 | By Severn Sea and Other Poems |  |
21
MAY-DAY ON MAGDALEN TOWER
WRITTEN FOR MR. HOLMAN HUNT'S PICTURE
Morn of the year, of day and May the prime!
How fitly do we scale the steep dark stair,
Into the brightness of the matin air,
To praise with chanted hymn and echoing chime,
Dear Lord of Light, Thy lowlihead sublime
That stooped erewhile our life's frail weed to wear!
Sun, clouds, and hills, all things Thou framest so fair,
With us are glad and gay, greeting the time.
How fitly do we scale the steep dark stair,
Into the brightness of the matin air,
To praise with chanted hymn and echoing chime,
Dear Lord of Light, Thy lowlihead sublime
That stooped erewhile our life's frail weed to wear!
Sun, clouds, and hills, all things Thou framest so fair,
With us are glad and gay, greeting the time.
The college of the lily leaves her sleep;
The gray tower rocks and trembles into sound,
Dawn-smitten Memnon of a happier hour;
Through faint-hued fields the silver waters creep;
Day grows, birds pipe, and robed anew and crowned,
Green Spring trips forth to set the world aflower.
The gray tower rocks and trembles into sound,
Dawn-smitten Memnon of a happier hour;
Through faint-hued fields the silver waters creep;
Day grows, birds pipe, and robed anew and crowned,
Green Spring trips forth to set the world aflower.
| By Severn Sea and Other Poems | |