In a great house by the wide Sea I sat, br And down slow fleets and waves that never cease br Looked back to the first keels of War and Peace; br I saw the Ark, what time the shoreless flat br Began to rock to rising Ararat; br Or Argo, surging home, with templed Greece br To leeward, while, mast-high, the lurching fleece br Swung morn from deep to deep. Then in a plat br Of tamarisk a bird called me. When again br My soul looked forth I ponder'd not the main br Of waters but of time; and from our fast br Sure Now, with Pagan joy, beheld the pain br Of tossing heroes on the triremed Past br Obtest the festive Gods and silent stars in vain.