 | Studies in verse (1865) |  |
But with the spreading morrow chance secured
An answer and an omen to her dream;
For as they walked at noon-day in the close
Of that cathedral city near their home,
And trod the crisp turf of the minster square,
And loitered in the archway's dusty cool;
And watched the cloister restless with the swift,
And heard its little scream-note, as it flash'd
Among the weathered faces of grim saints,
And mythic flowers that only bloom in stone.
Here as they walked they came upon a friend,
And kinsman, second cousin or the like,
Whose brother was a man of mighty means,
Banker and merchant in the inmost smoke
Of London: but the poorer brother dwelt
Of choice among the fields in indolence,
And farmed a little homestead to pretend
An occupation; but his drowsy life
Was eaten to the core with slothful days;
He shuddered at the touch of energy,
As some bent sallow's limp and flaccid leaves
Shudder and trail about the current's edge.
An answer and an omen to her dream;
For as they walked at noon-day in the close
Of that cathedral city near their home,
And trod the crisp turf of the minster square,
And loitered in the archway's dusty cool;
And watched the cloister restless with the swift,
32
Among the weathered faces of grim saints,
And mythic flowers that only bloom in stone.
Here as they walked they came upon a friend,
And kinsman, second cousin or the like,
Whose brother was a man of mighty means,
Banker and merchant in the inmost smoke
Of London: but the poorer brother dwelt
Of choice among the fields in indolence,
And farmed a little homestead to pretend
An occupation; but his drowsy life
Was eaten to the core with slothful days;
He shuddered at the touch of energy,
As some bent sallow's limp and flaccid leaves
Shudder and trail about the current's edge.
| Studies in verse (1865) | |