Mythology & Folklore

The Second Sonnet of Bathrolaire

by James Elroy Flecker 1884–1915

From Forty-Two Poems (1911)

Mythology & Folklore

Now the sweet Dawn on brighter fields afar
Has walked among the daisies, and has breathed
The glory of the mountain winds, and sheathed
The stubborn sword of Night's last-shining star.
In Bathrolaire when Day's old doors unbar
The motley mask, fantastically wreathed,
Pass through a strong portcullis brazen teethed,
And enter glowing mines of cinnabar.
Stupendous prisons shut them out from day,
Gratings and caves and rayless catacombs,
And the unrelenting rack and tourniquet
Grind death in cells where jetting gaslight gloams,
And iron ladders stretching far away
Dive to the depths of those eternal domes.

MLA

Flecker, James Elroy. “The Second Sonnet of Bathrolaire.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/flecker/9/.

Chicago

Flecker, James Elroy. “The Second Sonnet of Bathrolaire.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/flecker/9/.

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