Artemis to Actæon (1909)/Two Backgrounds
TWO BACKGROUNDS
ILA VIERGE AU DONATEURHere by the ample river's argent sweep,Bosomed in tilth and vintage to her walls,A tower-crowned Cybele in armoured sleepThe city lies, fat plenty in her halls,With calm parochial spires that hold in feeThe friendly gables clustered at their base,And, equipoised o'er tower and market-place,The Gothic minister's winged immensity;And in that narrow burgh, with equal mood,Two placid hearts, to all life's good resigned,Might, from the altar to the lych-gate, findLong years of peace and dreamless plenitude.
II.MONA LISAYon strange blue city crowns a scarpèd steepNo mortal foot hath bloodlessly essayed:Dreams and illusions beacon from its keep.But at the gate an Angel bares his blade;And tales are told of those who thought to gainAt dawn its ramparts; but when evening fellFar off they saw each fading pinnacleLit with wild lightnings from the heaven of pain;Yet there two souls, whom life's perversitiesHad mocked with want in plenty, tears in mirth,Might meet in dreams, ungarmented of earth,And drain Joy's awful chalice to the lees.