Two crownèd Kings, and One that stood alone
With no green weight of laurels round his head,
But with sad eyes as one uncomforted,
And wearied with man’s never-ceasing moan
For sins no bleating victim can atone,
And sweet long lips with tears and kisses fed.
Girt was he in a garment black and red,
And at his feet I marked a broken stone
Which sent up lilies, dove-like, to his knees.
Now at their sight, my heart being lit with flame,
I cried to Beatricé, “Who are these?”
And she made answer, knowing well each name,
“Aeschylos first, the second Sophokles,
And last (wide stream of tears!) Euripides.”
Public-domain source text
A Vision
by Oscar Wilde
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