Classic Poem

Upon the old cliff thou stood'st with wondrous eyes
Wherethrough the timeless soul of Venus shone;
And I, — I knew myself thy bard alone
Till very death turns faint of heart and dies.
Thy soul was mingled with the pale-blue skies,
And the far dark-blue waters were thy throne,
And in thy tongue spake Venus silver tone, —
Robed wast thou, mortal, in immortal wise.

So thou dost hold my soul for evermore,
O Venus-lady, in thy tender hands
Which held innumerable souls of yore
And swayed the unsearchable and ancient lands, —
Now clasping my soul where grey breakers roar
And charge along the vapour-shrouded sands.