Some Verses Carol

Some verses carol blithely as a bird,
of violet and asphodel;
While others slowly strike a funeral bell,
Or call like clarionets till, spirit-stirred,
We hear the mustering tramp in every word.
In some, the ocean pounds with sledges fell,
Or Neptune posts with blare of trumpet-shell
By shores that visionary seas engird.
As soft as flutes, they croon the lullabies
Of cradle-years; play clear as citherns; wail
Like harps IEolian in the grieving wind:
Some are the deep-drawn human moan by pale
And silent faces,— ‘neath lack-luster skies,—
Peering through panes on darkness unconfined!