And here he paced! These glimmering pathways strewn With faded leaves, his light, swift footsteps crushed; The odour of yon pine was o'er him blown; Music went by him in each wind that brushed Those thin, close stems of ilex! Here alone He walked at noon, or silent stood, and hushed, Where the ground- ivy with its dusky sheen Carpets this cliff- hung forest always green. Far down, upon the shelves and sands below, The respirations of a southern sea Beat with incessant cadence, soft and slow; Round the grey cave's fantastic imagery, In undulation eddying to and fro, The purple waves swell up or backward flee; While dewed at each rebound with gentlest shock, The myrtle leans her green breast on the rock. And here he stood; upon his face the light, Streamed from some furthest realm of luminous thought, Which clothed his fragile beauty with the might Of suns for ever rising! Here he caught Visions divine. He saw in fiery flight The ' hand of heaven, ' with heavenly vengeance fraught, 'Run down the slanted sunlight of the morn; ' Prometheus frown on Jove with scorn for scorn. " Through cloud, and wave, and star, his insight keen Shone clear, and traced a god in each disguise; Protean, boundless. Like the buskined scene All nature stung him into ecstasies; In him, alas! had reverence equal been With admiration, those resplendent eyes Had wandered not through all his range sublime, To miss the one great marvel of all time. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THIRD BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 25 by THOMAS CAMPION MERSA by KEITH CASTELLAINE DOUGLAS HER LETTER by FRANCIS BRET HARTE TO ELIZABETH, COUNTESS OF RUTLAND by BEN JONSON THYESTES, ACT 2: CHORUS by LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA FOUND' (FOR A PICTURE) by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI THE HOUSE OF LIFE: 34. THE DARK GLASS by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI |