 | Sonnets Round the Coast |  |
180
XVIII. SUNSET LIGHTS ON THE WINDOWS OF SAINT MARY'S CHURCH, WHITBY.
When grey September mingles sea and sky,And steals the headlands one by one from sight,
Saint Mary's Church is filled with sudden light,
And old men stare, and babes clap hands and cry.
A ruby jewel, burns the Tower's one eye;
The western windows, palpitating bright,
Leap into flame. Such glory on the height
Must well-nigh rouse the dead men where they lie.
Is it some priestly pageant of old Rome,
With pomp of torch and heaped-up altar fire,
Has set the Church at vesper hour ablaze?
Or have the Saints in glory hither come,
To bid us, tho' the sun sink, still aspire
To light the world they loved with prayer and praise?
| Sonnets Round the Coast | |