 | The Baroness of New York |  |
X.
Men said that fires up the coast,
And down the coast in copse and fen,
Had pushed the beasts from gorge and den,
And sudden turned the hairy host
A maddened million, on the men.
I know not if the guess were true,
I doubt me if men ever knew.
But such a howling, flame-lit shore,
No mortal ever saw before.
And down the coast in copse and fen,
Had pushed the beasts from gorge and den,
And sudden turned the hairy host
A maddened million, on the men.
I know not if the guess were true,
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But such a howling, flame-lit shore,
No mortal ever saw before.
Strange beasts above the shining sea,
Wild, hideous beasts in shaggy hair,
With red mouths lifting in the air,
Stood fifty deep, and plaintively
They howled and howled across the sea;
I think it was the wierdest sight
That ever saw the blessed light.
Wild, hideous beasts in shaggy hair,
With red mouths lifting in the air,
Stood fifty deep, and plaintively
They howled and howled across the sea;
I think it was the wierdest sight
That ever saw the blessed light.
All time they howled, with lifted head,
To dim and distant isle that lay
Wedged tight along a line of red,
Caught in the closing gates of day
'Twixt sky and sea and far away—
It was the saddest sound to hear
That ever struck on mortal ear.
To dim and distant isle that lay
Wedged tight along a line of red,
Caught in the closing gates of day
'Twixt sky and sea and far away—
It was the saddest sound to hear
That ever struck on mortal ear.
They ever called; and answered they
The great sea cows that called from isle
Away a weary watery mile,
With dripping mouth and lolling tongue,
As if they called for captured young—
Their great mouths mouthing green sea moss
The while they doleful called across
From isle away a watery mile.
No sound can half so doleful be
As sea cows calling from the sea.
The great sea cows that called from isle
Away a weary watery mile,
With dripping mouth and lolling tongue,
As if they called for captured young—
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The while they doleful called across
From isle away a watery mile.
No sound can half so doleful be
As sea cows calling from the sea.
The drowned sun sank and died. He lay
In seas of blood. He sinking drew
The gates of heaven sudden to.
Yet long, strong ribbons stretched away
As if the gate still jarred agape—
Tied back by ribbons and red tape.
In seas of blood. He sinking drew
The gates of heaven sudden to.
Yet long, strong ribbons stretched away
As if the gate still jarred agape—
Tied back by ribbons and red tape.
| The Baroness of New York | |