A PARSONAGE IN OXFORDSHIRE

Composed 1820.—Published 1822

[This Parsonage was the residence of my friend Jones, and is particularly described in another note.[EN]—I. F.]

One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets."—Ed.

Where holy ground begins, unhallowed ends,

Is marked by no distinguishable line;

The turf unites, the pathways intertwine;

And, wheresoe'er the stealing footstep tends,

Garden, and that Domain where kindred, friends,

And, neighbours rest together, here confound

Their several features, mingled like the sound

Of many waters, or as evening blends

With shady night. Soft airs, from shrub and flower,

Waft fragrant greetings to each silent grave;

And while those lofty poplars gently wave

Their tops, between them [410] comes and goes a sky

Bright as the glimpses of eternity,

To saints accorded in their mortal hour.

This sonnet was written at Brugès, during the Continental Tour of 1820 (see note p. [291]). It was originally published in a note to one of the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," beginning

A genial hearth, a hospitable board.—Ed.

VARIANT:

[410] 1827.

Meanwhile between those Poplars, as they wave

Their lofty summits, . . .

FOOTNOTE:

[EN] See the note to Pastoral Character, in the "Ecclesiastical Sonnets," Part III. xviii.—Ed.