Sonnets Round the Coast by H. D. Rawnsley |
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ON THE DOWNS, NEAR BRISTOL. |
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 | Sonnets Round the Coast |  |
54
VI. ON THE DOWNS, NEAR BRISTOL.
The lounging Roman, who, in days of yore,Watched the low galley from the Severn side
Crawl with its hundred arms upon the tide,
Or disembark the green-incrusted ore,—
He wist not of thy rising, Bristol, more
Than I, who on this sunny rock astride,
Can think that yonder ships in dumbness glide
To dockyard clamour, and to harbour roar.
Eye-blinding selfishness! the conqueror dreamed
No other city mightier than Rome,
And I, who to these silent downs have come,
For me alone their health and beauty seemed,
Nor thought I once, beyond the hill there lies
A city's travail, with its throes and cries!
| Sonnets Round the Coast | |