BROTHER of mine, good monk with cowled head, Walled from that world which thou hast long since fled, And pacing thy green close beyond the sea, I send my heart to thee. Down gust-sweet walks, bordered by lavender, While eastward, westward, the mad swallows whir, All afternoon poring thy missal fair, Serene thou pacest there. Mixed with the words and fitting like a tune, Thou hearest distantly the voice of June, -- The little, gossipping noises in the grass, The bees that come and pass. Fades the long day; the pool behind the hedge Burns like a rose within the windy sedge; The lilies ghostlier grow in the dim air; The convent windows flare. Yet still thou lingerest; from pastures steep, Past the barred gate the shepherd drives his sheep; A nightingale breaks forth, and for a space Makes sweeter the sweet place. Then the gray monks by hooded twos and threes Move chapelward beneath the flaming trees; Closing thy book, back by the alleys fair Thou followest to prayer. Born to these brawling days, this work-sick age, Oft long I for thy simpler heritage; A thought of thee is like a breath of bloom Blown through a noisy room. For thou art quick, not dead. I picture thee Forever in that close beyond the sea; And find, despite this weather's headlong stir, Peace and a comforter. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SHIP OF RIO by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE MOON-BRIGHT DREAMS by WILLIAM EDWARD ADAMS DON QUIXOTE by CRAVEN LANGSTROTH BETTS WRITTEN FOR AN ALBUM by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD TO AN ENEMY by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH THE MOURNING MUSE OF THESTYLIS by LODOWICK BRYSKETT |