A WINTER PHANTASY
The day was all delight,Chorus and golden tune;Rides the steep nightThe white ship of the moon.Now that the night is comeAnd silence wakes to power,All that was dumbHas its triumphal hour.My soul, behold a sailThe seas of Heaven upon,Rise up and hailThat roving galleon.High above winter frostSpeed 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 seeThe orchards mazed with snow;Grey, tangled tree,Lichen and mistletoe.But, ere the dim world fallsEngulfed, 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.