Ballads of the Fleet and Other Poems A New Edition With several Additional Pieces: By Rennell Rodd |
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AT STRATHFIELDSAY
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 | Ballads of the Fleet and Other Poems |  |
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AT STRATHFIELDSAY
The Autumn sun went down on Strathfieldsay,—An old man rode by shadowy lawn and dell,
The old horse turned and took the homeward way,
And sweetly evening's benediction fell.
Then—wreathing smoke and grove and gable-crest
Melting together in the sunset skies,
Piled a fantastic fabric in the west,
And touched the chord of sleeping memories.
He saw it all;—there frowned the battled height,
Here flowed Aguéda livid in the glare,
Ciudad Rodrigo blazed into the night,
And cannon thundered through the misty air;—
Sounds of far voices, silent long ago,
Rose like faint echoes, and close by his side
Familiar forms seemed flitting to and fro,
While darkness gathered and the red glow died.
The old horse whinnied, and he bowed his head,
The twilight mellowed to its own again,—
“All that I lived through! and they all are dead!
Grant us Thy peace, God merciful. Amen!”
| Ballads of the Fleet and Other Poems | |