If I were lord of Tartary
"If I were lord of Tartary" is a poem written by Walter de la Mare. The poem consists of four stanzas.
Text[edit]
If I were Lord of Tartary,
Myself, and me alone,
My bed should be of ivory,
Of beaten gold my throne,
And in my court should peacocks flaunt,
And in my forests tigers haunt,
And in my pools great fishes slant,
Their fins athwart the sun.
If I were Lord of Tartary,
Trumpeters every day
To all my meals should summon me,
And in my courtyards bray,
And in the evening lamps should shine,
Yellow as honey, red as wine,
While harp, and flute, and mandolin,
Made music sweet and gay.
If I were Lord of Tartary,
I'd wear a robe of beads,
White, and gold, and green they'd be,
And small and thick as seeds,
And ere should wane the morning star,
I'd don my robe and scimitar.
And zebras seven should draw my car
Through Tartary's dark gleades.
Lord of the fruits of Tartary.
Her rivers silver-pale!
Lord of the hills of Tartary.
Glen, thicket, wood, and dale!
Her flashing stars, her scented breeze,
Her trembling lakes, like foamless seas,
Her bird-delighting citron-trees,
In every purple vale!
Paraphrasing[edit]
1st stanza[edit]
In the first stanza the poet says about an imaginary and color full land and says that only he should be the king of Tartary. His bed would be of ivory and as a king, his crown would be of beaten gold. In his beautiful court, peacocks would be flaunting. In the forests, tigers would be haunting and in all the swimming pools, fishes would be slanting and their fins should athwart the sun.
2nd stanza[edit]
In the second stanza, he thinks of being a king and says about the trumpeters for the royal lunch and the king would be summoned by the waiters for the food. Everything would be so good and his courtyards should be braying. In the evening, red an yellow lamps should be shining which would look like honey and wine while harp, flute and mandolin would be used for music which made everything nice.
3rd stanza[edit]
In the third stanza he again says the he should be the king of Tartary. he would wear a robe of white, gold, and green beads. the beads would be small and thick as seeds. Before the morning star disappears, he would put on his robe and his scimitar. after that, he would go on a car which would be drawn by seven zebras through all of Tartary.
4th stanza[edit]
In the last stanza, the poet says that he would be the lord of fruits of the Tartary. the color of the rivers would be silver-pale. He would also be the lord of the hills, valleys, bushes and wood. The flashes of the stars of Tartary and the great scent of Tartary, the lakes and seas and the citron-trees, everything would be in the purple valley which would too very great.
Summary[edit]
This poem is written by Walter de la Mare. The poet tells us about an land full of colors and happiness. The poet says that he would be the king of Tartary. He would have a beautiful court and forests. There would be tigers, peacocks, tigers and fishes. He thinks of a life full of colors and excitement. There would be music and color full lights. He will be the lord of fruits and hill. There would be beautiful lakes and valleys too. everything would be happy.
Central Idea[edit]
The central idea of the poem is that the poem is based on imagination. This tells us that people want to escape from their life and want to see imagination.
See also[edit]
This article "If I were lord of Tartary" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
