Classic Poem

E GYPT , I die! Thy hand, thy lip, thy kiss
Press thy wild pulses into mine; ay, this
I borrow from thee that will plume my shade
Strong as a god to Hades—not every man
Breathes out his ghost like strong Falerian poured
On the cold marble set before the gods!
I die! ay, Queen, as dies thy mighty Nile,
Which vaster swells the large, calm, waiting sea!
I die! I die! I die! O gods, to feel
The shard burst back and let my unarmed head
Rise to the clouds, my giant arms swing out
O'er hills and vales and deserts, and my feet,
Colossus-wise, tread down two separate worlds!
Egypt, this death? Was I before a man?
Did I thrust spear in battle? Was it I
That wedded Fulvia? Methinks I dreamed,
With moments half aroused in which I loved
Thee, Egypt,—ay, that was the fiery cloud
Which wrapped the ardent sun that now I feel
Strike on these eyes. When thou again shalt look
Up to the stars—why, Antony's crest is there;
When the wild lightning leaps before the roar
Of purple-fronted thunder, Antony's glance
Seeks for his Queen before he shouts her name.
I die—I live! Man is a god enchained,
Blinded by motes, deafened, my Queen, by sounds
No louder than the murmuring of a gnat.
Egypt and I will course amid the stars
With veins enlarged for those more crystal fires
Rolling through space to pour their clear flames through
This pulsing flesh. Unlace my helmet. Know,
The bite of a sword, the little loathsome nip
Of an asp, can free a god! I never guessed,
Save in chance moments which but came and went
Swift as the dip of gilded oar upon
Deep-bosomed Cydnus, how this passing pang
Might mean a godhood!
Nay, my love, my Queen,
Kiss not again this little mask of clay
Which shrouded Antony even from himself,
But follow, Egypt, follow! Our great ghosts
Shall tower together while all time is told
On beads of dying worlds. I die—I live!