Page:Studies in Song - Swinburne (1880).djvu/200

 They blossom and warble and murmur, For the sense of their spirit is free: But harder to shoreward and firmer The grasp of the sea.

Like ashes the low cliffs crumble, The banks drop down into dust, The heights of the hills are made humble, As a reed's is the strength of their trust: As a city's that armies environ, The strength of their stay is of sand: But the grasp of the sea is as iron, Laid hard on the land.