Is it about soul-mates? And can anyone explain the images used?

Thank you.

To W.A.

Forever the knightly years were gone
With the old world to the grave,
I was a King in Babylon
And you were a Christian Slave.

I saw, I took, I cast you by,
I bent and broke your pride.
You loved me well, or I heard them lie,
But your longing was denied.
Surely I knew that by and by
You cursed your gods and died.

And a myriad suns have set and shone
Since then upon the grave
Decreed by the King of Babylon,
To her that had been his Slave.

The pride I trampled is now my scythe,
For it tramples me again.
The old resentment lasts like death,
For you love, yet you refrain.
I break my heart on your hard unfaith,
And I break my heart in vain.

Yet not for an hour do I wish undone
The deed beyond the grave,
When I was a King in Babylon
And you were a Virgin Slave.

William Ernest Henley

Images? One method you could use is to go stanza by stanza and choose words which bring forth images that reflect the general meaning of the poem.

For instance:

knightly years
old world
King in Babylon
Christian Slave

vs. the images in this stanza

pride I trampled
tramples me
old resentment
break my heart


By looking at these key phrases you can see how the loss of the slave affected the King. There are other images in the poem, but these give you a general idea of what picture Henley was trying to portray here.


Les

Looks like several of the lines are wrong in the above. I am not sure of the usage of 'or ever', but it probably translates as 'wayback'. The only king of Babylon that comes to mind is Nebuchadnezzar. I don't recall he married a virgin Christian slave, but that may not matter. Let's say WEH intended to portray ANY king who rapes and enslaves one of those he conquered. Safe to say he loved her, huh? I'm not entirely convinced she felt the same way about him.


Or ever the knightly years were gone
With the old world to the grave,
I was a King in Babylon
And you were a Christian Slave.

I saw, I took, I cast you by,
I bent and broke your pride.
You loved me well, or I heard them lie,
But your longing was denied.
Surely I knew that by and by
You cursed your gods and died.

And a myriad suns have set and shone
Since then upon the grave
Decreed by the King in Babylon
To her that had been his Slave.

The pride I trampled is now my scathe,
For it tramples me again.
The old resentment lasts like death,
For you love, yet you refrain.
I break my heart on your hard unfaith,
And I break my heart in vain.

Yet not for an hour do I wish undone
The deed beyond the grave,
When I was a King in Babylon
And you were a Virgin Slave.


The 'when I was, and you were' refrain reminds me of something famous, but I cannot put my finger on it. Not 'if you go first and I remain' I don't think. Maybe Peacock's:

[www.bartleby.com]

Maybe this was Thomas Jefferson's favorite poem.

pam