 | The ghost's entry and other poems |  |
144
A DREAM OF CHURCH-WINDOWS
Reddening the woodlands dumb and hoary,
Bleak with long November winds and rains,
Lo, at sunset breathes a sudden glory—
Breaks a fire on all the Western panes!
Bleak with long November winds and rains,
Lo, at sunset breathes a sudden glory—
Breaks a fire on all the Western panes!
Eastward far I see the restless splendour
Shine through many a window-lattice bright;
Nearer all the farmhouse gables render
Flame for flame, and shiver in breathless light.
Shine through many a window-lattice bright;
Nearer all the farmhouse gables render
Flame for flame, and shiver in breathless light.
Many a mansion, many a cottage lowly,
Lost in radiance, palpitates the same
At the touch of beauty, strange and holy,
All transfigured in the evening flame.
Lost in radiance, palpitates the same
At the touch of beauty, strange and holy,
All transfigured in the evening flame.
145
Flutters everything with mystic being,
Rarer life than ever breathed before;
By the alchemy of clearer seeing,
Golden lie the shadows—dark no more. ...
Rarer life than ever breathed before;
By the alchemy of clearer seeing,
Golden lie the shadows—dark no more. ...
Far away beyond the Eastern ocean,
Dreaming here at sunset I behold,
With a restless palpitating motion,
Great cathedral windows burn with gold:
Dreaming here at sunset I behold,
With a restless palpitating motion,
Great cathedral windows burn with gold:
High cathedral windows hushed in glory,
Where the gorgeous priest of Time is Art,—
Blazoned miracles of marvellous story,
Deep in many an olden city's heart.
Where the gorgeous priest of Time is Art,—
Blazoned miracles of marvellous story,
Deep in many an olden city's heart.
And I dream that in their inner splendour
Saints and martyrs shine in ancient fire,
While above, in twilight dusk and tender,
Angels whiten with divine desire.
Saints and martyrs shine in ancient fire,
While above, in twilight dusk and tender,
Angels whiten with divine desire.
146
All the air is peopled with a vision:
Seraphs breathe their breath of music there;
Men who made their lives a holy mission
Show their souls in marble everywhere.
Seraphs breathe their breath of music there;
Men who made their lives a holy mission
Show their souls in marble everywhere.
But, within, some stranger's heart is haunted
With the faiths of homelier altars bright,
Saints in dearer window-glow enchanted,
Till his face is dark with saddened light.
With the faiths of homelier altars bright,
Saints in dearer window-glow enchanted,
Till his face is dark with saddened light.
And he sees in dream the woodlands hoary,
Bleak with long November winds and rains,
Reddened while the level sunset glory
Floats on all the Western window-panes:
Bleak with long November winds and rains,
Reddened while the level sunset glory
Floats on all the Western window-panes:
See, as I do, while the phantom splendid
Of those gorgeous windows passes bright,
And the radiance, which my dream attended,
Slowly fades and falters into night:
Of those gorgeous windows passes bright,
And the radiance, which my dream attended,
Slowly fades and falters into night:
147
While abroad the bare and dumb November
Ghost-like stands amid the crimson haze,
And the glimmering casements scarce remember,
Ghost-like now in gloom, the sunset blaze:—
Ghost-like stands amid the crimson haze,
And the glimmering casements scarce remember,
Ghost-like now in gloom, the sunset blaze:—
Sees a sudden, newer, dearer splendour
Issue from a thousand windows warm,
Where the children crowd with faces tender,
Guarded by the fireside's sacred charm. ...
Issue from a thousand windows warm,
Where the children crowd with faces tender,
Guarded by the fireside's sacred charm. ...
Shut without the twilight's dusk reflection,
With the ghosts that walk the Autumnal night,—
Wife and mother, with divine affection,
Stand within the Western window-light.
With the ghosts that walk the Autumnal night,—
Wife and mother, with divine affection,
Stand within the Western window-light.
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