BETA

Cloud Fancies

We walked abroad, my Love
and I,1
And watched the clouds athwart
the sky,2
Whose soft, fantastic shapes did
seem3
The substance of some fairy’s
dream.4
And palaces we built, and
thrones,5
In ivory, gold, and precious
stones,6
In fancy through their courts did
hear7
Sweet fountains’ splashing waters
clear.8
And it were good, we said, to die,9
To ever live, my Love and I,10
In some cloud-palace built so
fair11
That even gods might linger
there.12
And pleasures we did deem so
sweet,13
They almost winged our ready
feet,14
As through the fragrant meads
we went15
With spirits drenched in glad
content.16
From mead to wood we took
our way,17
And birds were bright and flowers
were gay :18
And though we lost the soft-
cloud sky,19
We lost not joy, my Love and I.20
From wood to mead we passed
again,21
The clouds were gone like April
rain ;22
No more a palace met our eyes23
Through all the empire of the
skies.24
In thought we paused, my Love
and I,25
No longer wished in joy to die ;26
And lingering on a passionate kiss,27
We craved no more for cloud-
built bliss.28
Charles Lusted.