A Sonnet Chronicle | ||
80
Gowbarrow
An Appeal to the People of Leeds.
When in the black-robed city of the King,
Who wore his iron-black armour with such pride,
I heard a voice that like a trumpet cried,
“Give to the far-off people Earth's best thing—
A mountain height that knows the eagle's wing,
Where the red-deer stand proudly side by side
Then vanish like a dream, and far and wide
Hill, lake, and moorland make the sad heart sing”;
Who wore his iron-black armour with such pride,
I heard a voice that like a trumpet cried,
“Give to the far-off people Earth's best thing—
A mountain height that knows the eagle's wing,
Where the red-deer stand proudly side by side
Then vanish like a dream, and far and wide
Hill, lake, and moorland make the sad heart sing”;
I, turning, saw the weary merchants come
And lay their gold at the beseecher's feet,
Saying, “Oh! give us sun, sweet air, and light;
We pine and dwindle in this sulphurous night:
Keep us a land of rest, whose hope is sweet,
And let us dream, on earth, of Heaven our home.”
And lay their gold at the beseecher's feet,
Saying, “Oh! give us sun, sweet air, and light;
We pine and dwindle in this sulphurous night:
Keep us a land of rest, whose hope is sweet,
And let us dream, on earth, of Heaven our home.”
A Sonnet Chronicle | ||