Poems, 1799 by Robert Southey
page 6 of 147 (04%)
page 6 of 147 (04%)
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Dash'd down the iron rod.
Intent the Maid Gazed on the pilot's form, and as she gazed Shiver'd, for wan her face was, and her eyes Hollow, and her sunk cheeks were furrowed deep, Channell'd by tears; a few grey locks hung down Beneath her hood: then thro' the Maiden's veins Chill crept the blood, for, as the night-breeze pass'd, Lifting her tattcr'd mantle, coil'd around She saw a serpent gnawing at her heart. The plumeless bat with short shrill note flits by, And the night-raven's scream came fitfully, Borne on the hollow blast. Eager the Maid Look'd to the shore, and now upon the bank Leaps, joyful to escape, yet trembling still In recollection. There, a mouldering pile Stretch'd its wide ruins, o'er the plain below Casting a gloomy shade, save where the moon Shone thro' its fretted windows: the dark Yew, Withering with age, branched there its naked roots, And there the melancholy Cypress rear'd Its head; the earth was heav'd with many a mound, And here and there a half-demolish'd tomb. And now, amid the ruin's darkest shade, The Virgin's eye beheld where pale blue flames Rose wavering, now just gleaming from the earth, |
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