The forest of the winding water-ways
Shows dimly imaged in the glass of dreams,
And faintly falls upon the dreaming ear
The measured singing of its shadowed streams.
The mirror shows the battlemented towers
Where, at an upper window, sat of old
The pale princesses garlanded with flowers
And girdled with great jewels set in gold.
The dimly-litten chapel on the hill
Where knight untried kept watch with virgin sword,
Or touched with reverent lips the jewelled Cup
And for a glowing instant knew his Lord.
Shall I not know again the chapel’s gloom,
Repeat again the half-remembered prayer,
And win by some forgotten feat of arms
My yet ungraven shield a noble wear?
Shall I not some day see the tower plain,
And hear the chosen princess say the word,
And bear her on the dreamland charger forth.
And guard her with the visionary sword?
From out the iridescent veil of Night
The princess of the past smiles down on me.
Only in dreams her hands are laid in mine.
Only in dreams her shining eyes I see.
The forest calls me, is there no way back?
I have no place in what the world is grown.
Ah ! let me breathe again the enchanted air
And tread the ways that once my soul has known.
(Ethel Clifford)
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Based on Topics: World Poems, Night Poems, Sadness Poems, Dreams Poems, Gold Poems, Past Poems, Prayers Poems, Romantic Love Poems, Dreaming PoemsBased on Keywords: half-remembered, princesses, battlemented, water-ways, ungraven