A WINTER PHANTASY
Reading edition
The day was all delight, Chorus and golden tune; Rides the steep night The white ship of the moon. Now that the night is come And silence wakes to power, All that was dumb Has its triumphal hour. My soul, behold a sail The seas of Heaven upon, Rise up and hail That roving galleon. High above winter frost Speed on uncharted ways, Enraptured, lost, Past thrall of nights and days. Burnt fervent-white with rime, The blurred earth hangs beneath, Frost-light sublime, Frost-tapers lit for death. Look down the mists and see The orchards mazed with snow; Grey, tangled tree, Lichen and mistletoe. But, ere the dim world falls Engulfed, upon your track, Even at Heaven’s walls, Turn back, turn back! And as the miles decrease, By all that foils regret, By all that is your peace, My soul, forget.