ALONG the crowded shelves the lamplight falls, In arabesques and patterns and dim gules, Caressing crabbed handiwork of schools Long dead and long forgotten. One recalls Inscriptions on old tombstones blurred with mould, Petitioning a glance from passers-by. But there where Rabelaisian volumes lie, Flanked by Brantôme and Villon, bound in gold, There still, life, love, and wine run merrily. Gargantua jesus with young Pantagruel In some Tourainian castle oriel, Defying Death and Time's slow alchemy. Above the tiers with carven, sightless eyes, Milton, in scorn of French frivolity, Gazes on Satan hurled from Paradise. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RAVEN; A CHRISTMAS TALE, TOLD BY A SCHOOL-BOY by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE DEATH OF THE DAY by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR RIDDLE OF GOD by PAUL SOUTHWORTH BLISS THE AVENUE by GEORGES BOUTELLEAU CHERRY-BUDS by GAMALIEL BRADFORD TO MARY RUSSELL MITFORD, IN HER GARDEN by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING TO A BEAUTIFUL QUAKER by GEORGE GORDON BYRON CRUCIFIXUS PRO NOBIS: 3. CHRIST IN HIS PASSION by PATRICK CAREY |