Jugurtha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
An African monarch descends toward death in Rome's dark dungeons, lamenting the coldness of Apollo's baths. An unknown, unbefriended poet repeats his cry as the vision he pursued dissolves into mist and darkness and his life's dream ends.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Lyric Poetry · 126 words
First lines
How cold are thy baths, Apollo! / Cried the African monarch, the splendid, / As down to his death in the hollow / Dark dungeons of Rome he descended, / Uncrowned, unthroned, unattended; / How cold are thy baths, Apollo!
How cold are thy baths, Apollo! / Cried the Poet, unknown, unbefriended, / As the vision, that lured him to follow, / With the mist and the darkness blended, / And the dream of his life was ended; / How cold are thy baths, Apollo!
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Two rhymed stanzas repeat a lament addressed to Apollo, pairing a monarch's descent toward death with a poet's lost dream.
Tags
imprisonment · lost dreams · poets · Rome · lament
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Jugurtha is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry
- Length: 126 words
- Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
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