Old Poetry Poetry Poets Essays Forums

The Dromedary

In dreams I see the Dromedary still,
As once in a gay park I saw him stand:
A thousand eyes in vulgar wonder scanned
His humps and hairy neck, and gazed their fill
At his lank shanks and mocked with laughter shrill.
He never moved: and if his Eastern land
Flashed on his eye with stretches of hot sand,
It wrung no mute appeal from his proud will.
He blinked upon the rabble lazily;
And still some trace of majesty forlorn
And a course grace remained: his head was high,
Though his gaunt flanks with a great mange were worn:
There was not any yearning in his eye,
But on his lips and nostril infinite scorn.

Notes

The sight of a Dromedary as the centre of a gaping crowd,
And far from his native home, moves the poet to pity and compassion.

Leave a guest comment (subject to review)

    : Comment:

    Name: (required)
    Email: (required, hidden from spam)

Comments


  • June 20
    Edit | Reply

    the dromedary

    From guest david elliott (contact)
    i do not think that this is the conplete poem. I semm to remember some lines , "He blinked upon the rabble lazily, and if his eastern land came to him with flashes of hot sand, it rang no mute appeal from his proud will" , or something like that.

    • Guest David Elliott

      I do not have this poem in my own set of books and all the internet references are the same as ours.
      I can only assume that either memory is playing one of its evil tricks or you have heard a parody.
      However if you or any of our readers can pass on a verifiable reference to the additional lines you recall then the situation would be checked again.
      Jim