Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Africa: Vol. XXIV. 1876–79. | | | | Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia: Alexandria | | Cleopatra’s Needle | | Nicholas Michell (1807–1880) |
| | (From Ruins of Many Lands)
WHAT obelisk northward meets the curious eye? | |
| Rich as an orient gem, it courts the sky; | |
| Its tapering sides a myriad sculptures grace, | |
| Dark mystic writing of earth’s early race. | |
| Brought from far Thebes, it decked the splendid pile | 5 |
| Where Beauty, famed forever, shed her smile; | |
| Hence to yon shaft cling memories sweet and rare, | |
| And lore and love their souls are breathing there. | |
| Hail, Cleopatra! Egypt’s peerless queen! | |
| Though crushing Ruin walks the darkened scene, | 10 |
| Still seems her spirit, starlike, to illume | |
| The mouldered palace and the rock-cut tomb, | |
| Along the columned path to wander slow, | |
| Or fill dark courts with regal pomp and show; | |
| Across yon deep her galley ploughs its way, | 15 |
| The oars of silver flashing through the spray, | |
| While wanton zephyrs spread the silken sail, | |
| And airy music dies on summer’s gale. | |
| Yes, her bright shade, her memory, haunt each spot; | |
| The choked-up fount, the ocean’s sparry grot, | 20 |
| The flowers that bloom on Pharos’ breezy isle, | |
| The graceful palms that fringe the branching Nile, | |
| The glittering wrecks of glory’s vanished hour,— | |
| All speak her fame and love’s undying power. | | | | |
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