Jezreel
Thomas Hardy 1840 (Stinsford) – 1928 (Dorchester, Dorset)
On Its Seizure By The English Under Allenby, September 1918
Did they catch as it were in a Vision at shut of the day-
When their cavalry smote through the ancient Esdraelon Plain,
And they crossed where the Tishbite stood forth in his enemy's way-
His gaunt mournful Shade as he bade the King haste off amain?
On war-men at this end of time-even on Englishmen's eyes-
Who slay with their arms of new might in that long-ago place,
Flashed he who drove furiously? . . . Ah, did the phantom arise
Of that queen, of that proud Tyrian woman who painted her face?
Faintly marked they the words 'Throw her down!' rise from Night
eerily,
Spectre-spots of the blood of her body on some rotten wall?
And the thin note of pity that came: 'A King's daughter is she,'
As they passed where she trodden was once by the chargers' footfall?
Could such be the hauntings of men of to-day, at the cease
Of pursuit, at the dusk-hour, ere slumber their senses could seal?
Enghosted seers, kings-one on horseback who asked 'Is it peace?'…
Yea, strange things and spectral may men have beheld in Jezreel!
September 24, 1918.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 22, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 72 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | A BCBC DEDE XFGFG HXHF A |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic heptameter |
Characters | 1,092 |
Words | 201 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 4, 5, 4, 1 |
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"Jezreel" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/36419/jezreel>.
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