ALFRED NOYES

Alfred Noyes, (born Sept. 16, 1880, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, Eng.—died June 28, 1958, Isle of Wight), English poet, a traditionalist remembered chiefly for his lyrical verse.


Niobe
----- ----BY ALFRED NOYES
How like the sky she bends above her child,
One with the great horizon of her pain!
No sob from our low seas where woe runs wild,
No weeping cloud, no momentary rain,
Can mar the heaven-high visage of her grief,
That frozen anguish, proud, majestic, dumb.
She stoops in pity above the labouring earth,
Knowing how fond, how brief
Is all its hope, past, present, and to come,
She stoops in pity, and yearns to assuage its dearth.

Through that fair face the whole dark universe
Speaks, as a thorn-tree speaks thro’ one white flower;
And all those wrenched Promethean souls that curse
The gods, but cannot die before their hour,
Find utterance in her beauty. That fair head
Bows over all earth’s graves. It was her cry
Men heard in Rama when the twisted ways
With children’s blood ran red.
Her silence towers to Silences on high;
And, in her face, the whole earth’s anguish prays.

It is the pity, the pity of human love
That strains her face, upturned to meet the doom,
And her deep bosom, like a snow-white dove
Frozen upon its nest, ne’er to resume
Its happy breathing o’er the golden brace
That she must shield till death. Death, death alone
Can break the anguished horror of that spell.
The sorrow on her face
Is sealed: the living flesh is turned to stone;
She knows all, all, that Life and Time can tell.

Ah, yet, her woman’s love, so vast, so tender,
Her woman’s body, hurt by every dart,
Braving the thunder, still, still hide the slender
Soft frightened child beneath her mighty heart.
She is all one mute immortal cry, one brief
Infinite pang of such victorious pain
That she transcends the heavens and bows them down!
The majesty of grief
Is hers, and her dominion must remain
Eternal. Grief alone can wear that crown.

n/a
Source: Collected Poems (1947)

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My Tribute poem, honoring Alfred Noyes....


Defiance, The Gods Fall, And Mortal Reign Begins

Fiery earth, a multitude of chasms deep
The gods rose from their long and restless sleep,
Of those few again stirring brave and wise,
Night’s last breath then magnificent sunrise
Invincible new Gods as yet unborn
Quaked the earth, as high heavens are torn.

Again the gods woke from their restless sleep
Pale the colors as Gods learned to weep
Mortal defiance, as it swiftly grows,
O’ Seer, virgin flesh, in time arose
Dying Gods their powers had failed to keep
Earth's realm free, as mankind's destiny, seeps.

Solitude, neglect had laid heavy blows
Universe its powers had set new shows
As retiring Gods fled the future’s flight,
Man’s spirit therein sought the blessed light
Yet in that vein, darkness again held sway
From fleeing Gods heard, "Mortals too shall pay".

Robert J. Lindley, 8-13-2020
Rhyme, ( Man's Powers Grew As The Fleeing Gods Fled )