nor would I now attempt to trace
      The more than beauty of a face
      Whose lineaments, upon my mind,
      Are- shadows on th' unstable wind:
      Thus I remember having dwelt
        Some page of early lore upon,
      With loitering eye, till I have felt
      The letters- with their meaning- melt
        To fantasies- with none.

O, she was worthy of all love!
        Love- as in infancy was mine-
      'Twas such as angel minds above
        Might envy; her young heart the shrine
      On which my every hope and thought
        Were incense- then a goodly gift,
          For they were childish and upright-
      Pure- as her young example taught:
        Why did I leave it, and, adrift,
          Trust to the fire within, for light?

We grew in age- and love- together,
        Roaming the forest, and the wild;
      My breast her shield in wintry weather-
        And when the friendly sunshine smil'd,
      And she would mark the opening skies,
      I saw no Heaven- but in her eyes.

Young Love's first lesson is- the heart:
        For 'mid that sunshine, and those smiles,
      When, from our little cares apart,
        And laughing at her girlish wiles,
      I'd throw me on her throbbing breast,
        And pour my spirit out in tears-
      There was no need t