 | The Poems of A. C. Benson |  |
204
AT NETHER-STOWEY
[[I]]
On Quantock Head the wind blew shrill,
The springs congealed in waxen folds,
Beneath the shoulder of the hill
We dropt across the heathery wolds,
The springs congealed in waxen folds,
Beneath the shoulder of the hill
We dropt across the heathery wolds,
By hanging wood and falling stream;
The homely plain beneath us lay;
Far off, the visionary gleam
Of shadowy hills across the bay!
The homely plain beneath us lay;
Far off, the visionary gleam
Of shadowy hills across the bay!
Blue hills of dream-land, so we leave
Your gentle outlines unexplored,
About you glows a holier eve,
Your vales are lined with softer sward;
Your gentle outlines unexplored,
About you glows a holier eve,
Your vales are lined with softer sward;
But closer traced, the weary hill,
The wrinkled fields, the miry ways,
The same sad earth is with us still,
Her marred delights, her old delays.
The wrinkled fields, the miry ways,
The same sad earth is with us still,
Her marred delights, her old delays.
205
II
We lingered in the homely street
Where once an eager spirit came;
Here stayed his wild and weary feet,
Uncheered by wealth, unblest by fame.
Where once an eager spirit came;
Here stayed his wild and weary feet,
Uncheered by wealth, unblest by fame.
The meagre house, the paven floors,
Were haunted by ethereal airs,
Strange spirits pulled the loose-latched doors,
Or glided up the crazy stairs.
Were haunted by ethereal airs,
Strange spirits pulled the loose-latched doors,
Or glided up the crazy stairs.
The mariner with staring eyes,
The wanton fays of moor and fell,
And underneath the troubled skies
The vampire brood of Christabel.
The wanton fays of moor and fell,
And underneath the troubled skies
The vampire brood of Christabel.
Ah! Coleridge, hadst thou played thy part,
Thy human part, with clearer eye!
Hadst thou but stayed thy faltering heart
With aught of wholesome dignity!
Thy human part, with clearer eye!
Hadst thou but stayed thy faltering heart
With aught of wholesome dignity!
O recreant priest of sweet desires,
So soft, so craven, 'twas denied
To trim the sacrificial fires,
And fling the smoking censer wide.
So soft, so craven, 'twas denied
To trim the sacrificial fires,
And fling the smoking censer wide.
Thy fiery and unflinching mind
Dragged on the shuddering helpless clay,
As Hector's corpse was whirled behind
The flying chariot of dismay.
Dragged on the shuddering helpless clay,
As Hector's corpse was whirled behind
The flying chariot of dismay.
206
From piteous and uncertain lips
The royal message streamed to waste,
Ah me! in fierce and frail eclipse,
To sink dishonoured and ungraced.
The royal message streamed to waste,
Ah me! in fierce and frail eclipse,
To sink dishonoured and ungraced.
It left thee, as on barren sands
The mouldering porch of ancient kings
In gorgeous desolation stands,
And points to far and fallen things.
The mouldering porch of ancient kings
In gorgeous desolation stands,
And points to far and fallen things.
| The Poems of A. C. Benson | |