# Epigraph explained — Allan Quatermain

> Chapter companion for Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard.

## What happens

The epigraph sets a mournful tone, lamenting a fallen warrior and calling upon vultures to shriek over his tomb, while nightingales are asked to refrain from singing.

## Themes in this chapter

### Death and Mortality

The epigraph directly addresses the death of a warrior and the imagery of a sepulchre.

### Grief and Loss

The lament for the fallen star and the call for vultures to shriek evoke a sense of loss and mourning.

## Key lines

> Lament, ye birds, the battle’s fallen star, But you, sweet nightingales, forbear to sing. Ye vultures only, floating from afar, Shriek o’er the sepulchre on shadowy wing Of him that fed you full with spoils of war While through the smitten shields his axe would ring.

Mourn, birds, for the warrior who has fallen in battle, but do not let nightingales sing. Only vultures, coming from a distance, should cry over the tomb of the one who once fed them with the spoils of war, as his axe rang through shattered shields.

_The epigraph uses vivid imagery to evoke a somber atmosphere of death and loss._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/allan_quatermain_se/chapters/epigraph
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/allan_quatermain_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/allan_quatermain_se/chapters