Page:Foliage, various poems.djvu/64

 Such as we seldom feel come from that life

The artist copies. Many a lovely sight—

Such as the half sunk barge with bales of hay,

Or sparkling coals—employed my wondering eyes.

I saw old Thames, whose ripples swarmed with stars

Bred by the sun on that fine summer's day;

I saw in fancy fowl and green banks there,

And Liza's barge rowed past a thousand swans.

I walked in parks and heard sweet music cry

In solemn courtyards, midst the men-at-arms;

Which suddenly would leap those stony walls

And spring up with loud laughter into trees.

I walked in busy streets where music oft

Went on the march with men; and ofttimes heard

The organ in cathedral, when the boys

Like nightingales sang in that thunderstorm;

The organ, with its rich and solemn tones—

As near a God's voice as a man conceives;

Nor ever dreamt the silent misery

That solemn organ brought to homeless men.

I heard the drums and soft brass instruments,

Led by the silver cornets clear and high—

Whose sounds turned playing children into stones.