English Roses by F. Harald Williams [i.e. F. W. O. Ward] |
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I WALKED WITH SHAKSPEARE. |
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 | English Roses |  |
I WALKED WITH SHAKSPEARE.
I walked with Shakspeare, once, his kingly paceConsented to my own, and in his face
I basked a season as beneath a sun
Of glory, and I marked the fountains run
That flow from him in fruitful love and life
And water all the world with beauty rife.
His calm clear eyes looked gently down on me,
Big with those thoughts that make the nations free
And brave and strong, and like a river swept
His tidal speech in majesty and kept
Communion with the currents of the earth
And heaven alike, and fell in dew on dearth.
I talked with Shakspeare for a while, and drank
Deep of his wisdom as it played with rank
And reputations and large modes of mind
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He touched on all high policies of State
As with the finger of unerring fate,
And toyed with trifles and the fringe of facts
Bodied by him in fine immortal acts.
I heard and wondered and while near him felt
Uplifted to the light wherein he dwelt
Serene and sure with universal look,
Who gathered sweetness from the star or brook
And wove the leaf and portent in his plan,
Which read the hidden heart of things and man;
But, ah, I could not reach, howe'er he bent,
The awful height of his great argument.
| English Roses | |