With high-pitched arch, low parapet, And narrow thoroughfare, it stands As strong as when the mortar set Beneath the Roman mason's hands. An ancient ivy grips its walls, Tall grasses tuft its coping-stones; Beneath, through citron shadow, falls The stream in drowsy undertones. No road leads hence. The stonechat flits Along green fallow grey with stone; But here a dark-eyed urchin sits, To whom the Painted Men were known. Hush! do not move, but only look. When sunny days are long and fine This Roman truant baits a hook, Drops o'er the keystone here a line, And, dangling sandalled feet, looks down To see the swift trout dart and gleam -- Or scarcely see them, hanging brown With heads against the clear brown stream. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONGS IN ABSENCE: 7. THE SHIP by ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH RICH DAYS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES LITANY by ROBERT GRANT (1785-1838) GOOD-NIGHT TO THE SEASON by WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED PRAYER OF THE LOST by ALETHEA TODD ALDERSON |