Explore "Nebuchadnezzar's Fall" by Robert Graves on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Frowning over the riddle that Daniel told,
Down through the mist hung garden, below a feeble sun,
The King of Persia walked: oh, the chilling cold! / His mind was webbed with a grey shroud vapour-spun.
Here for the pride of his soaring eagle heart, / Here for his great hand searching the skies for food, / Here for his courtship of Heaven's high stars he shall smart, / Nebuchadnezzar shall fall, crawl, be subdued.
Hot sun struck through the vapour, leaf strewn mould / Breathed sweet decay: old Earth called for her child. / Mist drew off from his mind, Sun scattered gold, / Warmth came and earthy motives fresh and wild.
Down on his knees he sinks, the stiff-necked King, / Stoops and kneels and grovels, chin to the mud. / Out from his changed heart flutter on startled wing / The fancy birds of his Pride, Honour, Kinglihood.
He crawls, he grunts, he is beast-like, frogs and snails / His diet, and grass, and water with hand for cup. / He herds with brutes that have hooves and horns and tails, / He roars in his anger, he scratches, he looks not up.