@3Once@1 it smiled a silent dell Where the people did not dwell; They had gone unto the wars, Trusting to the mild-eyed stars, Nightly, from their azure towers, To keep watch above the flowers, In the midst of which all day The red sun-light lazily lay. Now each visitor shall confess The sad valley's restlessness. Nothing there is motionless -- Nothing save the airs that brood Over the magic solitude. Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees That palpitate like the chill seas Around the misty Hebrides! Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven That rustle through the unquiet Heaven Uneasily, from morn till even, Over the violets there that lie In myriad types of the human eye -- Over the lilies there that wave And weep above a nameless grave! They wave: -- from out their fragrant tops Eternal dews come down in drops. They weep: -- from off their delicate stems Perennial tears descend in gems. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TIGER, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE THANKSGIVING IN BOSTON HARBOR [JUNE 12, 1630] by HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH A SHROPSHIRE LAD: 62 by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN RAIN ON THE ROOF (1) by COATES KINNEY SONNET: 109 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE |