 | Poems at Home and Abroad |  |
11
Sabbath Dawn at Castel di Poggio
Tired of the Pisan railway thunder,
Flash of the day and flicker of night,
Happy the man who sees the wonder
Of silent dawn from this castle-height.
Flash of the day and flicker of night,
Happy the man who sees the wonder
Of silent dawn from this castle-height.
Vallombrosa all lilac and tender,
Lilac tender on olives pale,
And the cypress towers in sunlit splendour
High o'er the Arno's sunless vale.
Lilac tender on olives pale,
And the cypress towers in sunlit splendour
High o'er the Arno's sunless vale.
Not a sound in the tree-tops going,
Not a cicala to greet the morn;
Only the voice of a shrill cock crowing,
Only the note of a goat-herd's horn.
Not a cicala to greet the morn;
Only the voice of a shrill cock crowing,
Only the note of a goat-herd's horn.
Yet as I lean and drink the beauty
Sudden I hear the clang of bells,
‘God is the Lord and praise is duty,’—
So the throb of their melody tells.
Sudden I hear the clang of bells,
‘God is the Lord and praise is duty,’—
So the throb of their melody tells.
12
Praise, yea praise for His mercy, giving
Strength to the toiler, fruit to the plain,
Another day for joy to the living,
Another day for the end of pain.
Strength to the toiler, fruit to the plain,
Another day for joy to the living,
Another day for the end of pain.
Praise from the city just waked from dreaming,
Praise from Arnolfo's wondrous dome,
Praise from the farms like white stars gleaming
Each with a gift of love and home.
Praise from Arnolfo's wondrous dome,
Praise from the farms like white stars gleaming
Each with a gift of love and home.
Ring on bells, though the sheep are scattered,
And a thousand hills have a thousand ways,
Night shall tell that it little mattered,
For all were one in their need of praise.
And a thousand hills have a thousand ways,
Night shall tell that it little mattered,
For all were one in their need of praise.
| Poems at Home and Abroad | |