Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/246

208 CALAIS SANDS.

knights have reined their steeds

To watch this line of sand-hills run,

Along the never-silent strait,

To Calais glittering in the sun;

To look toward Ardres' Golden Field

Across this wide aërial plain,

Which glows as if the Middle Age

Were gorgeous upon earth again.

Oh, that to share this famous scene,

I saw, upon the open sand,

Thy lovely presence at my side,—

Thy shawl, thy look, thy smile, thy hand!

How exquisite thy voice would come,

My darling, on this lonely air!

How sweetly would the fresh sea-breeze

Shake loose some band of soft brown hair!

Yet now my glance but once hath roved

O'er Calais and its famous plain;

To England's cliffs my gaze is turned,

O'er the blue strait mine eyes I strain.

Thou comest! Yes! the vessel's cloud

Hangs dark upon the rolling sea.

Oh that yon sea-bird's wings were mine,

To win one instant's glimpse of thee!

I must not spring to grasp thy hand,

To woo thy smile, to seek thine eye;

But I may stand far off, and gaze,

And watch thee pass unconscious by,—