If I were Lord of Tartary,
Myself, and me alone,
My bed should be of ivory,
Of beaten gold my throne;
And in my court should peacocks flaunt,
And in my forests tigers haunt,
And in my pools great fishes slant
Their fins athwart the sun.
If I were Lord of Tartary,
Trumpeters every day
To all my meals should summon me,
And in my courtyards bray;
And in the evening lamps should shine,
Yellow as honey, red as wine,
While harp, and flute, and mandoline
Made music sweet and gay.
If I were Lord of Tartary,
I'd wear a robe of beads,
White, and gold, and green they'd be —
And small and thick as seeds;
And ere should wane the morning star,
I'd don my robe and scimitar.
And zebras seven should draw my car
Through Tartary's dark gleades.
Lord of the fruits of Tartary.
Her rivers silver-pale!
Lord of the hills of Tartary.
Glen, thicket, wood, and dale!
Her flashing stars, her scented breeze,
Her trembling lakes, like foamless seas,
Her bird-delighting citron-trees,
In every purple vale!
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Comments
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Imagination
From guest Mashal Islam (contact)
Its the great piece of imagination.By reading it we felt we r in a new world. Great -
Thank You
From guest Jenny Goodall (contact)
I too loved this poem and learned it by heart when I was very young. I recently purchased a second hand copy of "A Child's Garden of Verses" as a gift for my new Grandaughter's first Christmas and was suprised to find that Tartary was not included. I tried to get an edition that was as similar as possible to the one I remeber. I am almost certain that my original copy was titled "A child's garden of VERSE. Since I grew up in England I am almost certain it would have been a British publication from the early 1940s or earlier. In my copy the poem had a full page colour plate opposite. This plate depicted a young boy with red cape and an egyptian-style crown and sandals goose stepping around his courtyard. Ther were both peacocks and great fishes (or at least their fins) in a pool. If anyone could tell me which edition, date and publisher this was I would be most grateful. There were also full colour plates of 'Land of Counterpane' and 'Me and My Shadow'. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that 'Tartary' was not by Stevenson. I would love to know if my mind is playing tricks or if someone inserted that poem among Stevenson's because they loved it so much -
From guest JanK (contact)
I have always loved this poem, and it often comes to mind in quiet moments, but I am not always able to remember it line for line. Do you also find yourself remembering long lost poems from your school days? At the time I hated having to learn the poems by heart, but now I am very greatful as it gave me a good grounding and a solid love of poetry which brings me such joy! -
rocking !!!!!!!!
From guest isher (contact)
Walter really is sucH a good poet.he refreshs in a great deal -
great poem
From guest Bhagirathi Pant (contact)
hey i am back! this a wonderfull poem, i really wish for a similar world,this a poem that is worth reading. i wish walter de la mare were alive now -
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English
From guest Bhagirathi Pant (contact)
I love this poem . I am a girl of 10 . And i know this poem by heart. Even i wish that there was a similar world like Tartary in this world. -
Enjoyed reading this very much, i have always admired his style of writing and the wonderful imagery that he presents with his words.
i have just read the comment in the poem notes and realised that i have said the same.. almost... nice to know that his writing has the same effect on others.. thank you for promoting this 
~LadyStarlight~ -
Tartary
-I always thought it was Tartarus...but that could be me, and Tartarus was definately not something i would want to be Lord/Lady of...seeing as how it's Hades, or the Underworld. But the picture you paint with these words is beautiful, im glad that you decided to share this with everyone. Also reminds me of Hades' softer side, Persephone, Demeters daughter (who was goddess of harvest, nature type things)...like i said, gorgeous imagery in this.
well done!
Nyx...
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