Long ago, in Egypt, the strange kings were waking:
Sunrise and sunset and the midday sun,
Rain and the bird’s voice were theirs for the taking;
They lived, and we live, and Life’s not done.
Long ago, in Egypt, the strange kings grew older:
Year in and year out, and the spring’s allures,
All these they knew and, ere their hearts grew
colder,
They loved, and we love, and Love endures.
Long ago, in Egypt, the end drew a-nearer:
Daylight and midnight and stars overhead,
All these they saw and, as daylight grew dearer,
They died, and we die, but Death’s not dead.
Far away in Egypt, the strange kings lie sleeping:
Rising and falling the old Nile flows;
Through seed-time and growing and the time for
reaping
They wait, and we wait, for what-none knows.’
(Ethel Clifford)
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Based on Topics: Love Poems, Time Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Sleep Poems, Birds Poems, Spring Poems, Sleeping PoemsBased on Keywords: seed-time, allures