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A book of Bristol sonnets

By H. D. Rawnsley

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ON THE DRAWBRIDGE
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


89

ON THE DRAWBRIDGE

Deep in the heart's loud humming laboratories
Is set a silence chamber all apart;
Men's tears at sudden hush will ever start!
Old City, hoarse with manufacture's cries,
Whose noise acclaims the busy enterprise,
Lo! at the clamorous centre of thy heart,
The solemn waters hush the wrangling mart,
And quiet ships unlade their argosies!
The prisoned waves, that quite forget to beat,
Stir to the ocean's pulses twice a day;
Then, like a dream, the silent-footed fleet
Move to their perfect rest beside the quay;
And Bristol, through thy fevered nerves is sent
A touch of peace, a sense of calm content.