How woolly gold they were, how woven through

With fluffy flame, and webby with spun dew:

And 'Asphodels' I murmured: then, 'These sure

Are Eden amaranths, so angel pure

That love alone may touch them.'—Thou didst lay

The flowers in my hands; alas! then gray

The world grew; and, meseemed, I passed away.

In some strange manner on a misty brook,

Between us flowing, striving still to look

Beyond it, while, around, the wild air shook