The Valley Of Unrest

Once it smiled a silent dell       Where the people did not dwell;       They had gone unto the wars,       Trusting to the mild-eyed stars,       Nightly, from their azure towers,       To keep watch above the flowers,       In the midst of which all day       The red sunlight lazily lay.       Now each visitor shall confess       The sad valley's restlessness.       Nothing there is motionless-       Nothing save the airs that brood       Over the magic solitude.       Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees       That palpitate like the chill seas       Around the misty Hebrides!       Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven       That rustle through the unquiet Heaven       Uneasily, from morn till even,       Over the violets there that lie       In myriad types of the human eye-       Over the lilies there that wave       And weep above a nameless grave!       They wave:- from out their fragrant tops       Eternal dews come down in drops.       They weep:- from off their delicate stems       Perennial tears descend in gems.