I have read, in some old, marvellous tale, Some legend strange and vague,That a midnight host of spectres pale Beleaguered the walls of Prague. Beside the Moldau's rushing stream, With the wan moon overhead,There stood, as in an awful dream, The army of the dead. White as a sea-fog, landward bound, The spectral camp was seen,And, with a sorrowful, deep … Continue reading Poem – “The Beleaguered City”
Poems
Poem – “London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal”
———Quis ineptæTam patiens Urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat se?Juv. Tho’ Grief and Fondness in my Breast rebel,When injur’d Thales bids the Town farewell,Yet still my calmer Thoughts his Choice commend,I praise the Hermit, but regret the Friend,Resolved at length, from Vice and London far,To breathe in distant Fields a purer Air,And, fix’d on Cambria’s solitary … Continue reading Poem – “London: A Poem in Imitation of the Third Satire of Juvenal”
Poem: “St. Philip Neri in His Mission”
In the far North our lot is cast, Where faithful hearts are few;Still are we Philip's children dear, And Peter's soldiers true. Founder and Sire! to mighty Rome, Beneath St. Peter's shade,Early thy vow of loyal love And ministry was paid. The solemn porch, and portal high, Of Peter was thy home;The world's Apostle he, … Continue reading Poem: “St. Philip Neri in His Mission”
Poem – “Outsong of the Jungle”
BALOOFor the sake of him who showedOne wise Frog the Jungle-Road,Keep the Law the Man-Pack makeFor thy blind old Baloo's sake!Clean or tainted, hot or stale,Hold it as it were the Trail,Through the day and through the night,Questing neither left nor right.For the sake of him who lovesThee beyond all else that moves,When thy Pack … Continue reading Poem – “Outsong of the Jungle”
Poem – “Background”
I never can be tied to raw, new things,For I first saw the light in an old town,Where from my window huddled roofs sloped downTo a quaint harbour rich with visionings.Streets with carved doorways where the sunset beamsFlooded old fanlights and small window-panes,And Georgian steeples topped with gilded vanes—These were the sights that shaped my … Continue reading Poem – “Background”
Poem – Richard II, Act 3, Scene 2
Richard: Of comfort no man speak:Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyesWrite sorrow on the bosom of the earth.Let's choose executors and talk of wills;And yet not so—for what can we bequeathSave our deposed bodies to the ground?Our lands, our lives, and all are Bolingbroke's. And nothing … Continue reading Poem – Richard II, Act 3, Scene 2
Poem – “Cliche Came Out of its Cage”
1 You said 'The world is going back to Paganism'.Oh bright Vision! I saw our dynasty in the bar of the HouseSpill from their tumblers a libation to the Erinyes,And Leavis with Lord Russell wreathed in flowers, heralded with flutes,Leading white bulls to the cathedral of the solemn MusesTo pay where due the glory of … Continue reading Poem – “Cliche Came Out of its Cage”
Poem – “An American”
(The American Spirit speaks:) IF the Led Striker call it a strike,Or the papers call it a war,They know not much what I am like,Nor what he is, my Avatar. Through many roads, by me possessed,He shambles forth in cosmic guise;He is the Jester and the Jest,And he the Text himself applies. The Celt is … Continue reading Poem – “An American”
Poem – “Ode for July Fourth 1917”
As Columbia’s brave scions, in anger array’d,Once defy’d a proud monarch and built a new nation;’Gainst their brothers of Britain unsheath’d the sharp bladeThat hath ne’er met defeat nor endur’d desecration;So must we in this hourShow our valour and pow’r,And dispel the black perils that over us low’r:Whilst the sons of Britannia, no longer our … Continue reading Poem – “Ode for July Fourth 1917”
Poem – “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
I had grown weary of him; of his breathAnd hands and features I was sick to death.Each day I heard the same dull voice and tread;I did not hate him: but I wished him dead.And he must with his blank face fill my life-Then my brain blackened; and I snatched a knife. But ere I … Continue reading Poem – “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
Serpent's Den 