Flower Pieces and other poems By William Allingham: With two designs by Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
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IN A BROKEN TOWER. |
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 | Flower Pieces and other poems |  |
67
IN A BROKEN TOWER.
The tangling wealth by June amass'd
Left rock and ruin vaguely seen;
Thick ivy-cables held them fast,
Light boughs descended, floating green.
Left rock and ruin vaguely seen;
Thick ivy-cables held them fast,
Light boughs descended, floating green.
Slow turn'd the stair, a breathless height,
And far above it set me free,
When all the golden fan of light
Was closing down into the sea.
And far above it set me free,
When all the golden fan of light
Was closing down into the sea.
A window half-way up the wall
It led to; and so high was that,
The tallest trees were not so tall
That they could reach to where I sat.
It led to; and so high was that,
The tallest trees were not so tall
That they could reach to where I sat.
Aloft within the moulder'd Tower
Dark ivy fringed its round of sky,
Where slowly, in the deepening hour,
The first faint stars unveil'd on high.
Dark ivy fringed its round of sky,
Where slowly, in the deepening hour,
The first faint stars unveil'd on high.
The rustling of the foliage dim,
The murmur of the cool gray tide,
With tears that trembled on the brim,
An echo sad to these I sigh'd.
The murmur of the cool gray tide,
With tears that trembled on the brim,
An echo sad to these I sigh'd.
68
O Sea, thy ripple's mournful tune!—
The cloud along the sunset sleeps,
The phantom of the golden moon
Is kindled in thy quivering deeps,
The cloud along the sunset sleeps,
The phantom of the golden moon
Is kindled in thy quivering deeps,
Oh, mournfully!—and I to fill,
Fix'd in a ruin-window strange,
Some countless period, watching still
A moon, a sea, that never change!
Fix'd in a ruin-window strange,
Some countless period, watching still
A moon, a sea, that never change!
The guided orb is mounting slow;
The duteous wave is ebbing fast;
And now, as from the niche I go,
A shadow joins the shadowy past.
The duteous wave is ebbing fast;
And now, as from the niche I go,
A shadow joins the shadowy past.
Farewell, dim Ruins, tower and life,
Sadly enrich the distant view!
And welcome, scenes of toil and strife;
To-morrow's sun arises new.
Sadly enrich the distant view!
And welcome, scenes of toil and strife;
To-morrow's sun arises new.
| Flower Pieces and other poems | |