To: W A

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



Or ever the knightly years were gone
With the old world to the grave,
I was a King in Babylon
And you were a Christian Slave.

I saw, I took, I cast you by,
I bent and broke your pride.
You loved me well, or I heard them lie,
But your longing was denied.
Surely I knew that by and by
You cursed your gods and died.

And a myriad suns have set and shone
Since then upon the grave
Decreed by the King in Babylon
To her that had been his Slave.

The pride I trampled is now my scathe,
For it tramples me again.
The old resentment lasts like death,
For you love, yet you refrain.
I break my heart on your hard unfaith,
And I break my heart in vain.

Yet not for an hour do I wish undone
The deed beyond the grave,
When I was a King in Babylon
And you were a Virgin Slave.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
54

Quick analysis:

Scheme XABA CDCDCD XABA EXEFEF XABA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 748
Words 162
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 6, 4, 6, 4

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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