 | The Poems of Sir William Watson |  |
41
NIGHT AND TIME
On a grey city I looked down, where strove
Britain with Rome, and Saxon warred with Dane,
And faith to faith succeeded, fane to fane;
Where haply, shrined in immemorial grove;
Some god of dayspring faded before Jove;
Where Jove to Christ, where Christ's to Odin's reign,
Did yield; and Odin bowed to Christ again;
And each a darkness round a darkness wove.
Britain with Rome, and Saxon warred with Dane,
And faith to faith succeeded, fane to fane;
Where haply, shrined in immemorial grove;
Some god of dayspring faded before Jove;
Where Jove to Christ, where Christ's to Odin's reign,
Did yield; and Odin bowed to Christ again;
And each a darkness round a darkness wove.
And Silence was abroad, and Dreams went by;
And hearthfires paled and faltered and died out,
As dying gods had paled to ghosts and fled;
And a blear mist came slowly up like Doubt;
And there was only Night, and Time, and I,
And city upon city of the dead.
And hearthfires paled and faltered and died out,
As dying gods had paled to ghosts and fled;
And a blear mist came slowly up like Doubt;
And there was only Night, and Time, and I,
And city upon city of the dead.
| The Poems of Sir William Watson | |