Page:The Hundred Best Poems (lyrical) in the English language - second series.djvu/24

 Yet not on Helicon Kept they more cloudless Their noble calm.

Through sun-proof alleys In a lone, sand-hemm'd City of Africa, A blind, led beggar, Age-bow'd, asks alms.

No bolder robber Erst abode ambush'd Deep in the sandy waste; No clearer eyesight Spied prey afar.

Saharan sand-winds Sear'd his keen eyeballs; Spent is the spoil he won. For him the present Holds only pain.

Two young, fair lovers, Where the warm June-wind, Fresh from the summer fields, Plays fondly round them, Stand, tranced in joy.

With sweet, join'd voices, And with eyes brimming: "Ah," they cry, "Destiny, Prolong the present! Time, stand still here!"

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