Poems (David)/Magdalen College

by Edith Mary David

MAGDALEN COLLEGE.

WITH pleasure, once again, I now beholdMagdalen's fine tower, rising grand and bold;To cloistered shades I bend my gladsome way,Beneath the noble gate, now old and grey.On every trellised arch the ivy clings, O'er every gabled point some tendril flings,From each quaint nook, out-peep its lovely leaves,Their pendant garlands waving in the breeze;The virgin creeper, in rich massive shower,Climbs o'er the gabled points, turrets and tower.And in the verdant lawn bright scarlet leavesLie strewed, and withered all around the trees;Down from each ancient arch there stiffly frown,Grotesque figures with twining ivy crown'd,^aTime-worn and defaced, now quaintly there stand,Much changed from mediæval sculptor's hand,—Proudly they raise their dark and blemish'd forms,To brave the Summer sun, or Wint'ry storms!