“Lille” [poem]
Oh red the blushing east awoke
And bright the morn on Cassel broke
Along the green hillside we flew,
Flashed the clear sunshine in the dew
That on the clustering herbage hung
That to the tangled copse‐wood clung
That shot like stars through every shade
And glanced on every wildwood glade.
At length by many a wind descending
That ever to the plain were bending
Farther, and farther still we pressed
From Cassels insulated 1 crest
That back retiring fainter still,
Showed the rich outlines of its hill,
And faded in the purple haze,
That spoke the coming noontide blaze.
That noontide blaze delayed not long
On Tournays towʼrs 2 twas fierce and strong
And ere we gained the middle way
The glow was like an Afric day
Full upon Lilles high ramparts round 3
On massive wall and moated mound
Shot the fierce sun his glaring ray
As bent we on our burning way
Till past the narrow drawbridge length
The massive gates portcullised strength
And moat whose waves found steepy shore 4
Where forward high the bastion bore 5
And where the sentinels were set
High on the dizzy parapet
Till the last portals echoes woke,
And Lille upon us sudden broke
Giving to view another scene,
So clear, so noble, so serene,
Twould seem enchantments varied hue
On palace street and avenue
Those ancient piles rose huge and high,
In rich irregularity
Colossal form and figure fair,
Seemed moving, breathing, living there,
The vaulted arch where sunlight pure
Might never pierce the deep obscure
Where broadly barred, the ancient door,
Was with rich carving imaged oer
The bending Gothic gable roof
Of past magnificence gave proof
The modern windows formal square,
With Saxon arch was mingled there
Whose stern recesses dark and deep
The figured iron stanchions 6 keep. a
And bright the morn on Cassel broke
Along the green hillside we flew,
Flashed the clear sunshine in the dew
That on the clustering herbage hung
System generated line number
5That to the tangled copse‐wood clung
That shot like stars through every shade
And glanced on every wildwood glade.
At length by many a wind descending
That ever to the plain were bending
System generated line number
10Farther, and farther still we pressed
From Cassels insulated 1 crest
That back retiring fainter still,
Showed the rich outlines of its hill,
And faded in the purple haze,
System generated line number
15That spoke the coming noontide blaze.
That noontide blaze delayed not long
On Tournays towʼrs 2 twas fierce and strong
And ere we gained the middle way
The glow was like an Afric day
System generated line number
20Full upon Lilles high ramparts round 3
On massive wall and moated mound
Shot the fierce sun his glaring ray
As bent we on our burning way
Till past the narrow drawbridge length
System generated line number
25The massive gates portcullised strength
And moat whose waves found steepy shore 4
Where forward high the bastion bore 5
And where the sentinels were set
High on the dizzy parapet
System generated line number
30Till the last portals echoes woke,
And Lille upon us sudden broke
Giving to view another scene,
So clear, so noble, so serene,
Twould seem enchantments varied hue
System generated line number
35On palace street and avenue
Those ancient piles rose huge and high,
In rich irregularity
Colossal form and figure fair,
Seemed moving, breathing, living there,
System generated line number
40The vaulted arch where sunlight pure
Might never pierce the deep obscure
Where broadly barred, the ancient door,
Was with rich carving imaged oer
The bending Gothic gable roof
System generated line number
45Of past magnificence gave proof
The modern windows formal square,
With Saxon arch was mingled there
Whose stern recesses dark and deep
The figured iron stanchions 6 keep. a
System generated line number
50