Destroyers and Other Verses/Pegasus
PEGASUS.
The wind is still; from far and wide the air
Resounds with Sabbath bells, calling to prayer
And from the vast, unfathomable blue
Hums a propeller's penetrating drone.
We stand enchanted, and our eyes pursue
An aeroplane, that climbs the summer sky
To drift alone
On mountainous clouds of ever-virgin snow,
Suspended like a black-winged dragon-fly,
That turning gleams,
Dove-grey and silver in the morning beams;
Or like a dead leaf, loosened from a height,
Spins in its perilous flight.
We catch our breath like children at a show
Of martial arts and heroic deeds,
On every glittering incident intent,
Forgetting for a time terrestrial creeds
For joy that man now rides the firmament.
Resounds with Sabbath bells, calling to prayer
And from the vast, unfathomable blue
Hums a propeller's penetrating drone.
We stand enchanted, and our eyes pursue
An aeroplane, that climbs the summer sky
To drift alone
On mountainous clouds of ever-virgin snow,
Suspended like a black-winged dragon-fly,
That turning gleams,
Dove-grey and silver in the morning beams;
Or like a dead leaf, loosened from a height,
Spins in its perilous flight.
We catch our breath like children at a show
Of martial arts and heroic deeds,
On every glittering incident intent,
Forgetting for a time terrestrial creeds
For joy that man now rides the firmament.