Quote#Death
Or ever the knightly years were gone
Quote byWilliam Ernest Henley · 1849–1903
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: A Book of Verses (1888), "Life and Death (Echoes)", XXXV.
English (original)
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.
— William Ernest Henley
More from William Ernest Henley
From the winter's gray despair, From the summer’s golden languor, Death, the lover of Life, Frees us for ever.
Hark how the Trumpet, The mistress of mistresses, Calls, silver-throated And stern, where the tables Are spread, and the work Of the Lord is in hand!
Life is (I think) a blunder and a shame.
Far in the stillness a cat Languishes loudly. A cinder Falls, and the shadows Lurch to the leap of the flame.
Ho! then, the splendour And sheen of my ministry, Clothing the earth With a livery of lightnings! Ho! then, the music Of battles in onset
Bland as a Jesuit, sober as a hymn.