 | Denzil place |  |
Her room! it had been Geoffrey Denzil's once,
She had not known it, choosing it by chance
Because from out its windows she could see
So fair a landscape—woods and grassy slopes,
And nearer, when she look'd towards the left,
The arch'd beginning of the avenue,
Dusk with its over-hanging evergreens
E'en in the leafless seasons of the year—
This chamber, on the basement of the house,
Open'd upon a spacious corridor,
And at one end of this, three steps led down
Into the dim, low, silent library
Which Constance lov'd, for here besides the books
(She lov'd to read,) were rang'd upon the floor
Some four or five square cases, made of tin,
Dark-color'd, and on these, in letters white,
Constance devour'd, with eager hungry eyes
The name she lov'd, despite of all the shame
Such love might bring her. She would close the doors
On chilly afternoons and sit alone,
Feasting her eyes on those belovèd words:
This “Geoffrey Henry Denzil, Denzil Place”
Was comfort to her at this dreary time,
And here she used to read and write and dream,
And try forgetting, or in rasher moods
Try to remember ev'ry line and tone
Of vanish'd features or of silent voice.
She had not known it, choosing it by chance
Because from out its windows she could see
So fair a landscape—woods and grassy slopes,
And nearer, when she look'd towards the left,
The arch'd beginning of the avenue,
Dusk with its over-hanging evergreens
E'en in the leafless seasons of the year—
This chamber, on the basement of the house,
Open'd upon a spacious corridor,
And at one end of this, three steps led down
Into the dim, low, silent library
Which Constance lov'd, for here besides the books
(She lov'd to read,) were rang'd upon the floor
Some four or five square cases, made of tin,
Dark-color'd, and on these, in letters white,
86
The name she lov'd, despite of all the shame
Such love might bring her. She would close the doors
On chilly afternoons and sit alone,
Feasting her eyes on those belovèd words:
This “Geoffrey Henry Denzil, Denzil Place”
Was comfort to her at this dreary time,
And here she used to read and write and dream,
And try forgetting, or in rasher moods
Try to remember ev'ry line and tone
Of vanish'd features or of silent voice.
| Denzil place | |