 | Evil May-Day &c |  |
GREAT ANCESTRY.
We sat within a cottage by the waves,
Hearkening to music, voice and instrument,
That floated to the still autumnal night
Starr'd over downs and ocean; and between
Its pulses, boom'd the cadence of the sea
Surge after surge along our island shore.
Hearkening to music, voice and instrument,
That floated to the still autumnal night
Starr'd over downs and ocean; and between
Its pulses, boom'd the cadence of the sea
Surge after surge along our island shore.
Fair the musicians, and the listeners fair.
But I, apart, not merely saw and heard
Those living faces—songs—the sea—the stars;
For two majestic Shades were in the night:
Deep-sounding echoes out of England's past
Commingled vaguely with the murmuring flood;
John Milton's daughters made us melody,
And Cromwell's daughters listen'd while they sang.
But I, apart, not merely saw and heard
Those living faces—songs—the sea—the stars;
For two majestic Shades were in the night:
Deep-sounding echoes out of England's past
Commingled vaguely with the murmuring flood;
John Milton's daughters made us melody,
And Cromwell's daughters listen'd while they sang.
[Freshwater Bay.]
| Evil May-Day &c | |