John Sterling

  • O Unseen Spirit! now a calm divine
      Comes forth from thee, rejoicing earth and air!
    Trees, hills, and houses, all distinctly shine,
      And thy great ocean slumbers everywhere.

    The mountain ridge against the purple sky
      Stands clear and strong, with...

  • Low spake the knight to the peasant-girl:
    “I tell thee sooth, I am belted earl;
    Fly with me from this garden small,
    And thou shalt sit in my castle’s hall;

    “Thou shalt have pomp, and wealth, and pleasure,
    Joys beyond thy fancy’s measure;
    Here...

  • Dark fell the night, the watch was set,
    The host was idly spread,
    The Danes around their watchfires met,
    Caroused, and fiercely fed.

    The chiefs beneath a tent of leaves
    And Guthrum, king of all,
    Devoured the flesh of England’s beeves,
    And...

  • The King with all his kingly train
    Had left his Pompadour behind,
    And forth he rode in Senart’s wood
    The royal beasts of chase to find.
    That day by chance the Monarch mused,
    And turning suddenly away,
    He struck alone into a path
    That far...

  • Two seas, amid the night,
      In the moonshine roll and sparkle—
    Now spread in the silver light,
      Now sadden, and wail, and darkle.

    The one has a billowy motion,
      And from land to land it gleams;
    The other is sleep’s wide ocean,
      And its...