 | Sonnets Round the Coast |  |
164
II. WHITBY.
Fort of the Bay, for so the Saxons namedThis quiet mouth of Esk, that twice a day
Drinks the deep sea and thirsts—the forts decay
And only waves are foes; but that far-famed
Maid-offering to war—in stone proclaimed
By Oswy and by Reinfrid—while men pray
And church bells ring for Sabbath, still must stay:
Saint Hilda lives, albeit her shrine is shamed!
And whether sailors climb the steep to prayers,
Or run to sight their vessels' gain or loss,
Or in among their rose-roof shadows glide
Beneath the vapoury cliff—that Christ has died
They know; they feel, though steep Heaven's Altar-stairs,
That God's great sign of victory is the Cross.
| Sonnets Round the Coast | |