REPLY TO A SONNET BEGINNING "CATHEDRALS ARE NOT BUILT ALONG THE SEA" For aeons had the self-responsive tide Risen to ebb, and tempests blown to clear, And the belated moon refilled her sphere To wane anew -- for, aeons since, she died -- When to the deeps that called her earth replied (Lest year should cancel unavailing year) And took from her dead heart the stones to rear A cross-shaped temple to the Crucified. Then the wild winds through organ-pipes descended To utter what they meant eternally, And not in vain the moon devoutly mended Her wasted taper, lighting Calvary, While with a psalmody of angels blended The sullen diapason of the sea. |