Babylon

Robert Graves 1895 (Wimbledon) – 1985 (Deià)



The child alone a poet is:
Spring and Fairyland are his.
Truth and Reason show but dim,
And all’s poetry with him.
Rhyme and music flow in plenty
For the lad of one-and-twenty,
But Spring for him is no more now
Than daisies to a munching cow;
Just a cheery pleasant season,
Daisy buds to live at ease on.
He’s forgotten how he smiled
And shrieked at snowdrops when a child,
Or wept one evening secretly
For April’s glorious misery.
Wisdom made him old and wary
Banishing the Lords of Faery.
Wisdom made a breach and battered
Babylon to bits: she scattered
To the hedges and ditches
All our nursery gnomes and witches.
Lob and Puck, poor frantic elves,
Drag their treasures from the shelves.
Jack the Giant-killer’s gone,
Mother Goose and Oberon,
Bluebeard and King Solomon.
Robin, and Red Riding Hood
Take together to the wood,
And Sir Galahad lies hid
In a cave with Captain Kidd.
None of all the magic hosts,
None remain but a few ghosts
Of timorous heart, to linger on
Weeping for lost Babylon.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

54 sec read
134

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDDEFGGCCCHIIJJKKLFEMMNNOOFF
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,003
Words 182
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 33

Robert Graves

Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, scholar/translator/writer of antiquity specializing in Classical Greece and Rome, novelist and soldier in World War One. more…

All Robert Graves poems | Robert Graves Books

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1 Comment
  • John Andrew Simshauser
    John Andrew Simshauser
    I believe Robert Graves to be the Chief Poet of his Age, bringing the Light of Poetic Knowledge to a World darkened by Fear. Servant to the Goddess, his Works span the Millenniums of Man's rude attempts to achieve permanent Civilization. 'Babylon' touches the individual's Struggle to meld ancient mythos with Knowledge, Fantasy with Reality. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest modern Poets, this Poem being one of my Favorites of his. 
    LikeReply 18 years ago

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"Babylon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/31102/babylon>.

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