| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | V. The Subject of Babylon Continued (II.) | | By Edmund Ollier (1827–1886) |
| | | AND on the top of all the wind-blown towers, | |
| The thronging terraces, and ramparts fair, | |
| And the flat house-roof scorching in the air, | |
| Elysian gardens bloomed with breadths of flowers, | |
| And clouds of moist green leaves, that tenderly | 5 |
| Cooled the fierce radiance sight could scarcely bear; | |
| Or over grassy lawns hung fluttering high, | |
| Like birds upon the wing, half pausing there; | |
| Shadows, where winds drooped lingering with a sigh. | |
| And there were fountains all of beaten gold, | 10 |
| That seemed alive with staring imagery, | |
| Fantastical as death; from which forth rolled, | |
| Like spirits out of Sleep’s enchanted ground, | |
| Far-flashing streams, that flung a light all round. | | | | |
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