 | The Poems of A. C. Benson |  |
174
TAN-YR-ALLT
Feathery woodlands, falling, dipping,
Down from the height to the river's edge;
Voice of the rivulet, dashing, dripping,
Crevice by crevice, ledge by ledge;
Lawns high-sloping and sunlit spaces,
Glades that glimmer from crag to plain,
Shy unvisited secret places,
See I fall at your feet again!
Down from the height to the river's edge;
Voice of the rivulet, dashing, dripping,
Crevice by crevice, ledge by ledge;
Lawns high-sloping and sunlit spaces,
Glades that glimmer from crag to plain,
Shy unvisited secret places,
See I fall at your feet again!
Voice of summer, delaying, coming,
Thrushes piping in bush and brake,
Bees round feathery catkins humming,
Buds that slumber and fear to wake;
Frail anemones, airy, slender,
Stars engendered of wind and dew,
Celandines faithful, violets tender,
Oh! to be worthy to sing of you!
Thrushes piping in bush and brake,
Bees round feathery catkins humming,
Buds that slumber and fear to wake;
Frail anemones, airy, slender,
Stars engendered of wind and dew,
Celandines faithful, violets tender,
Oh! to be worthy to sing of you!
What shall we say of thee, ancient spirit,
Cold in the starlight, hot in the sun?
What are the realms that are thine to inherit—
Art thou manifold, art thou one?
What is thy labour, what thy leisure?
When thou art weary of frost and fire,
Dost thou then, for thy fitful pleasure,
Carve the iris and scent the briar?
Cold in the starlight, hot in the sun?
What are the realms that are thine to inherit—
Art thou manifold, art thou one?
175
When thou art weary of frost and fire,
Dost thou then, for thy fitful pleasure,
Carve the iris and scent the briar?
Lord of nakedness, Lord of laughter,
Thou that art secret, and great, and glad,
Wilt thou still in the dark hereafter
Smile and frolic, and leave us sad?
When I stoop to the silent portal,
Let me say with my latest breath,
“Once, in a moment of light, a mortal
Breathed a challenge to Doubt and Death.”
Thou that art secret, and great, and glad,
Wilt thou still in the dark hereafter
Smile and frolic, and leave us sad?
When I stoop to the silent portal,
Let me say with my latest breath,
“Once, in a moment of light, a mortal
Breathed a challenge to Doubt and Death.”
| The Poems of A. C. Benson | |