Rachel II

RACHEL II by MATTHEW ARNOLD

   Unto a lonely villa, in a dell
   Above the fragrant warm Provencal shore,
   The dying Rachel in a chair they bore
   Up the steep pine-plumed paths of the Estrelle,

   And laid her in a stately room, where fell
   The shadow of a marble Muse of yore,
   The rose-crown'd queen of legendary lore,
   Polymnia, full on her death-bed.--'Twas well!

   The fret and misery of our northern towns,
   In this her life's last day, our poor, our pain,
   Our jangle of false wits, our climate's frowns,

   Do for this radiant Greek-soul'd artist cease;
   Sole object of her dying eyes remain
   The beauty and the glorious art of Greece.

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.