John William Burgon captured Petra to perfection
admin July 12th, 2007
Who-sane writes the entertaining To Whom It May Not Concern blog, also known as Diary of a Jordanian Expat. Not content with that, the author also contributes to another Arab expats blog.
This week he tells the story of the religious scholar John William Burgon (1813 - 1888) who never actually visited Petra, but still managed to capture its essence in a famous sonnet, simply called Petra. Read more about him in his Wikipedia entry.
It seems no work of Man’s creative hand,
by labor wrought as wavering fancy plnned;
But from the rock as by magic grown,
eternal, silent, beautiful, alone!
Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine,
where erst Athena held her rites divine;
Not saintly-grey, like many a minster fane,
that crowns the hill and consecrates the plain;
But rose-red as if the blush of dawn,
that first beheld them were not yet withdrawn;
The hues of yough upon a brow of woe,
which Man deemed old two thousand years ago,
match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,
a rose-red city half as old as time.
