SILK FLOWERS (for Douglas)

thou rugged Pile! So

pure the sky, so quiet fond

humaniz’d Heart borne!

Hulk which labours blind

Hous’d in a dream, On tranquil

sunbeams given Form

Is to be pitied;

–yet wise and well; Well chosen

sweetest chronicle

Ah! THEN, if Poet’s

consecration pass’d away

thou hoary Pile! calm!

fancied mood, betray’d.

we suffer and we mourn. sleep

on a glassy sea

delusion swell thee

day! passionate Work! Friend! gleam,

who would have been Friend,

dismal shore. welcome

pageantry, heart, unfeeling

armour of old time,

trampling the fierce wind,

sky of bliss: Farewell, farewell

huge Castle, smiling