ERIC
M . SILVANUS.
* EVENING
ON
THE
DOWNS.
M
AJESTIC
as lone ruins
reared
of
old,
VI
They
stand
in
the still twilight
gathering
Over
their
sunset
slopes
.
Around
them
cling
Deep
-
tinted
clouds
,
and
vesture
-
like
enfold
The
dark
,
low
downs
,
that
loom
as
waves
storm
rolled
Unbreaking
in
mid
-
ocean
.
Echoing
,
Faintly
amid
their unseen
hollows
ring
The
bells
of
sheep that muster
to
their
fold
.
Beneath the rampart
of
the
low
,
long
range
Green
Sussex
sleeps
,
nor
fears that Time
or
Change
Shall mar the music
of
her hill
and
lea
;
Secure
that nothing
ever
shall
estrange
Her
children
's
love
,
eternal
as
the
sea
That
crowns her
infinite
serenity
.
170