Sonnets Round the Coast by H. D. Rawnsley |
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 | Sonnets Round the Coast |  |
220
XII. SONNET VALEDICTORY.
A dome of trembling glass upon the shore
Gleamed, and within were wondrously displayed
Four moons, four rainbows, ringed with purple braid:
Again I passed, the crystal to the core
Was shrunk, its moons would lighten never more,
And on the sands, sun-smit to froth, had made
Impress of dissolution; grateful shade,
Nor ocean cool, its beauty could restore.
Go, little book, but better far be lost
In deeps of song and water-floods of sound,
Than, with a momentary power to please,
Float in on barren beach, from shallow seas,
To melt beneath fierce light, and so be found
A lifeless blot, a blank, delusive ghost.
Gleamed, and within were wondrously displayed
Four moons, four rainbows, ringed with purple braid:
Again I passed, the crystal to the core
Was shrunk, its moons would lighten never more,
And on the sands, sun-smit to froth, had made
Impress of dissolution; grateful shade,
Nor ocean cool, its beauty could restore.
Go, little book, but better far be lost
In deeps of song and water-floods of sound,
Than, with a momentary power to please,
Float in on barren beach, from shallow seas,
To melt beneath fierce light, and so be found
A lifeless blot, a blank, delusive ghost.
| Sonnets Round the Coast | |