Eternal brood the shadows on this ground,
Dreaming of centuries that have gone before;
Great elms rise solemnly by slab and mound,
...
The cloudless day is richer at its close;
A golden glory settles on the lea;
Soft, stealing shadows hint of cool repose
...
It was golden and splendid,
That City of light;
A vision suspended
In deeps of the night;
...
How dull the wretch, whose philosophic mind
Disdains the pleasures of fantastic kind;
Whose prosy thoughts the joys of life exclude,
...
A FA Fable
Luxus tumultus semper causa est.
Lucullus Languish, student of the skies,
And connoisseur of rarebits and mince pies,
...
I am a peaceful working man,
I am not wise or strong,
But I can follow Nature's plan,
In labour, rest, and song.
...
We are the valiant Knights of Peace
Who prattle for the Right:
Our banner is of snowy fleece,
Inscrib'd: 'TOO PROUD TO FIGHT!''
...
The steeples are white in the wild moonlight,
And the trees have a silver glare;
Past the chimneys high see the vampires fly,
...
How sad droop the willows by Zalal's fair side,
Where so lately I stray'd with my raven-hair'd bride;
...
The hours of night unheeded fly,
And in the grate the embers fade;
Vast shadows one by one pass by
In silent daemon cavalcade.
...