Page:Poems (IA poemstennalfr00tennrich).pdf/138

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126
POEMS.
xv.
Squadrons and squares of men in brazen plates,
Scaffolds, still sheets of water, divers woes,
Ranges of glimmering vaults with iron grates,
And hushed seraglios.

xvi.
So shape chased shape as swift as, when to land
Bluster the winds and tides the selfsame way,
Crisp foamflakes scud along the level sand,
Torn from the fringe of spray.

xvii.
I started once, or seemed to start in pain,
Resolved on noble things, and strove to speak,
As when a great thought strikes along the brain,
And flushes all the cheek.

xviii.
And once my arm was lifted to hew down
A cavalier from off his saddlebow,
That bore a lady from a leaguered town;
And then, I know not how,