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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CATHEDRALS BY THE SEA, by GEORGE SANTAYANA Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: For aeons had the self-responsive tide
Last Line: The sullen diapason of the sea.
Subject(s): Churches; Sea
First Line: For aeons had the self-responsive tide
Last Line: The sullen diapason of the sea.
Subject(s): Churches; Sea
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.
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