A FRAGMENT—COMPOSED IN A DREAM.
BY A. TENNYSON.
In Hungerford, did some wise man
A stately bridge of wire decree,
Where Thames, the muddy river, ran,
Down to a muddier sea.
Above the people rose its piers,
Their shadows on the waters fell;
Year after year, for many years,
All unapproachable!
And filmy wires through æther spread,
From such proud piers' unfinished head,
Kept up a mild communication,
Worthy of their exalted station;
And many gazers far below,
Wafted by the waveless tide,
Which 'neath those slender wires did flow,
Upturned their eyes, and sighed—
"If that air bridge," they whispered low,
"Vos broad enough to let us pass,
Ve'd not av so much round to go,
As now ve av—alas!"
Punch, 1844.