Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Africa: Vol. XXIV. 1876–79.
Cleopatra’s Needle
By Nicholas Michell (1807–1880)W
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
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,
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,
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,
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.