 | In Russet & Silver |  |
9
A WINTER NIGHT'S DREAM
Dreary seems the task assigned me,
Dull the play;
I would fain leave both behind me,
Steal away
Where no hopes nor cares could find me
Night or day.
Dull the play;
I would fain leave both behind me,
Steal away
Where no hopes nor cares could find me
Night or day.
Where the pirate's teak prow grapples
With pure sand,
Where Hesperidean apples
Hem the strand,
Where the silver sunlight dapples
Lake and land.
With pure sand,
Where Hesperidean apples
Hem the strand,
Where the silver sunlight dapples
Lake and land.
In some charm'd Saturnian island
I would be;
Watch, from glens of billowy highland,
Creeks of sea;
Crush the perfumes there awhile, and
Shake the tree.
I would be;
Watch, from glens of billowy highland,
10
Crush the perfumes there awhile, and
Shake the tree.
Round the brows of naked Summer,
Noon and night,
See soft Rest, the rarest comer,
Winding bright
Garlands that would well become her
Blithe delight.
Noon and night,
See soft Rest, the rarest comer,
Winding bright
Garlands that would well become her
Blithe delight.
See dusk eyes and warm brown faces
And sleek limbs
Peer from shadowy, leafy spaces,
Whence there swims
Praise to gods of unknown graces
In strange hymns.
And sleek limbs
Peer from shadowy, leafy spaces,
Whence there swims
Praise to gods of unknown graces
In strange hymns.
Eat cool fruits of foreign flavour,
Drink from shells
Wine of mild, unharmful savour,
Wine that smells
Like a copse when June winds waver
All its bells.
Drink from shells
Wine of mild, unharmful savour,
Wine that smells
Like a copse when June winds waver
All its bells.
11
Live as live full-feeding cattle;
Purge mine ears
From the echoing roar and rattle
Of the years;
Then return to wholesome battle
With my peers.
Purge mine ears
From the echoing roar and rattle
Of the years;
Then return to wholesome battle
With my peers.
| In Russet & Silver | |