Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LANDMARK, by EULA GLADYS LINCOLN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LANDMARK, by                    
First Line: The old church stands beside the road
Last Line: Shall raze it to the ground.
Subject(s): Churches; Cathedrals


The old church stands beside the road,
Deserted, silent, gray,
A monument to other times --
A half-forgotten day.

The paint has long since disappeared,
The shingles need repair,
The wooden steps are broken down
And no one passes there

Unless the ghosts of pioneers
Who built within the dell
Sometimes return to view the scene
Where now but strangers dwell.

Behind the shutters sparrows build
And rear their young in peace;
While to the chimney's crumbling walls
The swallows have a lease.

The trees crowd close, their boughs hang low
As if to hide from shame
The house where once the rural folk
Were wont to praise His name.

Beneath the belfry's tipsy peak
Still hangs the rusty bell;
It will not ring on Sabbath morn
Its gladsome news to tell,

For some have gone where all must go,
Some scattered here and there,
While some have taken other creeds --
The rest seem not to care.

And so it stands a landmark there
For all the country round
Till lightning bolt or hurricane
Shall raze it to the ground.





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