 | Poetical Works of Robert Bridges excluding the eight dramas |  |
14
THE SLEEPING MANSION
As our car rustled swiftly
along the village lane,
we caught sight for a moment
of the old house again,
along the village lane,
we caught sight for a moment
of the old house again,
Which once I made my home in—
ev'n as a soul may dwell
enamouring the body
that she loveth so well:
ev'n as a soul may dwell
enamouring the body
that she loveth so well:
But I long since had left it;
what fortune now befals
finds me on other meadows
by other trees and walls.
what fortune now befals
finds me on other meadows
by other trees and walls.
The place look'd blank and empty,
a sleeper's witless face
which to his mind's enchantment
is numb, and gives no trace.
a sleeper's witless face
which to his mind's enchantment
is numb, and gives no trace.
And to that slumbering mansion
was I come as a dream,
to cheer her in her stupor
and loneliness extreme.
was I come as a dream,
to cheer her in her stupor
and loneliness extreme.
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I knew what sudden wonder
I brought her in my flight;
what rapturous joy possess'd her,
what peace and soft delight.
I brought her in my flight;
what rapturous joy possess'd her,
what peace and soft delight.
| Poetical Works of Robert Bridges excluding the eight dramas | |