 | Sonnets Round the Coast |  |
178
XVI. LIGHTS ON WHITBY CHURCH STAIRS.
When the dark seas with gems besprinkled are,And through the night the fisher lamp is swayed,
Saint Hilda's Abbey slope is rich inlaid
With countless suns; star shines to sister star.
Dear are the heights of Heaven, but dearer far
These lowly parts of earth, so lately made
Heaven, with the constellations new-displayed,
That never set behind the harbour bar.
The suns may clash and fall, new worlds may blaze
And vanish, to Andromeda's despair;
And one by one the jewels of the hill
Lose lustre; still the lamps upon the stair
Burn steady; Perseus still the monster slays;
And great Orion burns and brightens still.
| Sonnets Round the Coast | |