The Princess: A Medley: Home they Brought her Warrior Dead

By Alfred Lord Tennyson

Home they brought her warrior dead:

       She nor swoon'd nor utter'd cry:

All her maidens, watching, said,

       "She must weep or she will die."

Then they praised him, soft and low,

       Call'd him worthy to be loved,

Truest friend and noblest foe;

       Yet she neither spoke nor moved.

Stole a maiden from her place,

      Lightly to the warrior stepped,

Took the face-cloth from the face;

      Yet she neither moved nor wept.

Rose a nurse of ninety years,

      Set his child upon her knee—

Like summer tempest came her tears—

      "Sweet my child, I live for thee."

NOTESForm: abab1.The Princess: A Medley, published 1847. The first edition contained only four of the lyrics: \