Rose Aylmer by W.Landor

mu

Rose Aylmer

Walter Savage Landor

              1  Ah what avails the sceptred race,
              2      Ah what the form divine!
              3  What every virtue, every grace!
              4      Rose Aylmer, all were thine.
              5  Rose Aylmer, whom these wakeful eyes
              6      May weep, but never see,
              7  A night of memories and of sighs
              8      I consecrate to thee.

Biographical information



Given name: Walter Savage
Family name: Landor
Birth date: 30 January 1775
Death date: 17 September 1864
Nationality: English
Languages
          English
          Latin
          Greek
Education
          School at Knowle
          Rugby: 1785
          Tutored by Mr. Langley, vicar of Ashbourne: 1791
          Trinity College, Oxford: 1793
Politics: Republican
Literary period: Romantic

jocelynxu

Walter Savage Landor,he seems to be not so famous as some of his contemporaries.This poem is not familiar to its readers,so I have something puzzled to ask,what does "Rose Aymler" stand for? Does it mention the name of a girl, or of a flower,or symbolize the beautiful things which "avails the sceptred race",and have the "divine form,every virtue,every grace"; for the poet eulogizes it in his poem,"...Rose Aymler, all were thine","I consecrate to thee."Those above are my superfical viewpoint. Something on its background may be helpful .

mu

Oh it's a love poem.Rose Aymler perhaps was a woman's name.
I begin to know him by G.Moore's "Conversations in Ebury Street",he was an excellent proser and poet who was fond of Greek and Roman verses, and mastered these two languages very well.
Maybe people always ignored classical poets and preferred the romantics.

jocelynxu

Some great poets who are ignored need attracting our attention.