WHAT trees were they? Their roots were wrapt around the mountain, Their falling branches made a fountain, pouring light into the sky. Their branches made a wind and caught the clouds that hung delaying And knelt like pilgrims praying, then, rising, soared on high. What waters were they? Strange, I could not see them falling But heard them shaking, calling, down the broken heights of sky. Halos upsprang above and shaped, unshaped and faded, And clouds brightened and shaded as the waters fell from high. What roofs were they? Within the showering green uplifted Strong towers thrust and rifted and shouldered towards the sky— Fortress towers or palace or holy temple everlasting, Their wing-like strength upcasting to an unseen tower on high. What land was that, what city? Proud, lofty and green-steepled, Why hung it there unpeopled, with no sound 'neath all the sky But wind and leaves and fountains? What voices there were muted, What generations rooted, with blind lids fixed on high? The senses cannot reach there; bold sight, intoxicated hearing, Nor touch with delicate daring—they crawl abashed beneath the sky. But the heart that's purged of sense and fear—the senses' master— Moves there without disaster—while Time's cloud fades on high. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET: 42 by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY LITTLE BERNHARD by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS SONNET FROM JAPAN: 1. THE SPELL by ADELAIDE NICHOLS BAKER PROLOGUE. INTENDED FOR A DRAMATIC PIECE OF KING EDWARD THE FOURTH by WILLIAM BLAKE THE WIDOW TO HER HOUR-GLASS by ROBERT BLOOMFIELD FRAGMENT (FROM THE ELIZABETHANS) by W. BRIDGES-ADAMS EPITAPH ON MR. JOHN DEANE, OF NEW COLLEGE by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |