Sunk Lyonesse

Sunk Lyonesse written by Walter de la Mare

The Veil and Other Poems (1921)

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 In sea-cold Lyonesse,
 When the Sabbath eve shafts down
 On the roofs, walls, belfries
 Of the foundered town,
 The Nereids pluck their lyres
 Where the green translucency beats,
 And with motionless eyes at gaze
 Make ministrelsy in the streets.

 And the ocean water stirs
 In salt-worn casement and porch.
 Plies the blunt-nosed fish
 With fire in his skull for torch.
 And the ringing wires resound;
 And the unearthly lovely weep,
 In lament of the music they make
 In the sullen courts of sleep:
 Whose marble flowers bloom for aye:
 And - lapped by the moon-guiled tide -
 Mock their carver with heart of stone,
 Caged in his stone-ribbed side.

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