Poem by Alan Seeger

Lyonesse

In Lyonesse was beauty enough, men say:
Long Summer loaded the orchards to excess,
And fertile lowlands lengthening far away,
In Lyonesse.

Came a term to that land's old favoredness:
Past the sea-walls, crumbled in thundering spray,
Rolled the green waves, ravening, merciless.

Through bearded boughs immobile in cool decay,
Where sea-bloom covers corroding palaces,
The mermaid glides with a curious glance to-day,
In Lyonesse. 

1. Thirty Sonnets. 5. Sonnet 5. A tide of beauty with returning May
2. The Sultan's Palace
3. Sonnet 7. There have been times when I could storm and plead
4. Thirty Sonnets. 13. Sonnet 13. I fancied, while you stood conversing there
5. Thirty Sonnets. 8. Sonnet 8. Oft as by chance, a little while apart

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