New Zealand Verse/The City in the Plains

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LXVII.

The City in the Plains.

In a silvern afternoonWe saw the city sleeping,Sleeping and rustling a littleUnder the brindled hills.Spectres of Alps behind,Alps behind and beyond,Tall, naked, and blue.The city sleeps in the plain—A flight of glittering scalesFlung in a wanton curve,Sinking softly to earthFlung from a Titan’s palm.In the silver afternoonAll round the shining city,A thousand thousand sheavesLoll in the golden plain;On goes the stately wain,The dun hind striding by it,Beside the elms and willows,Between the Alps and the sea.

Arnold Wall.

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