Sonnets on the War By Alexander Smith and By the Author of "Balder" and "The Roman" [S. T. Dobell] |
 |
|
THE CRYSTAL PALACE. |
 | Sonnets on the War |  |
11
THE CRYSTAL PALACE.
A mighty hand o'er all the world did pass,It stripped old empires and sun-sluggard isles,
The icy Arctic, Egypt's thirsty miles,
And laid its treasures in a hall of glass.
Upon the plain, innumerous as grass,
The nations murmured; and we fondly thought
That full-grown Time unto the world had brought
Eternal sunshine and eternal smiles.
Blind! blind! Resolve the lovely summer air,
'Tis one wild combat. Why did no one teach
That that fallacious future, smiling fair,
Hid watchfires burning on a hostile beach,—
A battle's fluctuating gloom and glare,
Death waiting silent in the gaping breach?
| Sonnets on the War | |