 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
37
THE MONASTERY
ENGELBERG
Grey roof, white walls, and jalousies of green,
So Conrad's house two centuries has stood,
Bold to withstand, as its forerunner could,
All tides of change; and firm to come between
Our restless crowds of rovers and the scene
Where is simplicity of peasanthood,
The herdsman tends his flock or fells the wood,
And poor men live in piety serene.
So Conrad's house two centuries has stood,
Bold to withstand, as its forerunner could,
All tides of change; and firm to come between
Our restless crowds of rovers and the scene
Where is simplicity of peasanthood,
The herdsman tends his flock or fells the wood,
And poor men live in piety serene.
Abbot! before thy day Frocinus knew
Good work must grow in quiet; he who wrote
The parchment, laboured slowly; though the world
In specious clamour at thy gates be hurled,
With meditation man thy fort anew
And let Distraction here find antidote!
Good work must grow in quiet; he who wrote
The parchment, laboured slowly; though the world
In specious clamour at thy gates be hurled,
With meditation man thy fort anew
And let Distraction here find antidote!
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