 | Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy |  |
153
A FEAR FOR LEYSIN
THE BUILDING OF THE CASINO
Close round its silver spire the village cowers,
Each brown house spreads its wings as if it heard
The cry in heaven from some gigantic bird,
Told of in old Arabian midnight hours;
Yet all was sun, from Dent du Midi's towers
To those high pines no other voices stirred
Than the grey cricket chirring, as he chirred
Last year, among his groves of innocent flowers.
Each brown house spreads its wings as if it heard
The cry in heaven from some gigantic bird,
Told of in old Arabian midnight hours;
Yet all was sun, from Dent du Midi's towers
To those high pines no other voices stirred
Than the grey cricket chirring, as he chirred
Last year, among his groves of innocent flowers.
But as I gazed, up rose the purple dome
Of some huge pleasure-palace idly planned,
To dull the sense of time with dice and gold;
I felt the fear for every cottage home,
When indolence should poisonous wealth command,
And Leysin lose the simple life of old.
Of some huge pleasure-palace idly planned,
To dull the sense of time with dice and gold;
I felt the fear for every cottage home,
When indolence should poisonous wealth command,
And Leysin lose the simple life of old.
| Sonnets in Switzerland and Italy | |