CX

HOW the old mountains drip with sunset,

   And the brake of dun!

How the hemlocks are tipped in tinsel

   By the wizard sun!

 

How the old steeples hand the scarlet,

   Till the ball is full,—

Have I the lip of the flamingo

   That I dare to tell?

 

Then, how the fire ebbs like billows,

   Touching all the grass

With a departing, sapphire feature,

   As if a duchess pass!

 

How a small dusk crawls on the village

   Till the houses blot;

And the odd flambeaux no men carry

   Glimmer on the spot!

 

Now it is night in nest and kennel,

   And where was the wood,

Just a dome of abyss is nodding

   Into solitude!—

These are the visions baffled Guido;

   Titian never told;

Domenichino dropped the pencil,

   Powerless to unfold.